Being Safe Online

What is Chatroulette, and why should you care?

2010-04-26T11:55:00.000+01:00

A new website called 'Chatroulette' is fast becoming popular amongst teenagers and young adults.

The site is based on a simple concept, and the name is a big clue.

It works literally like roulette. The user connects their webcam, logs on, starts a "game" and is instantly connected to another person. The site displays the image from their webcam, the image from your own webcam, and a "chat" room on the right-hand side. The person you are connected to could be anybody, of any age or any sex, from anywhere in the world.

You can then choose to talk to this person, or simply click "Next" to be connected to another random individual.

The results of such openness are rather unsurprising. The site has a substantial user base of sexually-charged men, hoping to encourage young ladies they are connected to reveal themselves, so that they might obtain some sexual gratification.

The reverse is also occasionally true, but (as any user will observe) the male user base is far more likely to be participating in a state of undress, and encouraging the people to whom they are connected to do the same.

And I stress: These men could be of any age, and are connecting, exposing themselves to, indulging in lewd conversations with, and encouraging nudity and sexual conduct from young women of any age.

The site was the brainchild of a 17-year-old Russian schoolboy, Andrey Ternovskiy. He launched the site in November 2009 and the site grew rapidly from 50 users to 50,000 in the first month. The site now has 1 million visitors per day. Unfortunately it is the openness of the site, which was it's greatest strength and undoubtedly a noble intention, which has become its greatest weakness.

Chatroulette states that you need to be 16+ in order to use the site, but there is no barrier to prevent younger users from participating. All you need is a computer with a webcam and internet connection, and it is entirely free. The site's brief rules also include 'clothes', but this rule too is widely ignored.

The site's popularity amongst young people is also not a surprise. Open, curious and sociable, teenagers are flocking to the site in huge numbers. It is not unusual to see large groups of young people in front of the webcam, peering at the image of the person they are connected to, often in fits of giggles.

Unfortunately, more often than not, the person they are connected to is more often not another teenager looking to connect to his peers around the world, but a naked man, exposing himself and encouraging them to do the same...

Who are your children connecting to online?
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Image Credit: mshades on Flickr (CC)

US Study: Young people want increased privacy

2010-04-16T11:57:00.002+01:00

A US study by researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania suggests that, contrary to popular opinion, young adults are concerned about online privacy and have similar views about social networking to those of their elders.

The research took the form of a phone survey of 1,000 Americans aged 18 and older in June and July 2009.

"The data show that they and older adults are more alike on privacy topics than they are different", the researchers said. "The most outrageous, most incorrigible teenagers have become a symbol for all young people. But it's not an accurate observation of how the average young person is acting."

In one example, the study revealed that 84% of those aged 18 to 24 thought that their permission should be sought before someone uploaded a photo or video of them. This compares with 88% for people older than 45 asked the same question.

In another question, the researchers asked whether an individual had refused to provide information to a company because they thought it was too personal or unneccesary. The research showed that 82% of 18-24 year olds and 84% of of 25 to 34 year olds had done so. The similarity is striking.

As always, we invite your comments.

Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or email support@spysure.com.

Image Credit: hyku on Flickr (CC)

New law targets suicide websites

2010-04-15T13:40:00.000+01:00

At least 39 people in Britain have committed suicide after receiving advice from websites or individuals on the internet, yet nobody has ever been prosecuted for encouraging them.

According to the charity Papyrus, set up to prevent suicide at a young age, the youngest victim of suicide connected with an internet site was aged 13. Paul Kelly, the charity's internet safety campaign co-ordinator, suspects that the figure of 39 could just be "the tip of the iceberg" because these were only reported cases where the police had investigated the deceased's computer.

Mr Kelly lost his own son Simon at age 18 when he took an overdose. He had previously discussed suicide in an internet chat room.

In a seperate case, Kevin Whitrick, a father of two from Wellington in Shropshire hung himself in his room. He was filming the event on his webcam and broadcasting it to an audience of 60 people in an internet chat room, one of whom typed: "F***ing do it. Get on with it!". Only one of the sixty people in the chat room dialled 999 to report the incident. Nobody was ever prosecuted over the incident.

However, this is set to change as the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 comes into force, as the act extends existing law against aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring someone to take their own life, to encompass the use of the internet.

As always, we invite your comments.

Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or email support@spysure.com.

Image Credit: fakelvis on Flickr (CC)

Facebook revamps 'Safety Centre', stops short on panic button

2010-04-14T16:34:00.000+01:00

Following a meeting between the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and Facebook, Facebook has agreed to a raft of measures to protect young people from predators on it's site, but crucially stopped short of installing the much-debated CEOP 'Panic Button' on every page.

The social network has been under increasing pressure from the UK authorities to add the CEOP 'Panic Button' to each user's profile but has continually resisted. Instead of the button, Facebook users in the UK and under the age of 19 will be able to click on a 'Report abuse' link on each page which will subsequently provide the option to report abuse to CEOP or Facebook themselves.

In addition, Facebook has 'revamped' it's Safety Centre which provides safety advice to users, and will be providing advertising space on the site to organisations such as CEOP and Childline.

Facebook's new Safety Centre, with sections for Parents, Educators, Teens and law enforcement, can be seen here:

http://www.facebook.com/help/?safety

As always, we invite your comments.

Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or email support@spysure.com.

Man jailed for grooming girl, 12, online

2010-04-13T14:31:00.002+01:00

A 37-year-old man has been jailed for two years for grooming a 12-year-old girl online.

Timothy Fullard used the alias 'Dom' to contact the girl at her home using an (unnamed) internet messaging system, and later by text message. Prosecutors described the conversation between the girl and Fullard as 'particularly intimate'.

Fullard, a married father of two, admitted charges of (1) causing or inciting a female child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, and (2) arranging the commission of a child sex act. He was jailed for 2 years and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Judge Charles Wide QC said that Fullard "knew perfectly well how old she was" and that his "repeated contact" showed "some ingenuity" in avoiding detection.

In a statement released through Police, the girl's family warned parents of the dangers faced by their children online:

"As parents we always want to protect our children and sometimes that can be difficult.
"I would urge parents to trust their instincts.
"Sometimes you might feel paranoid and question yourself, but if you feel like there is something not right then follow it up."

As always, we invite your comments.

Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or email support@spysure.com.

Facebook branded 'arrogant' and 'complacent' towards paedophile threat

2010-04-09T10:37:00.002+01:00

A child-protection expert has branded Facebook 'arrogant' and 'complacent' despite an in increase in reports of paedophile activity on the site.

'Is Facebook so arrogant that it does not matter what the collective child protection community think? Social networking websites need to make some decisions. Do you want to be a chosen site for rapists and murderers?'

'If their system is so robust and they are recieving so many reports and concerns from young people, then where are they?'

Jim Gamble,
UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)

The stinging criticism comes in the wake of Facebook's refusal to add the 'Click CEOP' button (or 'Panic Button') to every page of its site. Other major sites including Bebo and MSN have already adoped the 'Click CEOP' button, which allows users to report suspicious activity straight to CEOP.

CEOP, whose staff include former police officers, child protection staff and computer experts, monitors online paedophile activity and can pass reports and intelligence to police.

Facebook has agreed to place the panic button within its own 'reporting' area, several clicks away, insisting that their own reporting method is stringent enough to deal with the threat. But Mr Gamble, a former deputy director of the National Crime Squad, said that Facebook had never reported any suspicious or inappropriate behaviour to any UK police force.

Child protection teams report that cases involving predators on the site have trebled in the last year.

In the first three months of 2010 CEOP received 252 complaints about activity on Facebook - 40% of which related to potential paedophile activity. This compares with 297 complaints in the whole of 2009.

None of these reports came directly from Facebook themselves.

Mr Gamble is due to meet the vice-president of Facebook in Washington on Monday to discuss his concerns.

A spokesperson for Facebook said that they take the issue of safety very seriously, and will wait until after their meeting with CEOP before sharing their safety strategy with the wider public.

As always, we invite your comments.

Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or email support@spysure.com.

12 Year Old Spends £900 on 'FarmVille' Facebook Game

2010-04-08T16:21:00.002+01:00

A 12-year-old boy has spend £625 on his mother's credit card and £288 of his own savings on virtual property in the popular Facebook game FarmVille.

FarmVille is one of the most popular games on Facebook and revolves around managing a virtual farm by cultivating virtual crops, trees and livestock.

The player can 'buy' new items for their farm using virtual 'coins', which are won in the game by virtue of selling your produce. But the virtual 'coins' can also be bought for real cash using a credit or debit card through Facebook's payments system, essentially providing a shortcut to a bigger, better farm without putting in hours of play.

The boy's mother (who, understandably wants to remain anonymous) discovered in March that the aspiring virtual farmer had spent £288 of his own savings on 'coins' before taking her HSBC Credit Card and spending a further £625.

The mother says that neither Facebook nor game creator Zynga will refund her, as the boy lives at the same address as the card holder. Instead, Facebook has disabled the boy's account for being under-age (like most social networking sites, users must be at least 13 years old in order to have an account on Facebook) and Zynga has suggested that she use password protection on the computer in the future.

Find out what your children are doing online with
Spysure Home Version.

Likewise, HSBC could not refund the transactions unless she reported the matter to the police and obtained a crime number, something she is reluctant to do this, lest it remains on the boy's record and jeopardises his future job prospects.

She does not blame Facebook, Zynga or HSBC, admitting that her son was the one using the card and therefore the one at fault. But the mother did bemoan the lack of password checks (such as the Verified by Visa or Mastercard SecureCode schemes) in the Facebook payments system.

Is the child alone to blame for this incident? Or should the parent accept some responsibility for not being aware of how her son was spending his time (and their money) online?

As always, we invite your comments.

Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or email support@spysure.com.

Safety Tips for Google Buzz

2010-04-08T10:29:00.002+01:00

Google's fledgling Social Networking effort, Google Buzz, launched in February 2010 and immediately caused a storm of controversy over its privacy and safety implications.

Bloggers and tech writers worried about the 'opt-out' nature of the service (which meant that all Google Mail users were instantly members, whether they liked it or not), the lack of control over personal information such as photographs and friend lists, and the geolocation features (which made it possible to disclose your exact location from your mobile phone).

Surprisingly, the service has seen a relatively slow uptake amongst young people, with most social networking users preferring to stick with their Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Twitter accounts.

Find out what your children are writing in any Social Network
with Spysure Home Version's Keylogger feature.

In response to the controversy, Google has made several 'tweaks' to the privacy controls in Google Buzz and, on 5th April, announced a privacy 'reset' which will prompt users to view and (if necessary) change their privacy settings the next time they log on.

Google has also published several tips and a short video (available below) aimed at teenagers to help them use the service safely. Whilst these tips are written for Buzz, they contain general advice that can easily be applied to other social networking sites:

1. Keep your private information private.
Posting publicly on the Web means that whatever you post is visible to all of your followers. It shows up on your public Google profile and may appear in Google search results.

2. Know who's following you.
Buzz sends a notification after someone starts following you and you can chose to block them. If you block someone Buzz doesn't send them a message so they won't necessarily know they've been blocked.

3. Control your Google profile.
Before you can post on Buzz, you have to set up a public profile, but you don't have to share anything more than your first and last name on the profile. The video reminds you that if you have a photo associated with your Gmail account, "you can chose to use this use this as your profile photo as well" but you can change or remove the photo if you don't want it to be public. You can also elect whether you want your list of followers to show up publicly on your profile.

4. Manage posts and comments.
Teens are reminded that they can edit and delete their own posts and delete any comments on your posts and you can remove comments you've made on other people's posts.

5. Know how to turn it off.
If you no longer want to use Buzz, you can disable it from Gmail settings. You can also hide Buzz in Gmail but still get it on your phone.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

PS: Don’t forget to check out Spysure’s YouTube Channel, here.

Pupils Bully Teachers on Facebook

2010-04-01T11:17:00.000+01:00

According to a report by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) pupils are increasingly using social networking sites to undermine and bully teachers. Some pupils are even making malicious and unfounded allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers.

In one instance a pupil set up a profile under the name of a teacher and wrote on the profile that he enjoyed 'under age sex with both boys and girls'. In another, pupils set up a Facebook group entitled 'Join this group if you think Mrs [name removed] is still a virgin.'

Pupils have also been caught uploading videos of teachers to YouTube.

In a survey of 630 UK teachers, nearly 1 in 6 knew of a colleague that had been the victim of a group set up to discuss or post abusing messages about them online.

A spokesperson for Facebook said that it was important for teachers and others to know where they could go for information on protecting themselves from cyberbullying online.

"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others," she said.

"Any content, such as bullying and harassment, which violates Facebook's statement of rights and responsibilities, the governing document for the site, will be removed."

A spokesperson from the Department for Children, Schools and Families said that this type of bullying is "absolutely wrong" and "should never be tolerated" and directed teachers to the guidance they published last year, which covers:

"the legal options open to them; protecting their own personal information online; setting out stricter rules on becoming online friends with pupils; and how to remove inappropriate material from websites.".

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Poll: Who should be responsible for your child's online safety?

2010-03-30T15:22:00.003+01:00

Today we're looking for your opinions on the following issue...

With Government increasingly looking to use legislation to control the threat to our children, schools gearing up to teach online safety, Internet Service Providers coming under increasing pressure to take action, and Social Networking sites in the spotlight, we're asking...

Who should be responsible for your child's online safety?

You can vote for as many options as you feel appropriate. The poll will run for 7 days and, as ever, we'd like to invite your thoughts and comments. Perhaps you feel that the blame lies elsewhere? Perhaps you feel that all of these organisations have their part to play? Let us know by adding a comment below.

Bebo, MySpace or Facebook used by a quarter of UK 8-12 year olds

2010-03-26T15:16:00.002Z

According to a recent survey by UK regulator OFCOM, a quarter (25%) of UK internet users aged between eight and twelve years old have profiles on social networking sites Bebo, Facebook or MySpace.

This is despite the fact that the lowest minimum age requirement on any of the sites is 13.

17% of the parents of the children who had social networking profiles were aware of the fact, whilst 83% did not know what their children were doing on the internet.

Are you one of the 83% who don't know about your child's Facebook profile?

Spysure Home Version can help.

The findings were revealed in Ofcom's annual Children's Media Literacy Audit for 2009.

In addition, 37% of internet users between five and seven years old had visited Facebook in October 2009, but the research did not reveal how many (if any) of those users maintained a profile.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

A Mother Warns: "Be aware of the online dangers that children face."

2010-03-25T15:22:00.002Z

The mother of a young girl abused by a teacher over MSN Messenger warned parents:

"Be aware of the online dangers that children face."

The stark warning came as Ian Goy, of Thornton Clevelys, Lancashire, was jailed for 26 weeks for 'inciting an under-age girl to engage in sexual activitity, whilst in a position of trust'. Goy had denied the charge but was found guilty by a jury in less than 3 hours.

The girl's mother continued: "I am so glad that I found the messages – if I didn't who knows what could have happened."

"I want parents to be aware of the online dangers that their children face. If you don't know anything about computers then you should learn, because your children could be at risk of harm from people contacting them online."

Goy, a former teacher, had struck up a friendship with the girl using the instant messaging service MSN Messenger (aka Windows Live Messenger) before encouraging her to send 'provocative' photos of herself in her underwear. The then-15 year old girl sent three photos of herself in 'procative' poses, but when Goy later asked her to pose on a webcam, she refused.

Mr Goy has been disqualified from working with children for life.

Did you know Spysure can record your children's MSN
Messenger conversations?

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Are Your Children Hacking... Your Email Account?

2010-03-23T11:49:00.000Z

In a survey of 1000 children, released by Cumbria Constabulary and reported by CNN, more than a quarter (26%) said that they had tried ‘hacking’ (breaking into another person’s account on a computer) at some point.

Of those who had tried hacking, 27% had targeted friends accounts on Facebook, and 18% their friends email accounts.

Six percent of those surveyed even admitted to ‘hacking’ their parents’ email accounts!

This is all despite 78% of those surveyed agreeing that it is ‘wrong’ to hack, and 53% admitting that they know it is illegal.

The most common venue for the activity was the children’s bedrooms, but respondents also admitted to hacking in internet cafes, the school computer room and at friends houses.

The most common reason given for hacking was for fun, but almost a quarter of respondents said that they intended to cause disruption, and 20% thought that they could generate an income from hacking.

Stuart Hyde from Cumbria Police says that the survey “illustrates the importance of keeping your passwords strong, secure and changing them regularly”, describing this type of hacking as “child’s play”.

Parents could also consider the use of PC Monitoring Software to keep a close eye on exactly what their children are doing on the PC in their bedroom.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Image Credit: neoliminal on Flickr (CC)

Predators on Facebook: Should you be worried?

2010-03-10T15:06:00.002Z

In the wake of the shocking rape and murder of teenager Ashleigh Hall, who was ‘groomed’ by predatory paedophile Peter Chapman on Facebook, the British press have been quick to point the finger of blame at Facebook.

In an unbelievably sensationalist article on the Daily Mail website, Mark Williams-Thomas, a ‘vastly experienced’ consultant in child protection and a former police detective, paints a terrifying picture of hundreds of men waiting to groom and abuse young women online. Mr Williams-Thomas set up a profile purporting to be a 14-year old girl and, apparently, simply waited for the indecent proposals to flood in.

Fortunately, as several commenters have noted, the story doesn’t quite ring true. In order to be sent these messages the fictional teenager would either have had to initiate the contact in the first place or, at least, accepted friend requests from the predators.

This is easily verified – set up a Facebook account, any Facebook account, with no connections with any other and see if (as described in the Mail article) you receive messages from anyone within 60 seconds. Let alone a ‘middle aged man wanting to perform a sex act’.

One 16-year old commenter rightly points out that in 3 years of him using Facebook he has never come across anyone behaving in such a manner. And this is the crux of the matter: the fake profile was set up and managed in such a way as to invite such contact – most Facebook users do not behave in this way.

So, should you be worried about how your children are using Facebook?

We believe that parents should be aware of their children’s online activity, and this goes double for social networking websites like Facebook. After all, Facebook is little more than a mirror of the society from which it is born. Like a city centre park, it is a wide open space full of people of all kinds. Good and bad, young and old, the most pure and the most depraved are all free to mingle.

Would you ban your children from going to the park because of the risk of one of the other people there could be a predator? Or, would you tell your children not to talk to strangers? And keep a close eye on them whilst you were there?

Facebook has also come under pressure for failing to adopt the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) ‘panic button’ scheme and place it on each page, which some claim would help to protect children whilst using the site.

Does your city park have a panic button on every tree or lamppost, to connect your child directly to specialist child-protection services? I suspect it doesn’t, but any good parent would have told their children how to summon help if they felt threatened, anyway.

We believe that:

Misleading, sensationalist vilification of online services like Facebook is unhelpful.
After all - it is, and will remain, nothing more than a mirror of society.
Parents should be aware of the risks involved in young people using the internet.
Parents should speak to their children about the risks, about what they should and shouldn’t do online, and about what to do if they feel threatened.
Parents should be vigilant, and consider the use of PC & Internet monitoring tools like Spysure as a useful aid to their parental vigilance.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Image Credit: ‘Salvo Vacarella’ on Flickr (CC)

Facebook Campaigns Place Children ‘At Risk’

2010-02-22T14:47:00.001Z

An outbreak of Facebook Campaigns created to ‘out’ promiscuous women on Facebook are putting children at risk, according to a report in today’s Metro newspaper.

Up to 7,000 people joined the Facebook page ‘Join If You Want to Expose Any Grims!’ to post names and photographs of women they claimed to be promiscuous. However, it is suggested that some of the names and photographs published were of under-age girls in states of undress and, in some cases, performing sexual acts.

Facebook acted quickly to remove the page, but it was quickly replaced by another, entitled ‘Join If you Want To Expose Any Grims! (TheFanPage)’ and aiming to 'go on until every ho in London is exposed!’. This too was shut down, but research by Metro found scores of similar pages still online, some of which point to blog articles containing nudity.

A spokesperson from the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) warned people to be careful of allowing ‘racy’ pictures to be taken.

Facebook urged anyone who spots inappropriate content to report it, and promised to remove any content that violates their policies, such as nudity or pornography.

This incident serves as a reminder to parents to ensure they know what their children are sharing online.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Image Credit: ‘Salvo Vacarella’ on Flickr (CC)

YouTube introduces ‘Safety Mode’ for it’s 5th Birthday

2010-02-16T16:03:00.000Z

It’s hard to believe that monolithic video-sharing site YouTube is only five years old, but indeed, the Google-owned site celebrated it’s 5th Birthday on 14th February 2010.

Like most ‘social networking’ or ‘social media’ sites, the openness of YouTube can be seen as very much a mixed blessing. Whilst there is no doubt that so-called ‘user-generated’ content present on YouTube has seen a massive boon in creativity in young people, there is a darker side, where violent and explicit material can very quickly become available to all.

YouTube now serves over a million videos worldwide every day, and in 2008 it was estimated that the ‘bandwidth’ used by YouTube was more than every other site on the internet combined. It is estimated that YouTube contains over 80 million videos, with over 150,000 added every day.

YouTube have recently announced a new feature called ‘Safety Mode’ to protect users from inappropriate videos uploaded to it’s site.

A short video below explains how to enable 'Safety Mode' and 'lock' it so that it cannot be disabled:

We here at the Being Safe Online blog applaud YouTube’s continued efforts to keep it’s site safe for everyone to enjoy.

However, users should bear in mind that ‘blocking’ systems like this rely on content on YouTube being tagged as inappropriate in the first place. Because YouTube provides a method for it’s users to do this, it’s one of the most efficient sites of it’s kind in terms of tagging inappropriate contact. But no system like this is perfect, and with hundreds of thousands of videos uploaded each day, it is quite possible that (even with safety mode enabled) some inappropriate videos might be visible. In fact, YouTube acknowledge as much in their demonstration video (above).

We believe that using monitoring software like Spysure Home Version alongside the parental controls offered by sites such as YouTube is the best way to ensure that your family remains safe online.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

PS: Don’t forget to check out Spysure’s YouTube Channel, here.

OFSTED: “Schools Should Let Pupils Surf Freely”

2010-02-10T15:21:00.001Z

A new report from education inspectorate OFSTED, undertaken as part of Dr. Tanya Byron’s review into the risks and benefits of the Internet, suggests that children who have more freedom to use the internet at school have a ‘richer learning experience’ – and are better at using the internet safely at home.

The finding is contrary to the accepted wisdom of ‘locking down’ school networks with URL and content-filtering software.

The report recommends a “managed” approach of restricting access to the most damaging of websites and monitoring usage at other times.

The report (which looked at 35 schools) found that in 13 schools with ‘locked down’ computer systems, the pupils were less aware of how to use the technology safely, and were therefore ‘more vulnerable’ when using computer facilities at home.

In 21 of the schools, the report also concluded that teaching staff ‘needed more training’ and that this was the ‘weakest aspect’ of the online safety provision overall.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Image Credit: 'Extra Ketchup' on Flickr

Safer Internet Day: Microsoft and CEOP release Internet Explorer 8 “Click Clever, Click Safe” Version

2010-02-09T15:35:00.000Z

Today Microsoft have launched a special version of their Internet Explorer 8 browser software, in conjunction with the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). The “Click Clever, Click Safe” version contains several tools to enable the user to quickly obtain advice from and report their concerns to CEOP.
The most obvious element is an additional button on the toolbar labelled “Click CEOP”. The user can click on this button at any point to access the control panel shown above, where they can obtain advice on Cyberbullying, Viruses, Harmful Content, Hacking, Mobile Problems and Sexual Behaviour. The information is presented for children, teens, parents and teachers alike.

The "Click Clever, Click Safe” browser also adds an “Internet Safety” search to Internet Explorer’s search bar that allows the user to search for information on Internet Safety information from the “thinkuknow” website. Several Internet Security related websites are also added to the browser’s Favourites list.

For users with Internet Explorer 8, these features can be added individually. Users with an earlier version of Internet Explorer can download the software with the add-ons already installed.

Running the latest version of Internet Explorer is always a good idea too – it will help to protect your computer from viruses that exploit flaws in older versions.

You can download Internet Explorer 8 “Click Clever, Click Safe” from the CEOP Website:

http://www.ceop.police.uk/ie8/

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Today is Safer Internet Day - Think B4 U Post!

2010-02-09T14:32:00.002Z

Today, 9th February 2009, is Safer Internet Day 2010. The worldwide initiative is organised each year to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology, particularly amongst children throughout the world.

The message which Safer Internet Day is promoting this year is Think B4 U Post!

Click Read More for more information, and to view a video about this year’s Safer Internet Day message.

The idea behind this year’s campaign is the recognition that the modern internet (and the social networking sites it contains) make it very easy for anyone to create and publish content online. This could be the simple status updates on sites like Facebook or Twitter, longer blog articles, or photos or videos.

Younger people are particularly prolific at publishing this kind of information, particularly on their Facebook pages, and often lack the skills to determine whether publishing, say, a photo of themselves is either sensible or indeed safe.

Added to this, the ability to “tag” or label a person in a photo on such sites can quickly build up a publicly-available gallery of a person – aiding predators and creating an almost-irreversible record of a person’s history, with good and bad aspects online for anyone to see.

Publishing is often both instant and “viral” – information and photos spread throughout contacts quickly and irreversibly. Once the “Send” button is pushed, the child can lose control of that content. It can also be edited, for example by bullies to add hurtful comments, and that edited version can spread just as quickly.

The campaign aims to make young people aware of the risks involved in publishing personal information and photos online and educate them about the methods which are available on social networking sites to control access to that information.

Do you know what your children are posting online?

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Teens Not Interested in ‘Blogging’ or ‘Tweeting’, Prefer Facebook

2010-02-05T16:03:00.002Z

A study published this week by US organisation Pew Internet reveals the surprising conclusion that, whilst teens spend a long time on Facebook viewing status updates and photographs, they are far less likely to write a blog or use Twitter.

The study of 800 US teens found that whilst 93% used the web regularly, and 73% maintained an online profile on Facebook, Bebo or MySpace, just 8% of them used Twitter – the “microblogging” service where you post messages of 140 characters or less.

It is also revealed that “blogging” – the practice of writing an online account of your life, akin to a diary – has also decreased dramatically in younger people. In 2006, 28% of teens said that they were blogging. This has now dropped to just 14%.

The suggestion is that as the Facebook platform becomes more sophisticated and gives the user ever-increasing ways to share information, long-format blogging simply isn’t necessary.

Similarly, Twitter can be a complex concept for young people to grasp – why bother when Facebook is so accessible?

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

‘1 in 4’ Children sent Pornography by E-Mail

2010-02-01T16:11:00.005Z

According to research carried out by telephone provider TalkTalk and reported in the Telegraph today, one in four children have been sent inappropriate material, including pornography, by email.

The report, which surveyed 500 children, also found that more than 6 out of 10 children said that they lie to their parents about their online activity and over half delete their web browser history to prevent their parents from checking up.

Did you know that software tools like Spysure can show the browsing history on your computer even if your children have deleted their history using the browser’s preferences?

The research also found that 1 in 20 children had communicated with a stranger via. webcam and, frighteningly, 1 in 50 had actually met with a stranger who they first contacted online.

The research was overseen by Professor Tanya Byron, a government advisor on online safety.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Spysure on TV!

2010-01-28T14:27:00.007Z

Today we'd like to present to you a TV commercial we had made for Spysure Home Version.

First broadcast in 2009, we hope you find it interesting.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Boys that watch porn online ‘more likely to harass girls’

2010-01-27T10:11:00.001Z

According to a study by Australian researchers, boys who are exposed to pornography at a young age are more inclined to believe there is nothing wrong with harassing a girl for sex.

The study by the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (which collected data from 8 countries) also suggests that boys exposed to porn are more likely to indulge in casual sex – and less likely to form successful relationships as adults.

Whilst sexually explicit material can form part of a young person’s sexual education, there is a concern that internet porn is often a very poor role model, showing sex in an unrealistic light and failing to address love, intimacy or romance. It is noted that porn can often be quite callous in it’s depiction of women. It is this imbalance that can have the worst effect on the impressionable young mind.

A study into sexual habits in the UK suggests that 60% of boys under 16 have been exposed to porn and the average age at which they first experience porn is just 11 years old. The same study reveals that the boys spent 90 minutes a week watching porn on the internet.

John Carr, a government advisor, points out that these statistics should not be used as a reason to “ban” pornography, rather as an argument for making it harder for young people to get hold of.

What are your young boys watching online?

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

US Children Spend “11 Hours a Day” on Entertainment Media

2010-01-21T15:00:00.000Z

According to a new study from US organisation The Kaiser Family Foundation, reported on cnet, there has been a ‘dramatic’ rise in the amount of time 8-18 year olds spend using ‘entertainment media’ each day.

The term ‘entertainment media’ covers TV, computers, video games, music, traditional print media and mobile phones.

The report, which takes into account that children are able to ‘multitask’ and use several entertainment media at once, comes to the conclusion that children cram in nearly 11 hours of content during 7 and a half hours of use across a typical day. The figure is an increase of 1 hour and 17 minutes a day, over the last five years.

Included in this figure is an average of 1 hour 29 minutes each day using a computer for entertainment purposes, a slight increase on the 2004 figure. Of that 1 hour 29 minutes, an average of 22 minutes each day was spent on Social Networking sites. In a typical day, 40% of young people will go to a social networking site, and those who do visit will spend an average of just under an hour there.

Do you have something you'd like to add to this article? As always, we invite your comments. Simply leave a comment below, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.

Spysure Home Version: 10-Day Trial Now Available on Download.com

2010-01-21T14:38:00.001Z

Readers who are interested in trying out Spysure Home Version, to see how it could help them protect their children from online threats, can now download a unique full-featured 10 day trial version of the software from our friends at Download.com!

You can also order the full version as a download from download.com, or via. our own website http://www.spysure.com/ or http://www.spysureusa.com/.

Simply click on the button below to visit Download.com