Using public Wi-Fi automatically introduces security threats that rarely exist on private networks. If you have to use a public network, then follow these safety precautions to keep your information secure.

Only Use Encrypted Websites

Anyone with some basic hacking experience can steal information from other computers on a public network. You can make it considerably harder by only using encrypted sites.

You will know whether a site uses encryption by its address. If it starts “https,” then it’s a secure site. Without the “s,” you’re making it easy for someone to watch you enter passwords and account numbers.

Https sites encrypt the information that you submit online so that eavesdroppers just see mess of letters and numbers.

If you want to use an email server, make sure you have the SSL enabled so no one can see your ID, password, or emails.

Don’t Share Anything

Your home network should let you share files and devices easily. That way, you can do things like use your tablet to access files on your desktop computer.

Sharing is great at home, but it’s a liability on public Wi-Fi. Considering that you probably don’t have password protections on all of your files, literally anyone could browse through your computer. It doesn’t take any special skills. When your computer is set to share, it’s basically begging for other devices to take its information.

If you have a Windows operating system, you can automatically block sharing by choosing the “public” network setting. You can also do this manually under Change Advanced Sharing Settings.

If you have a Mac, look for Sharing under System Preferences. Uncheck all of the boxes there to hide your files.

Turn on Your Personal Firewall

Most contemporary operating systems come with basic firewall software that will add a level of protection to your computer.

Your computer is probably already setup to use its firewall software. You can double-check to make sure you have this protection. Windows users should go to Control Panel, System and Security, and Firewall. Mac users can find firewall software under System Preferences, Security.

Your personal firewall isn’t going to keep out a determined, experienced hacker. But it does make it harder for someone to eavesdrop. That’s often enough to persuade hackers that they should find an easier target.

If you want more protection, avoid public networks by using InternetServiceProvider.net to find a reliable mobile service provider. You’ll have a private connection to the Internet no matter where you go.

Don’t Leave Your Device On

Only connect to the public Wi-Fi when you need to use it. If you don’t need it, disconnect or turn off your device. The more time you spend on the network, the more chances you give a hacker to break in and do something bad.

It often helps to log off as soon as you’ve gotten the information that you need. That way, you have the files you want without staying online for very long.

What other security precautions do you use on public Wi-Fi? Have you ever encountered problems while using a public network?

– Jessica Salt is a writer who loves what she does. You can follow her on Twitter @thejessicasalt to keep up with her work.

For most kids, summertime means camp, sleeping in late, catching up on their favorite books, playing outside and spending extra time with friends. For some, summer also means more time online, whether through a computer, tablet or smart phone. This creates a fantastic opportunity for you to make sure that their extra time online is filled with fun, educational and age-appropriate activities, including some that the whole family can enjoy together.

Here’s what I encourage you to do:

Location Settings

If you don’t like the idea of your child unintentionally pinpointing their exact whereabouts when they share photos online, then you’ll want to disable this feature on their smartphone. You can follow these simple instructions.

Encourage Creative Writing.

Introducing your child to blogging is a great way to bring out their creative writing skills. Communities like Yoursphere.com, which was created just for youth, offer an easy-to-use platform to create and share blogs.

Do Something with All Those Great Photos.

Likely your child or teen has hundreds, if not thousands, of digital photos that are just sitting on their phone. Encourage them to organize these photos into albums or use them to create a fun summer memory with a mug or calendar from Snapfish.

Disable Texting While Driving.

There are several free and easy-to-use solutions available to help your teen focus on the road and not texting. We recommend one here, as well as services from AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint.

Support Their Interests by Encouraging Them to Connect with Like-Minded Peers in an Age-Appropriate Community.

At Yoursphere.com, youth are given a robust platform for creating their own community where they can showcase their unique interests, talents and aspirations. Whether they know 100 interesting facts about farm animals, or want to share their drawings, the platform and tools are there for them to do so.

Try Geocaching.

Never heard of it? It’s real world treasure hunting with your smartphone! If you find your family out on a hike, on a picnic, or sightseeing in the city, use the geocaching app to turn an average day into a treasure hunting day. Go to geocaching.com to learn more.

Use Technology to Encourage Exercise and Outdoor Activity.

With websites and fun apps like KidFit, Taekwondo Kicks and websites like KidsHealth.org, you can turn your child’s technology time into a fun tool to engage them in more outdoor physical activity.

Introduce Your Kids to Sites and Apps That Were Made for Them.

This is your chance to be proactive. Don’t let your child download apps without knowing what they are and the age they are meant for. For example, if you have a younger teen, you can read why Instagram isn’t meant for them, but instead an app best saved for the older crowd. Sites like Yoursphere are structured as youth-focused communities, and as a result, they’re much more effective at offering a fun, yet age-appropriate content. You can check out a complete list of recommended sites and mobile apps at Common Sense Media.

Turn What May Have Been Homework Drudgery Into Learning Fun!

Like my children, yours may want a break from homework during the summer, but that can sometimes be detrimental when it comes to retaining those skills they worked so hard to gain – like learning their times tables or a second language. Using apps like KidCalc 7-in-1 Math Fun and sites like Spanish-Games.net are great ways to reinforce what they learned during the school year.

Your Kids Matter and Their Unique Ideas Can Make the World a Better Place.

Encourage them to share their ideas in the Quest2Matter community where kids from around the world are sharing their ideas on how to make the world a better place.

Enjoy, and here’s to the end of the school year and the arrival of summer!

Friends connecting on Facebook is something that needs to be respected and trusted.

Recently, a number of people, including myself, have received friend requests on Facebook from people they know. Why is this unusual? Because these requests are from people who are already connected in some form or another, be it in real life or through some other online presence.

Chances are these requests are from scammers attempting to gain access to your Facebook account and utilize the information that you share only with friends, or perhaps, only with yourself. They do this by creating a Ghost Account, or what some people refer to as a Fake Imposter Account, meaning they’ve copied public information from a friend’s Facebook account in order to trick you into accepting their friend request.

Once you’ve accepted their friend request, the scam artist is in a position to glean as much of your information as needed to further their scam. They move on to sending friend requests to your friends by creating an imposter account from your details.

What to do

If you receive a sketchy request from someone you know, first check with that person to see if it’s actually them.

If it’s not, report the Fake Imposter Account to Facebook and the people on your friends list to be on the lookout. Below are some helpful links:

• https://www.facebook.com/help/174210519303259
• https://www.facebook.com/help/207209825981040
• https://www.facebook.com/help/202993146405258
• https://www.facebook.com/help/428478523862899

How to combat it

You can start by changing your profile picture and cover photo as sometimes the Fake Imposter Account copies these.  Making this change helps your friends distinguish between the imposter and your real Facebook account.

Check to see what you’ve posted in Public View – this is done by choosing the ‘View As’ tab on your Profile Page. The ‘View As’ tab will display a public view of your Timeline.

Lock down your friends list. To do this, click the friends tab on your profile, and from the dropdown box choose the option of ‘Edit Privacy’ and then ‘Only Me’.

Friend Hacks

A more difficult issue arises when a ‘friend’ who appears to have just joined Facebook sends you a friend request. Be on alert! Verify the account by sending this person a text message or email. Do not send a private Facebook message as this does not verify the account!  If you are not comfortable contacting the person to verify the account, should they really be on your friend list?

(If you feel you have to friend them, once verified, place them in the ‘Restricted’ or ‘Acquaintance’ listing so they view only a limited profile.)

Some would say the above is too cumbersome and time consuming, but how much is your information worth?  Isn’t going the extra yards to protect your account, personal posts and photos worth it?! …. I think so!

Real life scenario

A new person started at the office and you later receive a friend request from them. A check of their Timeline shows their account was only opened a few days ago.  For the moment, you ignore the friend request. The next day you check the account and they have managed to friend 16 of your mutual friends.

Nobody has bothered to verify the account via text, email or other form of contact. It is later discovered that this person has created a Fake Imposter Account.

This fake account now has access to a number of colleagues’ information from that work environment, along with access to their family photos, friends, other information and personal posts.

This is a real scenario, just discovered this week!  These work colleagues had no idea and are concerned as their information may have been downloaded, copied, printed out or shared by the fake account!

More than ever, being a friend on social media needs to hold an element of respect, trust and appreciation that you have been chosen to be an online friend.  The friends you have on Facebook need to have your back… if you can’t verify them or trust them.. ‘unfriend’ and get rid of them! This is for online safety and management of your digital reputation, not only for you, but for your family and friends.

Stay Safe Online ~ Janita - CyberActive Services

While bullying is nothing new, online bullying has taken this torment to a new level.  Public threats, taunts and nasty comments can all be linked to and shared in an instant, and mobile phones make it all easier. In fact, cyberbullying is so common that over one in five[1] kids say they have been bullied online.

Cyberbullying is generally defined[2] as willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of the Internet, mobile phones, and other devices. One of the reasons this kind of bullying is so prevalent is due to the fact that the bullies don’t have to confront their victims face-to-face. In an online world, they feel free to bully without any immediate physical consequences. As a case in point, a recent study[3] revealed that 71% of respondents were more likely to use slurs online and in text messages than in person.

Unfortunately, the widespread use of mobile phones among kids offer an always-on channel for bullying. Bullies can send threatening text messages, photo messages and even videos to their victims, not to mention harassing phone calls.

Since a lot of kids have smartphones, bullies can easily log on to social networking sites and post comments or photos that make fun of their target.  Or, they can participate in another common form of cyberbullying—taking a private chat session, text, or email and posting it publicly.

This kind of humiliation can be very distressing to kids, so it’s important to know how to prevent cyberbullying and how to deal with it if it does happen. Here are a few tips to help you and your family cope with this growing problem:

• Explain to your kids exactly what cyberbullying is so they’re better able to identify it.

• Encourage your kids to talk to you about cyberbullying.

• Learn the early warning signs of bullying. Perhaps your child is noticeably agitated after going online or checking their messages. If so, encourage them to talk about it.

• If your child knows someone who is being bullied, encourage them to stand up for that person and not participate in any harassment.

• Keep a detailed diary of any abusive calls, messages, or online posts in case you need to go to the authorities. Also, print off any abusive posts or emails and save any threatening text or voicemail messages.

• If your child is being harassed, consider getting a new mobile phone number and keeping it private.

• Consider installing parental control software such McAfee Family Protection, which can help you set limits on your child’s online activities, as well as filter objectionable content.

Given the growing popularity of smartphones among kids, it’s important to understand the dangers of cyberbullying and how to prevent it.

After I was introduced to Angela Maiers, an educator, author of The Passion Driven Classroom, Classroom Habitudes and the inspiration behind the Choose2Matter initiative, I knew I’d met a kindred youth evangelist that the Yoursphere community was meant to support and help empower.

With the shared understanding that youth matter, it’s with pride that we can share Yoursphere’s partnership with Choose2Matter, a community that focuses on empowering youth to accept that they make an impact on the world, accelerate the opportunity to stand for something and then act on what they believe they can do to make the world a better place.  Choose2Matter’s Quest2Matter campaign invites kids and teens 5 to 18 years of age (and their teachers) to sign up for the Quest and share their ideas for making their home, school, community, state or country a better place. Through their actions, youth can solve a problem that breaks their hearts.

To get involved in the Quest, your children or students need to sign up, and once inside the Choose2Matter community, they can share a photo, blog or video describing their Quest. Your kids can do this on their own; school association is not necessary.

If you’re a parent or teacher, then you understand just as much as I do that youth matter, so join us. Encourage your children and young teens to join in on the Quest. Encourage your local school or your child’s teacher(s) to participate. With our collective support, we can help youth make the world a better place.

Thank you, Angela Maiers. My hat is off to you, my heart is with you and Yoursphere is here to support everything that Choose2Matter is doing to influence a positive change in a world.

More about the Quest2Matter

How do I get started?

1. Students decide on a Quest to solve a problem that breaks their hearts, and then began to solve it.
2. A student or group of students registers for the Quest2Matter here.
3. Once a quest is completed, students tell its story, through a document, a blog post, a picture, a video, or any other media that captures their quest.
4. Students should then upload their document to the Quest2Matter site (linked in #2 above).

What is the time period for the Quest?

The Quest2Matter began on April 15, 2013.

All quests submitted by May 17, 2013 will be considered by judges for recognition for prestigious awards ceremonies this fall.

Quests may be submitted after this date and still be eligible to be highlighted on our websites and considered for recognition by our partners in the future.

What quests will be honored?

Ask yourself these three questions:

1. Does your quest change the world for the better?

• Great ideas dare to question the normal ways of doing things. They also dare us to do things that many others may disagree with. We’re looking for rule breakers who are working hard to bring their big idea to light.

2. What have you done in the real world with your idea?

• We’re looking for stories about things that have actually happened (as opposed to things you want to have happen). Stories of failing are welcome too – especially if you picked yourself up and kept on going. That’s because true innovation comes from trying things out, and we can’t make our big ideas real without making mistakes along the way.

3. Can you get personal and tell a great story?

• Great social change begins with something personal. We’ll be looking for students who can share a first-hand story and inspire others to make their own impact.

While written for those 6 – 10, it honestly hammers home the message that will resonate with the tween audience as well. Consider having your older child read this to their younger sibling. Cyman Learns Cyber Smarts and Dangers delivers a message far too few families are having conversations about.

Thank you, Rich, for writing such a great book. It’s nice to have a relevant one for children. Hats off to you and the IROC team.

Unless you have direct access to their account via the web version of Instagram or through services like Statigram (both of which require your child’s username and password), it’s nearly impossible to know what your child is posting, who they’re engaging with, and more importantly, who’s engaging with them. That’s why it is absolutely critical to keep an open dialogue with your child about these issues, so that, if and when it’s necessary, they’ll know exactly why you’re making the decision to delete their account and what needs to happen in order for them to get it back. They need to know that this is not about you being mean, overprotective, or controlling; it’s about being their parent and making a decision that’s best for them at this time in their life. Keep in mind, if you choose to delete their Instagram account, everything that belongs to that account will be permanently deleted and that username can no longer be used.

1. Log into your child’s Instagram account by going to www.instagram.com

2. Once logged in, click the username in the top right. From the options provided, click Edit Profile.

3. On the bottom right of the next page, you’ll see a link that says “I’d like to delete my account.”

4. On the next page, just provide a reason why you’re deleting the account (if you don’t want to get into it you can just choose “other reason”). Enter your child’s password one last time, then click the red “Permanently deactivate my account” button.

Preventative Measures

Deleting an account doesn’t guarantee your child won’t use Instagram again. They could easily re-download the app or skip the app entirely and just go with the web version of Instagram. Of course, no two children are alike when it comes to following the rules, so this just once again drives home the importance of talking to your child about the issues that caused you to delete their account in the first place.

Now, though you could block the website on your browser at home, there isn’t much you can do to prevent your child from creating an account on Instagram’s website, assuming they go out of their way to do so. And as far as parental controls go on Android phones, they don’t offer much, if anything at all. If your child uses an iPhone or iPod Touch, however, it’s very easy to set a restriction that prevents them from downloading the Instagram app. And let’s be honest, the true draw to Instagram is its mobile app.

On your child’s iDevice, tap the Settings icon.

On the Settings screen, tap General.

Then, tap Restrictions.

You’ll want to tap Enable Restrictions, which will require you to create a passcode. This step is key to preventing your child from re-downloading Instagram.

Scroll down a bit and tap Apps on this screen.

And this is where you want to be. Though Instagram only allows users 13 and older, Apple has categorized their app under 12+, so what you need to do here is tap 9+. Doing this not only prevents your child from downloading Instagram, it prevents Instagram from even showing up in the App Store.

You can learn more about iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and iTunes safety at Yoursphere for Parents.

Ars Technica recently reported on the details and hacker culture behind the Remote Administration Tool, or RAT for short. According to Ars, the RAT has been around since 1998 and was originally created for purposes like remote tech support and employee monitoring. But today, the technology is used differently, almost mimicking the way some people misuse video chatting technology, social networks and geotagging information. And furthermore, it’s all very accessible to the general public with forums like Hack Forums and how-to books like Rusty_v’s Spreading Guide v 7.0.

Today, a cottage industry exists to build sophisticated RAT tools with names like DarkComet and BlackShades and to install […] them on dozens or even hundreds of remote computers. When anti-malware vendors began to detect and clean these programs from infected computers, the RAT community built “crypters” to disguise the target code further. Today, serious ratters seek software that is currently “FUD”—fully undetectable.

How It Works

The RAT gives hackers, or “ratters” (as Ars so appropriately named them), access to a victim’s (which ratters refer to as slaves) entire computer. Access is granted when the victim downloads the RAT software, which is usually embedded in popular music, movie and video game torrent files. Once in, ratters can activate your webcam, run applications, surf the Internet on your browser or just copy all the files from your computer to theirs. They can also employ more sophisticated techniques to record your website login credentials, which, as you can imagine, open up the door to private information like your credit cards and account numbers, making you a prime candidate for identity theft. And since they have access to your entire computer’s hard drive, ratters can use any private files or intimate photos that they find as leverage to blackmail you.

Like most cyberbullies, these ratters are merely trying to get a reaction out of their slaves by posting pornographic links in their browser, opening their optical drive or sending them creepy messages through Skype. At the same time, a lot of hackers in the community openly oppose misuse of the RAT by warning other users of the legal consequences or simply asking them to put themselves in their victim’s shoes.

Other ratters have a soft spot for certain scenarios. Taking over other people’s computers might not be bad, spying on them might be OK, but making young children cry might cross a line. 

But not all ratters stop there. Some go as far as selling those intimate photos and that private information to other users in the Hack Forum community, for example. And as Ars reported, ratters are usually men with a collection of slaves that are typically young, attractive women.

“Man I feel dirty looking at these pics,” wrote one forum poster at Hack Forums, (it now has more than 23 million total posts). The poster was referencing a 134+ page thread filled with the images of female “slaves” surreptitiously snapped by hackers using the women’s own webcams. “Poor people think they are alone in their private homes, but have no idea they are the laughing stock on HackForums,” he continued. “It would be funny if one of these slaves venture into learning how to hack and comes across this thread.”

If the technology is too much to handle, no worries! More “successful” ratters rent out their slaves for a fee, or simply give them away for free in a “Free Girl Slave Giveaway”.

How to Protect Yourself

As Ars puts it, “RATs aren’t going away, despite the occasional intervention of the authorities. Too many exist, plenty of them are entirely legal, and source code is in the wild.” To stay clear of this virus, there are a number of things you can do—or better yet, shouldn’t do. First, make sure to keep your computer’s operating system, plugins (like Java for Flash), anti-virus programs updated. If you don’t have an anti-virus or anti-malware program, buy one today; they’re worth the investment. Second, don’t shop in online stores that you’ve never heard of and don’t open email attachments that look shady. Third, don’t download torrent files. Instead, try streaming movies and TV shows through services like HuluPlus, that way you can still have access to the content without worrying about the security issues that come with downloading.

A good indicator that your computer has been infected with the RAT virus is the webcam light that turns on whenever the webcam is being used. Not all webcams have this light, though, so this is not a fail proof way to determine if your computer’s been infected. But if yours does have a light, and it’s acting weird, then the best thing you can do is put a piece of tape over it. Sadly, disabling your webcam through your system settings won’t do very much as the ratter can simply go in and reactivate it. Then, run a full system check on your computer through your anti-virus software.

All images used here are from Ars Technica.

This is a guest editorial by McAfee.

There’s been a lot of high profile account hacks in the news lately, from celebrities such as Mila Kunis and Scarlett Johansson, to reporters at Wired and The New York Times. While it’s easy to think it won’t happen to you, the truth is normal people get their accounts hacked each and every day, which is why password security is so important.

A recent study found that the most common passwords people use are “password,” “123456,” and “12345678.”¹ With those passwords it’s no wonder cybercriminals are finding it so easy to get into our accounts! Even users who try to create strong passwords often make the mistake of incorporating personal information such as their birth date or pet’s name into their passwords. If a cybercriminal wants to guess your password, they usually start by searching for all your publicly available information. Oftentimes these personal details can be found on social networking sites and online records.

So, choosing complicated passwords that do not include personal information is extremely important. But remember, even if you choose difficult passwords, you have to be careful not to reuse them. If you’re like most people, you probably have dozens of online accounts and it’s difficult to remember the usernames and passwords for each of them. If you start reusing the same username and password combinations, you put yourself at even greater risk. A cybercriminal could potentially gain access to a number of your accounts, which would give them all the information they need to steal your identity.

To make your passwords truly secure, they need to be difficult to guess and vary across accounts, yet easy for you to remember. How do you do this without keeping password cheat sheet next to your computer and devices that someone could potentially find? One great tip is to use a password manager that can save all your usernames and passwords in one secure place. This software tool can login to your accounts for you, and all you have to do is remember one password to access it!

Here are some other great tips to make sure that your passwords are strong and protected:

• Make sure your passwords are at least eight characters long and include numbers, letters and characters that don’t spell anything
• Never include personal information in your passwords, such as your anniversary or the name of your high school
• Use different passwords for separate accounts, especially for banking and other high-value websites
• Change your passwords frequently
• Consider using a password manager such as McAfee SafeKey, which comes included in McAfee All Access. This will allow you to simplify and secure your password across all of your devices, including PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets. And, it allows you to login to your accounts with just one click!

Finally, remember not to share your passwords with anyone. If you follow these tips you can greatly reduce the chance that your passwords will be compromised, and improve your overall online security.

I liked the Touch so much that I bought two of them, one for each of my boys; they really like them and it helped cure their itch for a smartphone. However, like with all technology, there are some issues with the iPod Touch that you need to be aware of.

It can be used to send texts, and subsequently, picture texts.

I’m not against texting, but when it comes to younger children I believe it should be moderated and monitored to ensure they aren’t chatting with strangers, being bullied or having inappropriate conversations with their friends. I covered Snapchat a while ago and you can read why I don’t recommend it as a messaging app for children, simply because there isn’t any oversight, it caters to older teens and adults, and in a lot of ways it encourages sexting.

For a similar but safer experience, I recommend using Text Free. It’s a free texting app that works similar to Snapchat, except parents have access to a dashboard where they can monitor their child’s texts.

Social networking and video chatting apps can all be accessed on the iPod Touch.

Since the iPod Touch uses iOS (the same version of the operating system which powers the iPhone) all of the social media apps that work on the iPhone work on the iPod Touch as well. That includes the Facebook, Instagram and Twitter apps, among others.

I previously covered Instagram and the dangers it poses to children, but Facebook and Twitter also contain inappropriate content, such as drug use and pornography. It’s also illegal for anyone under the age of 13 to be on any of these social networks, according to COPPA law.

Video chatting apps, such as Omegle, are also available for the iPod Touch. Omegle is a video chatting app where users can randomly chat with strangers — similar to Stickam, which we covered in detail here. The danger with these apps is that your children can literally video chat with anyone that’s using the app. The majority of users on these sites are harmless, but from a statistical standpoint, there will be users who act inappropriate or try to get other users to engage in inappropriate behavior.

Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to password protect app downloading on the iPod Touch. Below I break down the steps necessary to do so.

First, tap the Settings button on the homepage.

Then, click the Restrictions tab and input a 4-digit PIN.

From the Restrictions list, you can disable certain features, such as installing apps and explicit language.

Once that is taken care of, your children won’t be able to install apps without entering the PIN, so make sure to keep it hidden.

In-App Purchasing

Remember the huge outcry over the Smurfs app in 2011, when children were spending up to $1,400 on in-app purchases? Those were due to lax purchasing controls on Apple’s part; recent updates have made it harder for children to make in-app purchases, but they’re still an issue. However, the issue can be easily solved by going through the Restrictions menu shown above and implementing a PIN for all in-app purchases.

Web Browsing

As I mentioned in the original iPod Touch safety article that I wrote back in 2010, it’s important to realize that the default Safari browser on the Touch does not have a content filter. Fortunately, there are plenty of safe browsers that you can use instead. Here are a few that I recommend:

• AVG Family Safety Browser
• Ranger Browser
• K9 Web Browser

Once you’ve installed one of these safe alternatives, you need to go into the Restrictions menu and disable Safari. This will remove it from the iPod Touch user interface. Now, just simply put your new, safer browser in its place.

———————————————————————-

The iPod Touch isn’t a perfect digital device for children, but it is one of the best options on the market simply because it combines the versatility of a smartphone with the affordability of a video game console. It can also be used as a tool to teach your children about smartphone ownership and digital responsibility.