There are thousands of predators out there looking for innocent inexperienced children to take advantage of. The percentage of youths who have experienced such harassment online increases every year.

Here are a few Parental Control Tips and a few Parental Control Suggestions that young children should follow when they are online.. If they follow these rules no one can harm them through the internet.

T i p s:

Tip #1:

Children should always tell their parents if they receive any kind of strange message that is scary. Child molesters are not stupid. They will try to carefully approach a child, and if the child resists the shelfish molester will almost always use stupid threats to scare them.. Children should never accept instant messages from strangers and by all means they should never accept mysterious invitations to private chatrooms.

Tip #2:

Children should never use their real name unless they are 100% sure who the person they are giving their name really is. Instead they should use a nickname.. They should never Tell anyone their passwords or login information or other sensitive information like Phone numbers, school name, family name, address etc. They should never tell their age to an online stranger.

Tip #3:

Children should never agree to meet a stranger live. The internet molesters will do anything to persuate the young child to meet them. Even if the person suggests they should meet in a public place, children should never accept such invitations.

Tip #4:

Children should never send their photographs to a stranger over the internet. It’s a good practise to never accept photographs or other files too, unless they are pretty sure who the person on the other end of the line is.

S u g g e s t i o n s:

Teach Your Children.

Spend some time with your children while they’re online. Ask them to show you their favorite websites and talk to them about the dangers of surfing on the internet. You should also teach yourself how to report an internet crime (e.g. child pornography or internet harassment). You may want to visit cybercrime.gov for more information.

Is your childern’s school safe?

Your children may have access to the internet when they are at school. Make sure the school has an internet monitoring software. If they don’t suggest that they immediately install a parental control software or even an simple internet filtering software. Most schools have software that permit only certain educational webpages and resources to be accessible via their computers. Make sure your children’s school meets these criteria.

Learn more about your children’s friends.

Do you know your children’s online friends? Take some time to meet them and even meet their parents. Talk to your children’s friends about the dangers of the internet highways and recommend to their parents to install a Parental Control Software if they haven’t already done so.

Install Parental Control Software or Internet Monitoring Software.

Software Technology offers a convenient solution to parents by presenting various types of parental control software. These Software Programs use sophisticated methods to filter the websites that can be viewed on your browser.

You can specify certain rules (filters) and disallow various types of websites from opening.

Many Internet Parental Control Software include E-mail filters that block certain types of e-mail and allows you to filter junk e-mail out of your inbox.

Internet monitoring software records all the online activity by creating snapshots of the visited websites or by creating logs of the chat room conversations and instant messaging conversations.

Author: Maria Markella

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Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

One solution, which some parents choose, is to completely restrict their children from using the Internet. This solution while keeping your children safe is not always the best option. One, the Internet is here to stay, it is an important part of everyday life, and its use is a skill that is often required by schools and in the work place. Also, if you just tell your kids that they cannot have or use the Internet then you eliminate the opportunity to teach them how to use it safely. So, if they do use it when they are away from you, (which believe me does happen, even with the best of kids) at a friends house or school then they will not have the tools they need to stay safe. Having talks and discussions with children about the risks is very important, and as a parent you should set certain limits and keep the conversation open in regards to Internet safety.

The following are 5 hands-on steps you can take to teach, limit and restrict children while they are online and therefore provide Internet safety for your kids.

5 Steps to Internet Safety for Kids:

1. Have a conversation with your kids. Explain to them, in as much detail as their age will allow some of the dangers that exist online. For example, that strangers in chat rooms, are just that, strangers. That they should never agree to meet anyone, give out their phone numbers, personal information like address etc. The same conversation that you had with them about not talking to strangers applies even more so when online, so use that and extend it further. Remember that most of these steps will only apply to computers you have at home. When your children are away from you they will have access to other computers and that is when those conversations will be the guidance that ensures their safety.

2. There is software available, which can help to protect your children from any content that is not appropriate for them. Software like, Microsoft Windows Vista Parental Controls, helps parents to manage, monitor and administer the use of the computer by children. The software, Windows Live OneCare Family Safety, filters certain chosen information and even a child’s searches can be blocked by filtering certain keywords.

3. All web browsers allow for parental control settings. You can make personalized adjustments from the browser to set limits that you desire and to insure your child’s safety.

4. You can increase children’s safety by creating Limited User Accounts for your children from your Administrative Account. This restricts children from changing system settings, installing any new software which includes chat programs, games, etc. You can see the help section of your Operating System for detailed instructions on how to create User Accounts. This is a simple process and the instructions are step by step.

5. Be active and be a snoop. Yes a snoop, keep track of the websites that your kids are surfing. You can view all websites that they visited in the History List or Cookies from the web browser. You can even see the email addresses, correspondence and downloaded files. If you see something inappropriate or dangerous take the necessary parental actions. Sometimes we want to be our children’s friend but we have to always be parents first.

Always remember that these are concrete steps that will provide Internet safety for your kids and protect them while they are online and still allow them to get the benefits of using and learning to use the Internet.

Author: JR Lang

Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

To do the monitoring correctly there are ten activities that need to be tracked; Emails, Instant Messaging, Keystrokes, Web Sites visited, Programs used, Files Downloaded, and User Logons.

What emails are you kids sending and receiving? Are they proper for their age group? Is anyone mailing them that you do not approve of.

Instant Messages is another area that parents do not know enough about. Rather jumping into the technical specifics it comes down to this. ALL conversations are recorded by the company performing the service whether it is AOL or MSN. So what are your kids saying or volunteering about you and your family?

Keystrokes typed on your kids computer is important because there are some programs that allow the user to respond to questions. These questions could compromise your or familys private data.

The web sites that your child visits should be known by you. Are they visiting porn sites? Have they signed up for free email without you knowing about it? Where are they visiting and what are they doing?

What programs are they using on the computer? Have they loaded other kinds of programs on the computer. Installing a new application is easy and it can be hidden from you.

Another interesting item relates to Downloads. There are all kinds of files that can be downloaded but today they generally relate to video clips and music. Are they legally downloaded and are they appropriate for your child.

User logons. This is important because there are ways to login to other computer systems without using a web browser. Microsoft Windows is a very powerful operating system and unfortunately controls can be compromised.

If you do not get the right software then your kids can turn off the product that you do install. So if you are truly going to start monitoring your childs Internet usage then you must do it correctly and efficiently.

Author: Buddy Shearer

Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

If you are reading this article then you must have some doubt. Here is another issue. You think that you have given your children their own email address but did you know they can setup their own email address without your help? Really, think about it. When it comes to computers kids tend to know more than what we give them credit for.

I can speak from my own past. I actually helped a very close friend of mine setup some software on a computer that his son had. And I saw his face when we discovered his son had a second and more public email address. And when we logged in to the account, I saw his heart drop when he read the emails and saw the images that had been sent to his son.

What would you do if you discovered what my friend had seen? Would it be time for confrontation and groundings? Or embracing a son and explaining the issues at hand. It depends on the circumstances but a lot of the time embracing brings two together and the grounding seems to push apart.

So what would you do? Your kids do have rights but as long as you are the parent your authority means more. Take control now.

Author: Buddy Shearer

Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

BAD CONCEPTS OF INTERNET MONITORS

Some of the bad concepts in parental Internet monitoring software, are the uses of Trojan virus like activity that can make some anti virus software flag it. Sometimes you have to go into the anti virus and white lister allow the software process to be considered safe.Kids are smart these days and if you have a rebellious smart teenager whom is computer savvy this maybe the end to your monitoring just by a simple anti virus flag.

STOP THE PREDATORS IN THEIR TRACKS!

The Internet is a good learning medium for your children, but if you have been watching Dateline NBC there are a ton of Sick perverted people out there who want to prey on the innocence of your child. There have been many cases where children have landed in trouble with these sick and perverted people. Kids get caught up in the Internet as a virtual reality to escape day to day reality. Kids and teenagers do not understand the seriousness of online dangers that can happen by revealing too much information. A lot of the times they don’t understand that the person they are talking too may not seem to be someone of their age or the fact that this person is manipulating them.

BE PROACTIVE!

As parents, it would naturally be worrying to leave your child exposed to the potentially harmful web environment, but there is something you can do about it even though you’re at office all day long, without annoying your kids by standing over their shoulder like Big Brother. This brings us back to the good thing about Internet monitoring it is a proactive way to keep an eye on their activity. This is not the total fix this should be used as a crucial fail safe as well as setting up other Internet blocker options in your firewall by putting the domain names to places like myspace,facebook,twitter and inside your router setting up a Internet usage policy that will cut Internet usage off at a certain time.

GOOD CONCEPTS TO SUPPLEMENT INTERNET MONITORING

Good concepts of Internet monitoring can be easily done without your child finding out that he’s being protected. Which is extremely important because you dont want to push your child away from you and seem over bearing. More importantly, Internet monitoring is not necessarily a method of surveillance that denies your child the rights either You could choose the features you want installed, starting from simple screen videos of your child’s activities online, to details of his keystrokes and the files that were uploaded or downloaded.

The part I like is the ability to monitor chat room activity and MySpace and Facebook activity. The feature that makes this solution most viable is that this software sends the information you demand, such as usage logs and usage video clips to your email address, making it possible for you to control the software no matter how far you are from your child’s computer. Internet monitoring softwarecan be downloaded onto your computer so that you can protect and supervise your child or loved ones when using the Internet.

SUPPLEMENTAL TO INTERNET MONITORS AND WEB FILTERING SOFTWARE

In addition to using some sort of internet or web filtering software. You should always supplement with the following:

• Always configure your Internet router to block unwanted Internet and web activity.
• You can block Games such as World of Warcraft by ports or set time limits like mentioned above to halt all Internet activity per port or all activity.
• Block websites by Ip address and Domain name such as myspace,twitter and facebook.
• You can set permission as a local administrator to the computer to disable WIFI and other Internet services at a certain time as well.Using all of this will greatly be a plus to protecting your children online.

Look after your children when they are using the computer. And as always sit down and talk with your child about the dangers of online usage and set some guidelines and rules.

Author: Shane Hale

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Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

Finally there is a solution for parents and grandparents who want to allow their children the freedom to surf the Internet without the fear that they may stumble across the ‘wrong things’ online. Children’s Educational Network has designed a very unique, free Internet filter and parental control multiple themed ‘Kid Safe Browser’ which is the gateway to what they call TUKI.

Most everyone with children has either experienced first hand or knows someone with children who have stumbled across negative content (either innocently or intentionally). The Kid Safe Browser is designed to give parents the ability to have a say as to what their kids are looking at. Parents are given the tools to either delete or add (pre-approve) websites that they deem appropriate or inappropriate.

TUKI is the acronym for ‘The Ultimate Kids’ Internet’ (www.TUKI.com) and this is the membership portion of the their service which offers many premium features. The one very important and meaningful benefit for you and your family is the educational aspect of the Kid Safe Browser. Management of the Company are committed to not only protecting children with technology but also offering educational messaging to teach children the ins and outs of being a responsible, safe web surfer.

This educational messaging is a real powerful feature that we found with TUKI and could not find any other Internet filter or parental control software that also offered an educational aspect.

The Kid Safe Browser gives access to thousands of pre-approved (by teachers and parents) websites that can be surfed (NASA, Nickelodeon, Disney etc.). If a child tries to go to a website that has not been pre-approved the browser displays a message that reads: ‘This website is not in the ‘Approved List’.

Parents can then decide whether or not that site is acceptable for their child to visit and choose to add it if meets their approval. There is also a ‘Internet Protection Lockdown’ feature that prevents the user from exiting the Kid Safe Browser and entering another browser (AOL, Netscape, IE etc.) that allows access to potentially controversial websites.

Yet, another concern for Parents is that they might receive unsolicited (spam) email. As part of the TUKI membership kids are issued a spam free and safe email account. Again, parents are given the keys to their children’s email box so to speak. Parents pre-approve who the child can send and receive email from. Parents can also add key words (to an already existent ‘Ban List’ that a child cannot send out via email & chat. For instance, a child would be prevented from giving out private information such as a home address, home phone number, school name or sports team or any other bit of information that a parent might feel would compromise their privacy or safety.

Other features of the TUKI membership are ‘Chore Reminders’ and ‘Encouraging Words’. Since each browser has it’s own (themed) animated talking Internet Guide, (The Noah’s Net Browser has Noah - The Mindstein Browser has Professor Mindstein) Parents can dictate some of the things that the Internet Guide will pop up and say; ‘Mandy - did you feed Fido today?’ ‘Billy, Your Mommy loves you so much!’

For the most part, the Kid Safe Browser is pretty easy to use. Mostly, your kids will love the talking animated characters; the many games included with the software, and homework sites that make keeping with their schoolwork easier. Meanwhile, you will love the fact that you can sleep at night knowing you’ve taken action in preventing your child form being exposed to sites and sounds that he or she shouldn’t.

As a child advocate I recommend everyone to take action and get this new free Internet filter and parental controlled Kid Safe Browser. To get your own Kid Safe Browser visit http://www.tuki.com and download your very own Kid Safe Browser.

Features at a Glance: Fully capable Web browser with parental control over websites that children can surf. Ability to ban potentially objectionable words Options to approve which buddies your child can communicate with Chore Reminders Encouraging Words feature Talking animated character, emails and instant messaging

System Requirements: Windows 98/ME/XP Home or Professional Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher (included with installation) Internet Connection at 56K or faster 133 MHz Processor 64 MB RAM 10 MB free disc space Sound card and speakers

About The Author

Greg Writer is a dynamic speaker, author, teacher and coach with over 23 years experience in corporate finance, capital formation, executive level management, sales/marketing and has facilitated the formation and financing of hundreds of start up & early stage companies. Currently the CEO and Founder of Children’s Educational Network, a company dedicated to protecting children online. More information at http://www.tuki.com.

Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

Intrusion prevention system servers are important options for computer security. This is because an IPS server can monitor all activities that take place on a computer so that any activities that are not desired or wanted will be blocked. This includes monitoring activities that come from other computers that the computer with the IPS server is receiving. Parents want parental controls on all IPS servers because these servers can help to block certain websites and other activities that they do not want their kids to use.

It is very clear that there are several different types of websites out there that are bad for kids to see. However, these are some of the most popular websites among older people. These sites include places that may contain strong adult language or even places that feature strong sexual content. Parents want parental controls on all IPS servers so that any activities that are going to take place on any of these sites will be blocked from happening on their computers. This way the kids will not have to see anything from the sites that the parents do not want them to see, and this makes for one of the best reasons why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers.

Another important reason why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers is because of the fact that kids who are on the Internet may not be fully aware of the many dangerous things that can impair a computer’s performance. Viruses, spam, adware and malware are things that kids do not necessarily think of when they are online. Therefore, educating children about these things can be useful. Just to be safe using parental controls on all IPS servers is greatly recommended. This will be needed so that sites that are trusted will be the only sites that kids will be able to have access to. This includes sites that are known to carry no dangerous invasions that may get onto a computer.

Parents want parental controls on all IPS servers because they will work to help with preventing any kinds of dangerous emails from getting into the email account that a child will have. As mentioned already kids may not be fully aware of the dangers of spam. They may feel that great offers for things that come to them on their email accounts will be for real. Because of this, the need to keep spam from getting onto a computer will be especially important. Using parental controls on an IPS server will be needed so that the sites that can cause spam to pop up onto an email account will be blocked.

The last reason as to why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers is that they want their kids to have the same level of protection from dangerous malware and other online hazards as they do. They do not want the Internet experience for anyone in the home to be affected. After all, malware can easily spread from one computer to another in a server, and when there are multiple computers in a home connected to the same server for online use, this can easily affect the activities that all Internet users have.

Those are the reasons as to why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers. IPS servers work to monitor network activities and prevent certain things from getting into a computer or any specific activities from happening. However, it is important to have parental controls on an IPS server because kids may not be completely conscious about the many dangers that are on the Internet that can affect one’s computer. In addition, there are many different sites that parents definitely do not want their kids to read. With these reasons, it can be seen as to why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers. So many great things can be used to help protect not only kids but also the entire family.

Terry Detty knows the Search Engine Optimization Specialist and SEO Firm is valuable to his Firm. His latest interest is a new Advertising Web Site program he’s been using for his website.

By Terry Detty Published: 6/23/2008

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Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

The latter choice/option being the preferred way to go. You know as well as I do, if you make restrictions on teens or you stop them from doing something as a form of punishment they will find a way to undermine your authority. They will find a way or sneak online somewhere else. And the possible outcome could be very tragic.

Another option to help teens, is by becoming an active partner in the mySpace craze. Make your own profile find out what all the excitement is about and show them how you would surf and add friends and why you as a parent would also want to make correct choices and be safe (adults need to be safe also). Teach them how to use common sense and show each of your children the proper way to enjoy the Internet. It’s a great teaching moment! Manage your child’s computer time with Parental Control Software packages!

Option # 1:

Source Code can be used to prevent objectionable websites but, there are some limitation. Also (you’ll need to know how to do some minor programming) but it’s simple enough, just follow the directions.

Option # 2:

Monitoring Software can be used to monitor online activity by using software to Record Emails, Chats, IMs, Web Sites, Programs Run, Keystrokes Typed, Peer to Peer File Sharing, Screen Snapshots - Plus - Offers Internet Access Blocking and Instant Notification Alerts.

Option # 3:

Blocking Software might be a Wise Choice that will protect your children, by completely blocking their use of objectionable websites. The software may also block some sites that could be used for homework.

Option # 4:

Logging Software monitors and logs all keystrokes while your children are online.

Blocking, monitoring, and logging what’s the difference?

A blocking program has the ability to automatically block most inappropriate sites. Most blocking programs along with their automatic blocking, will allow you to specify which sites you want blocked and which sites you want to allow. They should all be password protected to keep the kids out. Most blockers work well, although, the downside is that some can be a bit too restrictive.

For instance, CYBERsitter (one of the most used) would never allow kids to upload pictures to their boards. Granted, this isn’t necessarily bad, but when given the ok, a child expects to be able to upload their photo(s), and expect CYBERsitter to allow them to upload. However, it won’t allow it, you’ll have to manually disable it and wait for them to finish, and then re-enable the software.

A monitoring program monitors web sites visited, applications used on the computer, like MSword or a game. Most monitoring programs also have a blocking function.

A logging program or key logger as they are called, simply logs all keystrokes made on your computer. Most, will also log incoming chat sessions and email. These programs, as far as I am concerned, are a must if you have kids chatting and using email. They will not stop bad things from happening, but they will log exactly what was said and when.

Please take an active roll with your children no matter what choice you make as far blocking or not blocking Internet access. Show your children you care about what they do online, as well as in school, sports, hobbies, and friends.

Each option covers different levels of security. If you follow the advice that is provided on each option, you are going to greatly improve and enjoy your experiences online and your children will too. Keep your children safe.

Author: Bill Wardell

Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

There are several guides online that allow you to configure your own windows defense, unfortunately many have loop holes and back doors which can easily be found when searching online. It’s much easier to consult a company that develops parental control software. Not only for the ease of setting up, but for the piece of mind that it won’t be bypassed by the kids.

Here’s why it’s wise to install parental control software:

block internet sites - stop all inappropriate content being viewed
Save all chat activities - Prevent your child from meeting up with corrupt adults
Store browser history - Keep an eye on the sites being viewed.
Block software installations - Prevent installing software which could bypass any current protection.

A curious child’s mind is a beautiful thing, as they grow older they construct there own views on life and they definitely don’t needs to see the explicit and unacceptable content which lies on the internet. Now - just because there are nasty websites out there, it doesn’t mean the internet should be out ruled. The Internet is an excellent education and communications tool, which with the right protection in place - can be a great place to explore.

Author: Alex Redbridge

Technorati Tags: computer, control, filtering, internet, monitoring, parental, review, safety, software, web

Parental control software remains a useful tool to monitor your child’s online activity and at the same time block inappropriate content. The fact that you are an adult does not necessarily mean you like to view offensive content, so the software can also be utilised to block offensive content on sites you often visit. Unfortunately, with the monitoring part of the software comes an inherent security risk of sensitive information that may fall into the wrong hands.

If you want to use parental control software, you need to use it responsibly, especially if you install it on a computer that is shared by several members of your household. The trustworthy members of the family need to be aware of the software and the need to have administrator privileges to disable the software before working on the computer. Parents often forget to disable the software before doing online shopping or banking, effectively allowing the key-logger component of the software to log important information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers and passwords.

Many Internet monitoring software packages take screen shots at certain intervals to capture the contents of the screen at a specific point in time. This is also dangerous if you forget to disable the monitoring part of the software, before logging into a secure area of a website. Screen shots can be taken of sensitive information that’s normally only accessible behind a secure login area. All this information (keystrokes and screen shots) is stored on your hard drive, exposing it to possible exploits from crackers or spyware.

Well-written parental control software will obviously encrypt the information it logs, but crackers often decipher the encryption code in next to no time. The last thing you need is a spyware infection or an intruder on your system that can bypass the encryption of the parental control software. You don’t want a stranger going through your logs if you accidentally forgot to disable the software before entering sensitive information on the Internet. So the most important thing to remember is to disable the monitoring software before you use the computer and remember to enable it again when you’re done, otherwise there is no point in having the software on your computer in the first place.

Some parental control software allows you to create different profiles for different members of the family. You can for instance have a "Child" profile that blocks inappropriate content and monitors your child’s activity on the web, a "Teen" profile that does not block any content, but only monitors your child’s activity and a "Parent" profile that does not monitor your activity or block any content. The "Teen" profile can be activated when your teenager wants to use the computer, or you can activate the "Parent" profile if you are present while your children surfs the Internet. The "Child" profile should be used to limit Internet access while you are not at home to keep an eye on your children’s Internet activity.

Kaspersky Lab recently integrated a parental control module into their Internet Security suite. It does not log keystrokes or take screen shots, it only monitors HTTP traffic. To know what your child is doing on his or her computer, you only need to monitor their Internet use. It is easy to see which games they are playing and which software they are using by examining certain areas of your system, like the Program Files folder and the Add and Remove Programs section of the control panel. Clever kids will know how to wipe this information, but most programs make connections to the Internet these days, so just by examining the HTTP traffic generated by these programs, you can easily tell which programs your child is using and which websites they are visiting.

The parental control module of Kaspersky Internet Security logs all the websites visited by your children, all the remote images loaded from e-mails that they read and all the servers they connect to for online gaming and software updates. If the logs contain entries from winamp.com, then your child is probably using Winamp to play music or movies. Entries from ea.com, might indicate that your child is playing some games developed by Electronic Arts. Your children will also download software from certain sites, which will give you another indication of what kind of software they are using. The fact that the software monitors HTTP traffic, means that you are not only limited to the traffic generated by a web browser or e-mail client, it monitors all Internet activity from any application.

The way that Kaspersky Lab approaches parental control and monitoring software, does not compromise your online safety like your conventional child monitoring software, because there is no security holes created by keystroke logging and capturing of screen data. The logs of your HTTP traffic may still contain tracking information that you may not want to reveal to advertising companies (and their spyware programs), but the beauty of this module is that it is integrated into an Internet security suite, so you are automatically protected against unauthorised access and malicious software infections, thanks to the firewall the anti-malware shields of the software. Traffic through secure servers (HTTPS) is normally encrypted, so the monitoring software only sees the encrypted data during a secure online session like Internet banking or online shopping. I still recommend that you turn of the parental control module before transmitting sensitive information over the Internet.

Up to know I basically discussed the monitoring part of parental control software. The control part allows you to block indecent content as well. Blocking inappropriate content minimises the risk of malware infections. Porn sites are often loaded with spyware, so keeping your children away from these sites, does not only protect them from exposure to harmful content, but it also protects your computer from dangerous infections. Your child’s porn surfing may be the cause of a dangerous spyware infection, something you may not be aware of (especially if you don’t have any spyware protection installed). You could easily log into your online banking account or enter sensitive information on the web, without realising that there are spyware lurking on your computer, watching your every move. Parental control software is not designed to protect your computer against malware infections, but preventing your children from accessing inappropriate websites, helps them to stay away from potentially dangerous websites, which is the number one rule in malware prevention.

Proper parental control software should allow you to set up filters to block specific inappropriate content, giving you complete control over what you allow your child to access on the Internet. Kaspersky Internet Security allows you to do exactly this. Lets say you want to block access to sites containing the word "murder" in the URL. You simply add the filter "*murder*" to the Parental Control Blacklist and it will block all websites containing the word "murder" in the URL. You can also blacklist specific URL’s to prevent access to certain online chat rooms, web mail services or social community websites. Websites that carries your approval can be added to a white list to prevent the software from accidentally blocking it, or you may want to allow only specific pages from a site that’s currently on the blacklist. The flexibility of the software allows you to fine tune the parental control software to your own specific needs, enhancing the online safety of your children.

So what is the message I’m trying to get across here? As I said at the beginning of this article, parental control and monitoring software remains a useful tool to keep an eye on your children’s Internet activity when you are not present. As a parent you need to understand that parental control software poses certain security risks of you do not manage the software in a responsible way. I feel that developers of parental control software should move away from keystroke logging and screen capturing and focus on HTTP monitoring instead. Parental control software developed by a company who specialises in Internet security, gives you peace of mind that the software was designed with security as a top priority. The next step for Kaspersky Lab may be to make the module optional. Not everyone wants parental control software, but if I want to add this functionality to my computer, I’d rather buy it from a developer who has been in the Internet security industry for years, than buying the software from a developer who does not have a clue about Internet security.

Author: Coenraad De Beer

Technorati Tags: control, internet, parental, safety, Security, software