Protect your children online

"Online enticement of children for sexual acts has increased 714% since 1998." The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

"Seventy-three percent of American teens aged 12 to 17 now use social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, up from 55 percent two years ago" Federal Trade Commission

The latest statistics should alert us about the security problems online with a high vulnerability group, kids and teenagers. For parents the control becomes difficult in the cyberspace because the long time spend on internet, webcams, emails, social networking websites, online games and more tools.

Here are some simple tips to decrease the risk, which are suggested by US-CERT:

• Be involved – Use internet with your children. Consider activities you can work on together, whether play a game, research a topic you had been talking about and teach him good habits.
• Keep your computer in an open area – It gives you the opportunity to intervene if you notice a behavior that could have negative consequences.
• Set rules and warn about dangers - Post these rules by the computer as a reminder. The goal isn't to scare them, it's to make them more aware.
• Monitor computer activity - Be aware of what your child is doing on the computer, including which web sites they are visiting. If they are using email, instant messaging, or chat rooms, try to get a sense of who they are corresponding with and whether she actually knows them.
• Keep lines of communication open - Let your child know that they can approach you with any questions or concerns about behaviors or problems she may have encountered on the computer.
• Consider implementing parental controls - For example, Internet Explorer allows you to restrict or allow certain web sites to be viewed on your computer, and you can protect these settings with a password. To find those options, click Tools on your menu bar, select Internet Options..., choose the Content tab, and click the Enable... button under Content Advisor.
• Consider partitioning your computer into separate accounts - Most operating systems (including Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Linux) give you the option of creating a different user account for each user. If you're worried that your child may accidentally access, modify, and/or delete your files, you can give her a separate account and decrease the amount of access and number of privileges she has.

In addition to limiting functionality within your browser, avoid letting your browser remember passwords and other personal information.

Internet is a amazing resource for academic and entertainment purposes. But it also represents threats, specially for kids. Children still need advice, guidance, and protection; it doesn't matter that their advanced knowledge in computers over parents, be aware and inform them about the risk and good habits to use online.