Be safe online

By BRIGITTE ROZARIO

Our children face so many risks today – not only on the roads and in school but even online. Since we can't prevent them from going online, the next best thing is to know the risks so we can protect them and guide them.

CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer Lt-Kol (R) Husin Haji Jazri says, “There are good and bad people on the Internet. The problem with children is that they tend to trust people easily, such as their online friends who are actually strangers to them in real life. Therefore, they tend to give out personal information easily such as the whereabouts of their parents and details of their daily routines.

“Thus, children could be vulnerable to cyber criminals, and they could also be manipulated as a source of information for cyber criminals who want to target the parents,” he says.

Lt-Kol Husin: 'Cyber criminals are smart and they can pretend to be your online friends. They can trick you into revealing your personal information without you realising it.'

Allowing your children to go online unsupervised is a big no-no. Lt-Kol Husin suggests that it is better to educate and help them to be “street-smart” while surfing.

It is good to educate your children about Internet safety while they are still young so that these good practices eventually become like habit to them - just like in real life where parents advise their children not to trust strangers. Children are always told, “don’t talk to strangers”. In the cyber world, this rule still applies.

“Cyber criminals are smart and they can pretend to be your online friends. They can trick you into revealing your personal information without you realising it. The personal information can then be used to conduct fraud against you such as to guess your passwords. The information they collect about you can also be used to harass your family,” says Lt-Kol Husin.

According to him, the types of incidents involving children which have been reported to CyberSecurity Malaysia revolve around harassment and abuse in social networking sites.

What would CyberSecurity advise children who go online?

“Children need to be advised that they have to be cautious on the Internet just like in real life. For example, in real life we advise them not to trust strangers. Similarly, cyberspace is also part of real life. There are strangers that we shouldn’t trust, and there are real dangers that we should be wary of.

“Internet users in general must understand that actions committed online are ‘prosecutable’ in a court of law. Many users think that they are absolutely ‘anonymous’ but the fact is, they are not.

“To address the problems of 'lack of awareness' and to provide online safety tips to Internet users, we have dedicated an awareness website (www.esecurity.org.my) which caters to three different segments: children/kids, parents/end-users, and organisations,” says Lt-Kol Husin.



CyberSecurity's tips for children/students:

- Share your Internet experiences with your parents (or teachers).

- Ask your parents to read your blog regularly so they can advise you if you seem to have crossed the line or have disclosed too much personal information in your blog.

- Inform your parents or teacher about anything that makes you feel uncomfortable while surfing the Internet.

- If you visit chatrooms, use instant messaging (IM) programs, online games or other activities on the Internet that require a login name to identify yourself, let your parents help you choose the login name and make sure it doesn't reveal any personal information about you or your family.

- Never give out your address, phone number or other personal information, including which school you go to or where you like to play.

- Remember that whatever is right and wrong in real life (in the physical world), also applies to the Internet (cyberspace).

- Rules for good behaviour do not change just because you are alone in your room when updating your blog on a computer (or just surfing the Internet/cyberspace).

- Learn to respect others online, and respect the property of others online.

- Making illegal copies of other people's work – music, videogames and other programs – is the same as stealing from a store; it is a crime.

- Not everything you read or see online is true.

- Select online friends very carefully before you start chatting with them. Online friends may not be who they say they are. If possible, avoid befriending total strangers online.

- Always inform your parents about your online friends. You must never meet up with online friends in person.

- Tell your parents immediately if you receive messages that make you feel uncomfortable or feel threatened via the Internet or mobile phone.

- You may ignore any kind of bad statements or remarks online that are not serious. But if you feel scared or threatened, you might be in danger and you must tell your parents immediately

- CyberSecurity Malaysia provides a service called Cyber999 for all Internet users to refer any incidents they face while surfing the Internet, such as harassment, fraud and unauthorised access or intrusion. To access this service, email [e-mail] or report online via www.cybersecurity.my.

CyberSecurity's advice for parents:

- Make it a point to ask your children about their Internet experience during your daily conversations with them. Ask your children to share their online experiences with you, such as the websites they have visited, the online friends they have made, and the addresses of their blogs and their friends’ blogs. This is a good way of monitoring their online activities.

- Read your children’s blogs and their close friends’ blogs to better understand their Internet ways or preferences. Reading their blogs would also enable you to monitor whether they are giving out too much personal information or uploading personal photos in their blogs.

- Educate your children about online safety while they are still young. More importantly, educate them about the content they can find or come across. They will know their do's and don’ts if they have been taught early. Just like in real life (physical world) in which parents advise their children to always “look before you cross the road”. Thus, looking before crossing the road becomes a natural habit because we have been taught so from a young age. Similarly, “online safety precautions” would become a “habit” or a “culture” if taught and practised from a young age.

- Whenever your children surf the Internet, parents should occasionally sit with them and explore the Internet with them. Parents need to guide them to the suitable websites or perhaps, bookmark some sites for them.

- Computers should be placed in the common areas of your home, e.g. living room, so that parents will find it easier to monitor their children, rather than if the computer is placed in the children’s rooms.

- Parents should check all file sharing software such as P2P (peer-to-peer) and advise children to only download or send legal files.

- Inform your children that at any time, if they feel uncomfortable or suspicious about a website they have visited, they must tell you, so you can verify or block the website.

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• - At least once a week, update and run a full virus scan on your children’s computer. Make sure your anti-malware software is updated and the licence renewed.