How Security Technology Can Help You Protect Your Family Online
You have always taught your children how to stay safe in the world — from looking both ways when they cross the street to refusing rides from strangers — but you know that it sometimes takes more than good advice to protect your kids.
When your children are driving or riding in a car, of course you want them to follow proven safety rules, but you also want to make sure they are in a vehicle with a good crash-test rating that is well-equipped with seat belts, air bags, and other safety technology.
Make Security Technology Part of Your Online Family Safety Strategy
It's the same way with computers. While it is essential for you to teach your teenagers and younger children safe Internet behavior, such as keeping their personal information private, your first line of defense when it comes to protecting your family online is technology.
Here are the four most fundamental technology strategies for online safety and security:
- Use a firewall and keep it turned on. A firewall is basically a filter-a software program or hardware device that examines information from the Internet before it reaches your computer or network, and stops anything that it deems suspicious or destructive. Firewalls also can prevent information from leaving your computer without your permission. For more information, see What is a Firewall.
- Keep your operating system updated. Your operating system runs any security software you have installed on your computer, just as it operates your word processing, e-mail and browser programs. Most operating systems also have built-in security features of their own. For your operating system to be an effective security tool, however, you must always keep it current with the latest security updates. For more information, see How to Use Automatic Updates.
- Install anti-virus software and keep it up to date. Good anti-virus programs constantly scan your computer system to locate and block viruses that could cripple your computer or damage your files. They use special algorithms that are designed to detect patterns in small sections of computer code that may indicate known or potential viruses. If a virus is found on your system, the anti-virus program will either remove or, if possible, repair the infected programs and files. For more information, see What are Viruses, Worms and Trojans?
- Install anti-spyware software and keep it up to date. Anti-spyware software is designed to detect and remove programs that have been installed on your computer without your knowledge or permission — usually in an effort to gather and transmit information about your online activities and preferences. For more information, see How to Protect Your Computer from Spyware and Adware.
Combining those four technology strategies will go a long way toward helping you keep your computer secure and your family safe online. Another important technology solution that you can use to help ensure added online safety for your kids is the parental controls or family safety settings that are now built into many technology products — from operating systems to game consoles.
How Do Parental Controls and Family Safety Settings Work?
Parental controls, like those built into Windows Vista, are designed to help you manage your children's online experience, by giving you the ability to determine which games they can play, which programs they can use, and which Web sites they can visit. You can also limit their computer use to specific times.
Parental control programs and family safety settings make it easy for you to restrict the online activities of your kids — both younger children and teenagers — to games, applications and Web sites that are age-appropriate or that meet your personal approval. You can set restrictions either by blocking any content that is rated as violent or sexual, for example, or by designating specific games and Web sites as off-limits for your kids.
Some programs, including Windows Vista, provide easy-to-read activity reports that show how your children have been using the computer so that you know exactly what they have been seeing, hearing and doing online. Having that information enables you to talk with your kids about their online activities and to make informed decisions about refining or modifying the restrictions you have placed on their Internet use.
In addition to operating systems and other applications that come with built-in parental controls and family safety settings, you can also purchase separate products that provide many of the same safeguards.
Knowing about different types of security technology and how they work can help you do a better job of protecting your computer and your family online.
