Online predators: ‘Think before you click’

Children who have access to the world at their fingers through internet are also vulnerable to online predators.

KARACHI: The internet is vast and computer-literate children who have access to the world at their fingers through it are also vulnerable to online predators.

This was the central message delivered by speakers at an online family safety campaign sponsored by Microsoft, in collaboration with cause partner Inbox Business Technologies, here on Thursday.

The campaign, launched by Microsoft mainly to draw attention to the safety protocols built into its software, also seeks to promote awareness amongst parents and teachers to ensure safer use of the internet by children.

“With the increasing trend of social media and wider usage of the internet amongst children, there is a strong need of protecting them when they go online.

Microsoft is committed to doing its part to contribute to the safety toolbox,” said Microsoft Pakistan Country General Manager Kamal Ahmed at the event intended to promote user safety and showcase latest industry innovations in terms of online security for students and children alike.

Various speakers took to the podium to elaborate on how children should not be trusted with the internet and that a guardian should be monitoring them at all times. One of the speakers even recommended that parents and teachers should regularly check website browsing histories.

Amongst some of the milder measures recommended was having desktops in high-traffic areas so that the user would not have enough privacy to visit inappropriate websites.

Moreover, the general consensus was that laptops are an absolute danger to children as they give them too much privacy due to the mobility factor.

Valid concerns of data theft and spyware were also pointed out by the speakers. It was recommended that parents use Microsoft’s free antivirus: Microsoft Security Essentials, which though very good at keeping young minds safe would also require that parents purchase a genuine copy of Windows.

Other suggested methods of maintaining security included updating virus definitions as often as possible.

“Think before you click,” commented Microsoft Sales Excellence Lead Taimur Mughal. In order to illustrate how serious his organisation was about online security, Mughal related how Microsoft policy dictated that employees lock their computers even if stepping away for just a minute.

However, this does not mean that children should be stopped from using the internet altogether, said Roots School system Director Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq.

An interesting point brought up during the speech of Inbox Marketing Head Shehzad Akbani was that status updates on social media networking sites such as Facebook were a goldmine for possible criminals who would be able to keep tabs on movements.

The event was attended by parents, teachers, media representatives, researchers and technology experts.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2010.