How to Be Safe on the Internet Hamilton ON

Steps

1. Do not give out your full name, address, or phone number to anyone online that you don't trust and/or don't know and that don't live in the same town as you. They might not be who they claim to be, so do not trust them if they guess the actual name of the person you are chatting with. To avoid confusing your friends with strangers, make a password you must say. (for example," If you are Ashley, say our password." Then Ashley will say,"Clever one true not example example totally unweird refrigerator magnets banana apple dancing Ugg boots.") Just mix a bunch of words together and make it pretty hard to guess by a stranger. Also call your friend to make sure they are online.
2. Never give out your bank account or credit card information unless you are shopping with a well known or highly rated online business. Check for secure transaction info. The best companies will have many security devices in place. You may see a gold lock at the bottom of the page to indicate a secure site. When giving any bank details or other information make sure the connection is secure (https) and the site is perfectly trustworthy. Not every site which runs https or accepts payments is trustworthy. Good sites are Amazon.com, Buy.com, eBay, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and sites owned by major shopping centers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy.
3. Never open e-mail attachments from strangers unless you can trust them and you have security settings on your computer. Some junk e-mails may contain viruses or spyware that can harm your computer. These e-mails may be automatically marked as "spam" or "junk".
4. Beware of spoof email claiming to be from eBay, PayPal, or a bank or a company name you know asking for personal or sensitive information. This is called phishing. The e-mail may inform you that there is a problem with your account/password. There may be a link to click inside. Forward any of these e-mails to the company it claims to be sent from. They will confirm whether the e-mail you received was real or not. Also, bear in mind that email programs like Yahoo!, MSN, etc. will never ask you for your email password. Don't fall for it.
5. If you decide to meet someone in person from online, go to a public place and let friends and family know your plans. Have an alternate plan if things turn out badly.
6. Get a good anti-virus program, spyware remover, and firewall. There are free programs available online, such as avast! antivirus, Grisoft's AVG Free, Microsoft Anti-Spyware and Webroot, and Sygate personal firewall. They will block most attempts and alert you if problems are found.
7. Read the fine print. There are many survey sites that pay you for answering questions and filling out forms. If you do not want to receive junk mail or get put on a telemarketer list, look for a small box near the bottom of the page that asks if you want to receive information and offers from other companies. The best sites will have a statement listed that they will not sell your name to other companies. Some sites require you to give all your information to get the product. Although sometimes, you may get a ton of spam. Only fill in required fields that are marked with a . If the info box does not have an asterisk, it is optional and you can leave it blank.
8. Monitor young children's (under 16) activities closely and use parental controls when available. Use a password a child will not guess. Install parental control software. The Internet is not child-friendly.
9. Tell your young children (under 14) to write down every website they go to. Also monitor them when they are signing up for a website. Also, do not let your children sign up for or any other chat sites (MySpace etc.) They are focused for an older audience so here are some recommendations for children ages 6-13. (See External links)
10. Change your passwords every month or so. Try not to use the same password more than once at a time. Also, make your password something original such as,"arjnfeurgbvaeurig@yahoo.com." A harder way to do it is by mixing up a jumble of letters, but be aware, it might be harder to memorize, so write in on a piece of paper - keep this hidden from view (not, for example, on a note stuck to your monitor). Make it exceptionally hard to guess, especially if it has your personal information.
11. Check the URL Always make sure the site your using is really what you think it is before you enter your details or a password For example, if you want to log into Facebook you would check to make sure the site ENDS with (what-ever).facebook.com not ".facebook-videos.com" or anything like that. usually when a site ends like that (very close to a popular website) it means that they want to try and either get your password or get your personal details.
12. Be careful with your details Always be careful what you say on the internet, remember only say what you would be happy to say to some random person on the street, (This means on sites like twitter, facebook, bebo, myspace etc. don't say sentences like: I am going to a party at (Insert address/venue here) or My name if (Full name) stuff like that can get you into a whole lot of trouble with people you have never even met before

Tips

• Web services such as AOL, Yahoo, or MSN have messengers that allow you to chat with others with an instant message (IM) or private message (PM) box. Go to the preferences or options menu and carefully choose settings. It is best to turn off messages from all users and only add people to your buddy list that you know very well or someone you choose to talk to. Bad or annoying programs may invade your messenger box or chat windows, such as spam bots, boot codes, or tools. These can damage your computer and record your online activities. Always set your preferences to the highest security.
• Other programs are available to provide even more features and can be used with your messengers. YTunnelPro and YahElite are very good and helpful companions to Yahoo Messenger.
• If you subscribe to things, have a phony account. This will help keep you from getting spam to your regular address, and will protect your identity. A good site which allows you to create temporary email addresses on the fly is Spam Motel (see external link below). When you register on an unknown site, go to Spam Motel and create an email address and delete it when you have no further use for it.
• If you feel uncomfortable giving away your credit card number, you can buy a prepaid credit card or use a gift credit card instead. These often work the same as a regular credit card, but they only have a set amount on them, so that if someone gets ahold of the prepaid card's number, they don't do the damage they can with a real card.
• Some banks offer 'on-the-fly' credit cards, which you can generate yourself within 10 seconds, and you can limit the amount and the validity on them (of course they charge to your real credit card when they are used). Also, only one merchant can ever use them. That way, even a stolen card number is useless to the thief, and the maximum damage is severly limited. Make one for every internet buy; that is a very good security mechanism.
• If you`re using firefox, download the extensions WOT, which tells you how trustworthy sites are, and NoScript, which denies Javascript and other potentially malicious add-ons except on trusted sites.
• When shopping online, take advantage of one-time-use virtual credit card numbers.

Warnings

• Be careful what you say on the internet and understand that it is becoming common practice for employers to research what you have said online as part of the hiring process. What you say today could keep you from getting hired to your dream job five years from now.
• If you mention that you had a birthday recently, don't be specific about the date, or your exact age. These two items are enough to figure out your date of birth, a piece of info the banks use to help identify you.
• Remember, people can lie as much as they want online, so be careful. If you think that you may be talking to someone who is a lot older than they say they are, look out for clues which may give them away.
• Never arrange to meet someone in real life from the internet. (Not unless you're sure it's someone you know, then that's an exception.) It is highly risky and dangerous. Everything you have and know is at risk. Be careful, young ones...
• Be careful of what you download. If it's not open source/GNU, then make sure it's from a reputable site (widgets.yahoo.com, cNet's Download.com, etc.)*
• When using P2P software such as Limewire, only download music and age appropriate video. Anything else could be filled with viruses and who knows what.
• Never send anyone you met on the internet any money. No matter what sob story they may tell you.
• Don't look at pornography. Most pornographic sites contain malware of some kind, and a trip to such a site is analogous to its real life counterpart in the unwanted side effects that may spring up.

Sources and Citations

• http://www.clubpenguin.com The chatting site for kids!
• http://www.chat-avenue.com/kids A better choice than social networking sites.
• http://www.neopets.com Virtual games and chatting for preteens
• http://www.marapets.com Fun and virtual, the next best thing of neopets!
• http://www.funbrain.com The home of fun games, and ebooks!
• http://www.yahooligans.com Fun and has tons of facts
• http://www.battleon.com A better choice for kids and provides parents information on the game
• http://www.spammotel.com Spam Motel: for temporary email addressess

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