How to Protect a Child From Hackers

Hackers have found a new way to get into your computer to steal financial information and wreck havoc—through your kids. Children who spend a lot of time on the Internet can be a target for hackers. Follow these steps to protect your child and family.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Warn your child never to share personal information, including school information and passwords as well as name and address, online. Hackers can break into networking sites and rig fake popup windows that ask for a password to access site information. The hacker uses that information to hack into your computer.
   
   
2. Familiarize yourself with social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook visited by your child. Make certain your child's private account includes only people she actually knows.
   
   
3. Remind children to open email attachments only from someone they know, and only after verifying that the sender actually sent the attachment. Opening an attachment can unleash viruses and spyware.
   
   
4. Make children check with you before downloading any programs. Downloads should be from trusted sources only. Hackers can use downloaded programs to install spyware that gains access to your personal information.
   
   
5. Verify that your virus protection software is up-to-date and includes firewall protection and anti-spam software for your email program. Norton and Avast! are two programs that often get high marks from computer professionals.
   
6. Check your security settings. In addition to a secure network connection, you can adjust what your child sees through Internet Explorer. Click on "Tools," selecting "Internet Options." Once you click "Enable" under the Content tab, you can adjust the content allowed for language, nudity, sex and violence.
   
   
7. Install anti-spyware software. Spyware allows someone to monitor the pages you visit and even gain access to your credit card numbers. Some anti-spyware programs include anti-hacker tools.
   

Tips & Warnings

• While most surveys are harmless, some can be a doorway for hackers. Review any surveys your child receives.
• Check your Internet history to see where your child has been. Access history in Internet Explorer by clicking the logo that looks like a clock with an arrow pointing counterclockwise.
• Believe it or not, sometimes hackers help. Volunteer hacker groups have assisted law enforcement in catching online pedophiles.
• While controlling content through Internet Explorer helps, it isn't foolproof. Use other security precautions as well.