Child Internet Security

If you are one of the millions of families with children who own a personal computer that operates in the home, you need to take precautions to protect your children from unwanted Internet messages and information. All too often, a child uses the Internet to research a homework assignment and stumbles upon an adult pornography site. Or the child may create an email account to exchanges messages with friends only to be bombarded by salacious email, pop-up advertisements, and sales offers for kids that can lead minors into debt. That is why you need to equip your computer with child protection devices. There are many types of software you can purchase and install to keep unwanted invaders away. Norton and Macafee are two widely recognized names in the software industry that have developed effective software to block or restrict email that is characterized by certain keywords. You can designate these yourself or even forward specific sender names to the program for watchful surveillance and blocking if one should try to enter your system. Check your computer to see what type of protection it currently uses. You can run a check to see how well it functions. If you don’t know how to do this, call a service technician who may be able to walk you through the process by email or over the

telephone. Even if your protective software is operating correctly, it may be due for an upgrade. Often these will be delivered to you routinely by email, free of charge, depending on which software application you are using. In other cases you may have to find your download on the Internet and bring it “home” to your computer, so to speak. In some cases the security software is so out of date that you will need to purchase the next version of a particular program or one that is altogether different. Don’t take chances on letting your kids be exposed to things they should not see. Check your system and upgrade it if needed to ensure that your children remain kids as long as possible.