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Make sure everyone's safe when online

Aug. 24, 2006. 01:00 AM
PETER KRIVEL
TORONTO STAR

Just as you prepare your child for school, you should also make sure your home computer is ready and able to handle the coming school year.

With high-speed and wireless connectivity becoming the norm, there is an even greater need for security and making the online experience safer for your children.

"There's a difference between operating a computer and securing a computer and you have a heck of a lot of people who know more about operating a computer than securing it," says Claudiu Popa, president of Informatica Security (http://www.informaticasecurity.com), an information security consulting firm.

If you have a wireless connection and no firewall, it's like leaving your front door open to allow anyone to come in, says Elizabeth Bidinoff, director of operations for The PC Doc (http://www.thepcdoc.ca) an IT support firm for medium-sized companies.

"If I were to drive by your house and you have an unsecured connection, I could use a laptop to discover this and then log into your computer," and do such things as surf for child porn.

Wireless routers are very easy to install, but, Popa says, people forget to secure the computer so that only they can log into your connection.

"It's very easy to get an encryption key, Popa says. "Every manual will show you how to do this. The problem is most people forget that step."

Maintaining your computer is even more important for parents, especially since there are so many bad things out there such as spyware, viruses and trojans.

"Explain to children how to protect themselves," Popa says. "Tell the children what the threat is because without them being able to anticipate what could go wrong there's nothing that can protect them against the threat."

For example, tell them to be suspicious if they begin chatting with someone who starts asking personal questions, or to be cautious if they come across a website that asks them to click on a button to download a fancy, neat piece of software.

Popa advises that people look into software such as Net Nanny (http://www.netnanny.com), which helps stop porn and file sharing, protects personal information and even limits online time.

"When you give your children access to a computer, don't make them system administrators," he says. "Make them users, so that their account will prevent the user from installing most things that can hurt them."

Popa also suggests you look into giving your child their own computer.

"Segregate their activities from yours," he says. "It will cost a couple of hundred dollars but at least it won't risk affecting the data that you have on your computer like your personal finance stuff."

You might also get the Symantec Internet Threat Meter. Available at http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice, it's a free download that gives up-to-date information on the risk level associated with online activities.

— Peter Krivel