SecureMama

Internet Safety Checklist

Cathy Olsen — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:35:16 +0000

We often hear about the threats out on the Internet: cyber bullying, hacking, phishing, gambling, addiction, etc. It is easy to feel overwhelmed. Where do I begin? How can I actually protect my family? Follow the checklist below and you will be well on your way. Make one change. Wait a few days or a week to make sure it doesn’t break anything. Then start on the next item on your list. You will no longer feel overwhelmed but in control!

Internet Safety Checklist

FireDrill – The most important lesson you can teach your child is to alert a parent or adult if they see anything that is ‘scary’ or ‘inappropriate.’ No matter what filters or controls you may have installed, kids will accidently click on the wrong link and stumble upon inappropriate material. They need to feel comfortable talking to a parent about what they saw and how they got there.
Internet Guidelines – There are multiple ways to access content and interact on the Internet. As a parent, you will not be able to monitor or secure every access point. You need to set Internet guidelines that they need to follow no matter where they are, who they are with, or how they are accessing the Internet. See: Internet Guidelines.
Protect Themselves – Teach your children how to protect themselves on the Internet. Teach them to surf safely: don’t click on ads, pop-ups, don’t download applications without permission, etc. See: Safe Web Surfing. There are so many threats out there to steal personal information. Teach them to be stingy about giving out any of their personal information: birthdate, first and last name, address, mother’s maiden name, social security number. Teach them to recognize phishing schemes. These schemes can come through e-mail, social media. See: How to recognize a Phishing scheme. Teach them to set strong passwords. You wouldn’t want your son or daughter’s Facebook or e-mail account to get hacked. See: How to create a strong password.
Follow Your Kids – Social Media is huge, it’s not leaving and it’s not just Facebook. Kids are interacting on multiple social networks. Talk to your kids and determine where they have accounts – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. If they want to continue interacting on the site, you need to sign up for an account yourself and follow their ‘feed’ ‘pins’ and ‘tweets.’ Talk to them about inappropriate and appropriate posts. See: Social Media for Kids. See What is SnapChat?
Keep Social Media ‘Private’ – College admissions and recruiters often use social media to review potential candidates. Also, predators can target kids if they often post their location and detailed information about their activities. They should not accept any communication or interactions from strangers. Let your kids be kids and allow them to interact on social media without running the risk of future scrutiny or becoming a target. See Facebook Privacy.
Keep your Home Computer Secure. – The foundation of security for your home computer depends on your compliance to four simple rules 1) Install application updates 2) Install operating system (Windows or Mac OS) updates and 3) Install an anti-virus solution 4) Don’t install junk. Applications like Adobe and Java are common targets by hackers because they are used on multiple types of computers. Many ‘free’ applications are common forms to spread viruses and malware. Read reviews and download applications from a trusted source. Keep your system clean and you will not compromise the safety and security of your home computer. See: Operating system and Application Updates Explained. See: Does my computer have a cold? Anti-Virus Explained.
Set up User Accounts – Kids love to download ‘junk’ onto computers. There is no reason they should have the ability to do this. Take the keys away from them. Give them a user account with limited privileges. If they need to install or download something they should be forced to ask a parent. See: Who is in the Driver’s Seat: User Accounts.
Safe Search – Kids need to search on the Internet at the early ages of 8 and 9 for school projects. Start by searching online side-by-side and walk through why you click on some links and not others. If you need to perform an image or video search, you should enable the safe search options so you will reduce the risk of seeing inappropriate content. See: YouTube for Kids. See: Google Safe Search.
Parental Controls – We have so many Internet-capable devices and it is easy to get overwhelmed with the technology itself. However, there are tools available to customize and restrict those devices so that you can control how the technology behaves in your home. Disable web browsers on gaming systems and BluRay players if you do not use that feature. Set up allowed time periods on Windows and Mac computers. Set an example and charge mobile devices in the kitchen. Interaction on the Internet should be during the day and in a public location as much as possible. See: Parental Controls: Keep that Baby Gate Up!
Web filter – Most parents jump to the web filter and feel that they will be safe. If you follow all of the previous steps, think of the web filter as a safety net that will catch anything that may have fallen between the cracks. There are many free web filter solutions available. Remember to install a web filter on mobile devices as well. It can prevent your family from visiting illicit and malicious sites. See: Web Filter Posts

The Internet is such a great tool and is part of our everyday life. How we teach our children to use the Internet will affect them for the rest of their life. Teach them how to protect themselves. Teach them to be safe. Teach them to do great things on the Internet!

What is Instagram?

Cathy Olsen — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:40:13 +0000

Have you seen this logo before? Either on your kids phone, iTouch? What is Instagram? You just got used to using Facebook. Your kids have accounts but haven’t posted anything in months. Why do I always hear and see stuff coming from Instagram?

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a social media app with 100 million users. The application can link to an existing Facebook,Twitter, Tmblr, foursquare, Picassa account.

Istagram is a social media network built around photos. An Instagram user can take a picture or use an existing photo and resize it to a nice square image with filter options. The Instagram user can tag other users and use hashtags to better organize and interact with other Instagram users.

Typically people like to take artsy “Slice of Life” pictures and post them with hashtags to get more likes and increase their following.

What is so great about Instagram?

Instagram has over 100 million users. Instagram is a really easy way to share a moment from your day with friends. You don’t have to worry about tagging the picture or creating an album. It only takes a few seconds to grab the photo from your phone, add a quick comment and post. Quick! Since you can link Instagram to your other social media accounts, its a one stop shop!

Instagram does not have ads. I don’t know about you, but I am so frustrated with Facebook Ads. I don’t care about the house for sale in my town or a new diet pill. The Facebook ads on the mobile app are ridiculous. Instgram allows you to connect and share without distractions.

Instagram has some fun games. Like any social media network there are some games or fads that can be fun. #tbt means “Throw Back Thursday” where you find a funny old picture and post it on a Thursday. There are sometimes month campaigns to get a picture of specific item for each day of the month.

Instagram is a playground for kids. You may be thinking from the view of your kids Facebook account that they have cut down on their social media usage. Not so much. Kids are using Instagram and Twitter.

Instagram privacy settings are simple. I don’t know about you, it is frustrating that you have to check and re-check every 6 months. Instagram privacy is pretty straightforward.

Instagram Settings

Instagram Privacy Settings

Instagram was built for people to create a ‘following.’ However, for myself and for kids that have an Instagram account you should probably make their Instagram account private. They will still be able to interact with friends, but they will have to approve anyone that wants to follow their Instagram feed. See Tutorial Below. Just like you worry about the one billion Facebook users that may be able to see your kids information, you should still be wary of the 1oo million users on Instagram. If their Instagram feed is public, college admissions, potential employers, and scholarship administrators will be able to see all of their posts.

Some teenagers are budding photographers. They may like to put multiple hashtags on each Instagram picture to get more followers and likes. If this is the case, let them set up a separate account which is dedicate to photography. They are not posting pictures of themselves, friends or their location to random strangers.

Who you Follow on Instagram

Some Instagram users have created a following because of the theme or types of subjects pictures that they take. Be wary of your kids following strangers because it is difficult to regulate all of the pictures that are posted on Instagram. Nudity is not allowed on Instagram but lude and suggestive pictures may not be taken off. If you your kids see a picture that is inappropriate you can report it so it can be removed. See Tutorial Below.

GeoTagging in Instagram

You can add your location to your Instagram posts. Kids really shouldn’t be tagging their exact location in real time photos. Many adults like to share their location, which can be fun if they are bragging about a vacation. Even though it is fun, it is not very secure. Don’t over advertise when you go out of town. If you want to check into a location, post it as you are leaving. Check your Instagram settings to make sure Geotagging is turned off.

Instagram Comments, User Interaction

Because you cannot ‘tag’ photos of users within the picture, typically Instagram users tag the Instagram user in the comment. It is difficult to moderate any interactions within Instagram comment tags. If there is mean or abusive behavior occuring, consider blocking or reporting the Instagram user. See Tutorial Below. Because of the limited settings available, you may also think about deleting your kids Instagram account.

Instagram Privacy Tutorial

1. Click on your Instagram profile icon.

2. Click on ‘Edit Your Profile.’

3. Turn on ‘Photos are Private.’

Instagram Report and Block Users Tutorial

1. Navigate to the Instagram user’s profile page. (1. Search on Instagram 2. Type in their username 3. Tap on their username)

2. Tap on the ‘Share Button’ on the top right.

3. Tap “Block User” if you do not want any interaction with the user.

4. Tap “Report for Spam” if the Instagram user is repeatedly posting the same picture or spamming your account with comments.

Instagram Report Inappropriate Photos Tutorial

1. Click on the ‘…’ icon on the bottom right.

2. Click on the appropriate reason why you are reporting the image.

Internet Safety Cheat Sheet

Cathy Olsen — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:19:31 +0000

I found this Internet Safety Cheat Sheet on Pinterest the other day. What a great idea!

Please go to the Internet Safety Cheat Sheet site and enter your e-mail address to get the full PDF.

She updates the cheat sheet as changes are made to the various systems. I am signed up!

Thank you Jen for making this!

Securemama KSL Studio 5 – YouTube Safety

Cathy Olsen — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 03:04:29 +0000

I was on TV again!!

I have posted about YouTube Safety Tips. Click on that link to get the written list that was discussed on the show. I think it went pretty well. If you have any other tips or apps you have liked to protect your kids on YouTube please leave a comment!

Here is the behind the scene dish:

It was such a fun experience to be on the KSL set to tape my segment on YouTube Safety. I was so worried about what I was going to wear. I was so worried about the red shirt. It had Shoulder Pads!! I can’t believe it! 80′s are really back! My sister-in-law who is a stylist insisted that I wear it. Luckily I have a friend that can do make-up as well.

I got to sit in the dressing room with the lights and practice speaking through my points a few times. This helped me not trip over my words too much!

YouTube Safety Tips

Cathy Olsen — Thu, 30 May 2013 13:19:45 +0000

YouTube Safety

We have all tried to be vigilant in monitoring what our kids do on the Internet. Even with my best intentions, my kids have often ‘clicked too far’ on YouTube. So what should a parent do to keep YouTube Safe? Keep reading for some technical and practical tips you can follow to keep YouTube entertaining and fun!

YouTube Safety Tip #1 – Turn on SafeSearch

I have previously written a post on how to turn on YouTube SafeSearch. See YouTube for Kids. The safe search will block all content that is identified as ‘inappropriate, violent, lude.’

However, since I wrote that post, I have realized many shortcomings with this safesearch setting. This isn’t a one-step solution. The Safesearch feature relies on YouTube users to be accurate in their descriptions and titles for their movies. As you can imagine with the millions of hours of YouTube available, the titles and descriptions and maturity ratings are not always accurate. Because of this, there are some more tips to follow.

YouTube Safety Tip#2 – Create Playlists and Mark Favorites

Kids usually have their favorite video. Whether it is PSY in ‘Gangum Style’ or ‘My Little Pony,’ my kids can watch the same video over and over. If you create a playlist you are letting your kids skip the step of searching for a video every time. You can even create a bookmark for a playlist so that they go straight there instead of the YouTube home site.

YouTube Safety Tip#3 – Report Inappropriate Content

Many parents get frustrated with content that is STILL available with the Safe Search turned on. If you feel that, the content is violent or sexual in nature you can click on the ‘report’ flag and send it to YouTube. They may or may not pull the video but at least you are requiring a YouTube employee to review the video. If you do this, you are helping the thousands of parents that may have seen the same video come up during a benign YouTube search.

YouTube Safety Tip #4 – Search and Watch YouTube

It is important for kids and teenagers to learn to explore on their own. Sit by them as they search for new videos on YouTube. Highlight the video results that may not be a good fit for them. Tell them how you came to that conclusion. Teach them to understand that YouTube is a great education tool, but they have to be careful of some of the content on YouTube.

YouTube Safety Tip #5 – Be Wary of YouTube Suggestions

My kids love watching YouTube. However, any time they happened upon inappropriate content it was because they clicked through two to three rounds of YouTube ‘suggested videos.’ The YouTube suggestions will lead your kids to unrelated videos from their original search which may include inappropriate videos. It is better to rephrase your search ‘key words’ or stay within the first few pages of the original search result.

Mobile YouTube Safety Tip

What about my iTouch, Kindle, and iPad? If you have the YouTube app installed on a mobile device turn on safe search as well. In addition, if the device is dedicated for kid use I would recommend installing a restrictive YouTube application player. Search for ‘YouTube for Kids’ and you will see many paid and free apps that provide a restricted YouTube video player. My favorite app is Video Monster. It allows you to dynamically add content to the device, cache or download certain videos and has a passlock to update the playlist. The other applications are great, but to me seem more like a walled garden which takes the fun out of the always new content on YouTube.

So follow these tips and your kids should be that much more safe on Youtube!!

How to detect a Phishing scheme?

Cathy Olsen — Sat, 25 May 2013 14:15:27 +0000

Phishing e-mails are designed to steal personal information by gaining access to your computer through malicious software. Phishing is any attempt to steal personal information while posing as a trusted source. This article will help you recognize and detect phishing attempts.

Because of the advances in security prevention and detection technologies, hackers have turned to exploit users in order to steal information or hack into company networks. Phishing e-mails are looking more and more legitimate.

How to Detect Phishing: What does a phishing email message look like?

Here is an example of what a phishing scam in an email message might look like. See the clues highlighted in the picture below.

How to Detect Phishing: 1. Impersonal greeting

The e-mail will have an impersonal greeting such as ‘Hello’ or ‘Webmail user.’ Companies which do store your information know your name and will have your name listed within any valid communication.

How to Detect Phishing: 2. Bad Grammar

Cybercriminals are not known for their grammar and spelling. Professional companies or organizations usually have a staff of copy editors that will not allow a mass email like this to go out to its users with blatant misspellings or grammatical errors. If you notice mistakes in an email, it might be a scam.

How to Detect Phishing: 3. Threats

Phishing attempts usually come with some threat or urgent message. Your account will be closed, you will have to pay fines, and other negative events will happen if you do not respond to this e-mail. Cybercriminals also use threats that your security has been compromised. Don’t panic and click. Slow down and determine if this is a legitimate e-mail.

How to Detect Phishing: 4. Spoofing e-mails and popular websites or companies

Scam artists use graphics in email that appear to be connected to legitimate websites but actually take you to phony scam sites or legitimate-looking pop-up windows. In addition, the ‘friendly’ e-mail address does not match the actual e-mail address. Mouse-over links and e-mail addresses to reveal the true identity of the sender.

How to Detect Phishing: 5. Follow your gut

Whether it is a phony sweepstakes or it is an urgent message about your account; don’t click on anything within the e-mail. Sometimes your gut feeling that ‘This doesn’t seem right’ can be your best guide. If you want to follow-up, access your account by typing the address in the address bar. Contact customer service numbers listed on the website. Don’t click or call using any of the information listed in the e-mail.

What is a DDOS Attack?

Cathy Olsen — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:45:04 +0000

The news has been full of stories of attacks on American banks. Wells Fargo, Bank of America among them. The attack also slammed other sercvices including Netflix, Google earth. These attacks have been claimed by a group called “Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam Cyber Fighters” in response to an online video clip that denigrates Islam. There are many complex issues surrounding the politics and the means of the attacks. This was one of the largest DDOS attacks seen. I’ll break it down for you so you can understand.

What is a DDOS attack?

DDOS stands for “Distributed Denial of Service” attack.

Ok .. I’ll explain even further

What is a DOS attack?

A denial of service attack occurs when a hacker sends large amounts of data to the victim website making it impossible or difficult for legitimate users to use the website. Old School example: Remember the busy signal you would get when someone accidentally left the phone off the hook? Pretty much the same thing.

What is a DDOS attack?

The distributed denial of service attack is an attack against an Internet service from multiple sources. Security systems today are built to automatically block and prevent denial of service attacks. Most security event monitory systems will identify the data and send an alert or automatically build a rule to block the traffic. In order to pull of a successful attack today, you need to have multiple sources and multiple attack methods which is what we are seeing today. It’s a coordinated effort from a team of skilled hackers and many systems and devices.

What do I need to do about a DDOS attack?

The statements by the banking institutions that your data is safe IS correct. A DDOS attack is a interruption of service. If there had been a data breach, the bank institutions would be required to disclose the data breach information.

What if you need to check your balance or transfer money and the online banking site is unavailable? Most financial institutions would extend their call center hours and capabilities to assist you in your banking needs.

How will this affect me in the future?

As you can see, the the attacks on the Internet are becoming more sophisticated and complex. The act of cyberterrism is a real thing. The US Government and other large institutions are investing money and technology today to protect data, assets, and services on Internet to be prepared for what may come tomorrow. Deep thoughts for a Thursday afternoon.

In the end, the Internet is a scary place. That’s why I’m here to help parents. It’s still a sunny day and I’m on my way to take my son to baseball practice. Despite the noise and chaos online, it’s a happy day here with my kids.

Apple mobile guided access

Cathy Olsen — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:36:31 +0000

Do you entertain your kids with a iPhone or iPad ?

at the doctors?
at the store?
at a restaurant?

While they have your phone or iPad, do your kids ever …

click on advertisements?
click on the ‘home’ button and are upset that there game is ‘gone?’
try to purchase ‘coins’ or ‘points’ with real money?
post their highest score on YOUR facebook page?

Don’t get frustrated ..

Turn on Guided Access on your Apple device!

I just figured it out today and I love it !!

Here is the link to the Apple Article covering guided access.

What is Guided Access?

Guided access allows you to restrict the native mobile functions – ‘home’ button, power button, landscape mode.

Guided access can restrict areas of the screen to be disabled.

See below to how I have restricted the top ad banner and the share button on the ‘Klidescope’ app. See how I have touched the top advertisement banner and nothing happens!

How to turn on Guided Access

Go to:

Tap Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access to set up Guided Access.

From there you can:

Turn Guided Access on or off
Set a passcode that controls the use of Guided Access and prevents someone from leaving an active session
Set whether the device can go to sleep during a session
Start a Guided Access session

Starte a Guided Access Session

Open the app you want to run.
Triple-click the Home button.
Adjust settings for the session then click Start.
Disable app controls and areas of the app screen by circling prtions of the screen.

End a Guided Access Session

Triple-click the Home button.
Enter the passcode that you set within the ‘Guided Access’ Settings.
Press ‘End’

Snap Chat Mobile App

Cathy Olsen — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 21:31:27 +0000

Snap Chat Mobile App – What is it?

SnapChat is a mobile app available on Apple and droid devices. that allows users to connect and take a picture and write a short message and share it with other Snapchat users that are listed as friends. You can set the time allowed to view the picture. Once the timer is up, the picture is no longer available on either the sender or receiver’s phone.

SnapChat – Why Should I Worry?

1. SnapChat & Sexting

SnapChat was built seemingly to conquer the ill’s of sexting and taking inappropriate pictures. Just look at the marketing picture provided by SnapChat. It’s difficult to tell if those girls are clothed or not. Our kids should understand the consequences of taking and sending inappropriate pictures. This application may offer a false sense of privacy to young users.

2. SnapChat friends

You can find friends through e-mail address, or SnapChat username. There is no ‘handshake’ or approval process for friends. Your kids may receive images from random friends or strangers if someone happens to type in their SnapChat user name.

3. ”Deleted” Pictures

I have found three loopholes to this claim that the “Picture is gone forever.”

Screenshot – You can very easily take a screenshot of a picture that you receive. They added a feature that the sender will get a notification that a screenshot was taken. That’s great, but what can you do about it? How do you know that the recipient really did delete the picture? Also, there are tutorials available that shows you how to take a screenshot without letting the sender get a ‘screenshot’ notification.
Access stored media – There are tutorials out there that show you it is very easy to access videos and pictures from devices by plugging in the device and navigating to media in a series of folders. No needed applications to install. No ‘hacking’ skills required.
Servers – The picture has to be ‘stored’ somewhere in order to be sent. How long does SnapChat retain pictures? What happens if they are on the list of companies that have been recently hacked? Their privacy policy even admits that they are not responsible for image privacy:

“Although we attempt to delete image data as soon as possible after the message is transmitted, we cannot guarantee that the message contents will be deleted in every case. For example, users may take a picture of the message contents with another imaging device or capture a screenshot of the message contents on the device screen. Consequently, we are not able to guarantee that your messaging data will be deleted in all instances. Messages, therefore, are sent at the risk of the user.”

SnapChat – What should a Concerned Parent Do?

I have the application installed on my phone and have a short list of friends. I take and send innocent pictures of ‘daily life’ activities. It is fun. I have not yet received any spam messages.

However, I would not like my kids having this application especially if they were pre-teen or teenagers. I would trust my kids but I don’t trust their friends or friends of their friends. What if they received an inappropriate picture? Would they tell me? I hope so, but I would not have any way to track what is sent and received. You have two options:

Delete SnapChat: Search for the SnapChat application on the device and delete it.

Keep SnapChat and proceed with caution:

Only receive Snaps from friends – You change this setting within the applications. See below. You will have to trust that your kids don’t change it back to ‘everyone’
Review the friend list – Make the friend list small so that is easier to review 5 to 10 friends.
Review history – If you seen Snaps from a new username, you can make sure you know the person. Again, it is very easy to clear the history. You will have to trust your kid to not clear the history.
Continue conversations about appropriate pictures and communication. There is no reason to be mean or take inappropriate pictures in any format.

All things being equal, the most simple solution is typically true. The easiest way to ensure your kids privacy and safety is to delete the application off their device.

Change SnapChat settings to receive Snaps from Friends Only

Change the ‘Who Can Send me Snaps” to “My Friends”

Social Media Scams

Cathy Olsen — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 03:22:24 +0000

Typical Social Media Scams

1. Free Stuff!

We have all wanted free Starbucks, Costco Gift cards, and Amazon gift cards. However, you will not be able to get any of these if you simply click on a link.

There are legitimate “Social Media Contests.” These are used as a marketing tool for businesses that would like to get more social media interaction than a paid Facebook ad. These would come from an official business Facebook page. Typically you will need to ‘like’ the business Facebook page, share the post about the competition and write a short sentence of why you deserve it. You will not need to provide any personal information to win. Again, you should not be required to enter personal information to enter legitimate social media contests.

2. Facebook Hacks

Have you seen the “‘Find out who’s been looking at your profile!” application? How about an application that claims to provide a “dislike” button? These functions are not allowed in the Facebook development suite. These applications are just trying to access information from the curious Facebook user.

3. Cash Grab

You may have connected to old friends on Facebook but be wary of “I need your help” messages. The friend may say they are stranded in a foreign country or have been robbed and need money. This typically is the result of a hacked Facebook account which is being used to gain information or funds from unsuspecting ‘friends’.

4. Shocking Headlines or Exclusive Stories

Links that claim exclusive coverage or that have extreme titles are typically related to malicious sites.
Get your news from trusted sites.

5. Hidden URLs

It is true that many websites are built just to infect vulnerable computers. How can you tell if you are going to a safe site with services like bit.ly, ow.ly, tr.im that are often used on Twitter and Facebook? Firefox and Internet Explorer have available add-ons that enables the ‘preview’ of the link before you browse to the webpage. There are also many sites (longurl.org) that allow you to preview the website URL:

Protect yourself from Social Media Scams

Prevent your account getting hacked by creating a strong password for your social media accounts. Install anti-virus software to protect you from malicious websites. Review your social media profile settings and allowed applications on a regular basis.

By far, the best protection is using a little common sense. If the deal, story, or link is too good to be true, don’t click!