La Piazza

Today is Safer Internet Day. This day promotes safer and more responsible use of new technologies, especially among children and young people across the world. This year’s theme is ‘Connect with respect’.

The Internet has become a necessity of life for many of us, and the possibilities to stay connected to the Web 24 hours a day are endless: through your PC, laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc. The World Wide Web allows you to book a hotel room, buy a book, publish a picture with your friends or check the weather in Madagascar, just with a couple of clicks and from anywhere. However, as the saying goes, ‘With great power comes great responsibility”.

Social networks have become a huge ‘shop window’ for people, who use it to show others where they’ve been on vacation, their new leather jacket or a picture of their baby. We use them to chat, post messages on our walls, read other people’s messages, that is… to communicate. However, all these activities must be performed with utmost respect and responsibility.

All the information that you share on the Internet leaves your control and it is therefore highly advisable, especially for young people, to be extremely careful what you share through social media, and who you give access to your account. It can be very easy for people to use that information for the wrong purposes, and there are contents you might not want everybody to see.

For these reasons, we’d like to provide you with a series of simple tips for parents and teenagers that will help make your digital life a safer place:

For children and young people:

• Don’t share personal information: With chat and IM programs you can never be 100% sure who you’re talking to. That’s why you should never keep people you don’t know as contacts and -unless you’re sure you can trust the person- never share data such as your telephone number, address, personal photos or other private information.
• Always be friendly: Treat your friends and other people in the same way you would like them to treat you. If you come across activity or comments that you don’t like, tell your parents, teacher or other adults you trust. And don’t just stand by and watch, even if you are not the victim.
• If you have any doubts, ask your parents teachers or other adults: When you receive information that you don’t understand or you think looks dubious, before you do anything, speak to someone you can trust (your parents or teachers, etc.). You should never click the links in these types of messages.
• Browse the Web with caution: When you communicate via messaging or email, you often receive links inviting you to view information. It is advisable never to click directly on these links, but to type in the address in your browser instead. You should also be careful when you view movie trailers, TV ads or when you download games: These are often used as bait to infect your computer. Before opening any of these, scan it with an online antivirus or the security product you have installed. If you’re not sure, always speak to your parents.

For parents:

• Use strong passwords: Use strong passwords, and have different passwords for the different online services you use. It is also a good idea to change them regularly. If you detect anything suspicious, report it straight away! There are specific channels for reporting these activities.
• Learn how to recognize Internet scams: No matter how real it may seem, the truth is you haven’t won the lottery and nobody is offering you the job of a lifetime. Similarly, your bank will never ask for your details via email. Good software can detect these threats, and a bit of basic security training combined with common sense will help you learn to identify these scams.
• Security training + Parental control = the best formula for protection: It is important for you to recognize the main threats to your children on the Web so that you can educate them and teach them what to do when they find themselves in difficult situations. Installing a good parental control system will help you in the difficult task of ensuring that your children have an enjoyable and healthy online experience.
• Protect your computer with good security software: Keep your computer -and your family- protected at all times with latest generation security software against the sophisticated infection techniques used by hackers. If you don’t have an antivirus installed, we suggest that you download our free antivirus solution Panda Cloud Antivirus.

For more information, please visit the Internet in Safe Hands website.

Last week, in Hooked on the Internet? we described the symptoms someone going through a so-called addiction to the Internet could experience. Today we continue discussing this issue, as, incidentally, a couple of days ago, several newspapers published the findings of a study on Internet addiction. The study was carried out in seven European countries selected by the European Commission and 2000 teens took part in each country.

Here goes an extract of the key findings regarding the use – or abuse – of the Internet by European teenagers:

• 12,7% of European teenagers are at risk of developing an addiction to the Internet.
• Spain tops the ranking with 21,3% of teenagers at risk of becoming addicted to the Internet.
• 1.5% of Spanish teens are already experiencing the symptoms of an Internet addiction.
• 27,8% of Spanish teens reported using the Internet to the point of neglecting other activities.
• Spanish teens are particularly fond of social networks and chatrooms. In actual fact, 91,6% of Spanish teens from 14 to 17 years old use social networks on a daily basis.
• 39,2% admits spending more than two hours a day on these type of sites.

Almost 3 out of 10 use the Internet and neglect other activities and they spend 2 hours a day online!! Why? Well, I think the Internet is just the perfect environment for teens to express themselves. But, why so long a day? Because teens who already show signs of addiction have no limits. Whose responsibility is that? In my opinion, it is the parents’.

This is my take on the issue. By the time working parents get home after a hard day at work, they also have to look after the household tasks, tidy up the house, cook meals, make sure their children do their homework. After all those activities, the little energy left is dedicated to winding down in front of the computer, TV or, if they can keep their eyes open, read a book. Or a combination of them all.

When the weekend arrives, little time is left for sitting down and chatting to the children to interact with them, exchange thoughts and give them the advice and guidelines they so much need.

My point is that we should reflect on the concept of quality time. Now, this is my personal opinion, don’t feel patronised. To me, it is not so much a question of how much time you spend with them but rather on the quality of the amount of time you dedicate talking to them. I am also a busy working mom and my energy levels in the evening are at its lowest ebb. But I try to make a conscious effort with my child.

I suggest even if only for 20 minutes a day, save this slot for you and your children. Switch off the computer; turn off the TV and the mobile phone. That will be your time, no interference from Whatsapp or whatnot. Chat in a natural way, do not resort to (tempting)  one-way interrogations. Don’t take advantage of the new information they provide just to grill them.

Keep calm and actively listen. Find out what they worry about, what they enjoy, what they think of their friends, what they expect from you. Tell them about your worries as a parent but relate to them, you were a teenager yourself once – a long, long time ago -.  Explain that enjoying playing games online or having a good time on social networks is OK, tell them that you also think that technology is fantastic, but in moderation. Make sure they understand the dangers of the networks. Do not alarm them, but make sure they know what could happen if they are not reasonably cautious.

In my humble opinion, if parents and children dialogue from an early age, children will naturally understand and accept the need for limits without kicking up a fuss or rebelling. I think this could be a positive and worthy experience! Well, I hope so, anyway. What do you think?

Related posts

• Hooked on the Internet – Part I
• How come Lady Gaga is a bigger influence on them than me?
• Spying on kids: not yes or no, but how much?
• Mom, were you spying on me?

As you know, at La Piazza we usually give advice to improve the safety of adolescents. Yes, those adorable half-child, half-adult creatures so vulnerable to the dangers of the net. Today we’ll talk about how parents can tell if their teenagers may be having an addiction type of issue or could be misusing the Internet. Actually, this article applies to anyone, regardless of age, so read carefully!

Although I don’t think it is clinically proven that an Internet addiction pathology as such exists, it is an ongoing debate and it is worth taking a moment and considering whether we could be making an excessive or inappropriate use of the net.

Let’s see. In my spare time, I browse the Internet an average of 40 minutes a day on weekdays and about twice that time at the weekend. I use the Internet as a means to entertain and inform myself. I love reading various national and foreign newspapers so the Internet for me is one of the best inventions ever. It allows me to catch up on the latest events either through digital newspapers or through social networks such as Twitter.
Also, a while ago, a good friend of mine recommended me the game Angry Words (online multi-player word game) and I confess to be hooked to it. My only consolation is that it’s an instructive game the whole family enjoys, even though we are starting to get nastily competitive to see who gets the “angriest word”.
The rest of the time I spend on the Internet I normally use it to look up recipes, watch YouTube videos, listen to music and little else.
My husband also makes a similar use of the network and my daughter, in full pre-teen stage, really likes playing different apps and listening to music. She also uses the computer daily for homework or school work, but more out of obligation than pleasure, so that does not count. We try to make reasonable use not prevent us from making another different type of activity.

I personally think that, a person who feels fascinated by a hobby and invests in it huge amounts of time has the ability to learn, encourage creativity and communication. But I think the key for it not to become something harmful is based on making a conscious use of the Internet, knowing that many games, videos, activities, etc. may have an addictive component. Once you are aware of this, it is imperative to manage the time spent on the Internet to prevent it from turning into something harmful.

At home we know that Angry Words is addictive, and if we did not say Enough!, we would probably spend hours and hours on the computer that would stop us from doing other kind of activities together. The difficulty lies in establishing the limits between an intensive use of technology and the emergence of the direct consequences of the activity.

Take this extreme example: two teenagers from Rocklin (California) drugged the parents of one of them to avoid the ban on the Internet after 22:00 (see full story here).

So, how many of the following statements do you identify with?

• You spend more and more time online to be in good spirits.
• You are not able to reduce or control your access to the network, however hard you try.
• You invest considerable amount of time in Internet-related activities, (purchase of books, testing new browsers, organization of downloaded material, etc.).
• Social activities, whether professional or recreational, diminish or disappear because of your Internet use.
• You stay connected despite knowing that this is a persistent and recurring physical, social, occupational, or psychological problem (sleep deprivation, marital conflicts, job neglect, feelings of leaving loved ones …).

Dare you share with us how much of your free time you spend online? Have you stopped doing things because you are compulsively glued to your computer?

Sometimes you may wonder how come my computer got infected if my antivirus was updated and my Operating System too? Well, many of today’s viruses mutate at breakneck speed. The big question is: How did the virus access my computer then? Well, one of the most insecure entrance ways is the browser. Now you might think, do I then need a computer for work, another to play and another one to navigate? It is an option, but not quite suitable for all budgets. So today, at La Piazza, we summarize the most secure web browsing methods you can find in most cases completely for free.

• Virtual Machine
  A virtual machine is a specific machine which allows you to browse from your own computer. It is like a computer inside your computer, a protected space in which you can load other operating systems. Being isolated, the virtual machine cannot infect your computer. There are virtual machines specially designed to navigate, for example, VMWare Browser Appliance.
  
• Browser in a sealed box
  Something less complicated is to isolate the web browser process itself. This is technically known as a sandbox. Equivalent to running the browser in a cage from which nothing can get out unless we want it so. For example, you can use Panda SafeBrowser or Google Chrome’s safe browser.
  
• Extensions reinforcement
  As we discussed in the post How to Prevent the Police Virus, navigating without JavaScript, Flash animations or Java applets greatly increases the safety of navigation, but it can also be a nuisance. To overcome this obstacle, both Firefox and Chrome have extensions to control what is loaded and when: Flashblock (Firefox and Chrome) and NoScript apps such as Chrome’s NotScripts are best.
• Virtual Browsing
  These are pages that act as an intermediary between your browser and the page that you want to visit, let’s say as a proxy. For example, Virtual-Browser.

I hope these tips help you browse safely!

How about you? Do you browse safely? Why don’t you share your experience with us?

Source: How to Browse Safely (in Spanish)

What is Sexting?

According to Wikipedia Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones.

All across the world boys and girls are using the built in cameras in their cell phones to take nude and semi-nude shots of themselves and sending them to boyfriends, friends, or classmates. Some only send the picture to a single person while others send it to dozens.

New research conducted by the University of Michigan has revealed that Sexting is now a common feature in young adult relationships today. It shows there is no psychological difference between sexters and non-sexters which contradict some reports in media stories that have claimed that sexters were anxious, depressed or had low-self-esteem. Sexting is now a normal dating ritual for teenagers and young adults.

Why can Sexting be dangerous?

Your mom probably warned you never to say anything you don’t want repeated. The same mentality holds true for Sexting. In the age of technology, things you want to keep private quickly can become available for public consumption. From text messages to photos to videos, nothing is safe. And once you put something out there, don’t even think about going back. Sexting seems like all fun and games until someone gets hurt… and that someone easily can be you, your partner or your family. It’s all too tempting to engage in sexual banter via text, instant message, email and other electronic communications. Maybe it’s with your partner, maybe it’s with someone else.

Why do youngsters Sext?

The motivation and act of sharing explicit personal photos is not new by any means. Sharing lewd photographs with other youth has been part of adolescent angst for many decades. But because of the widespread availability of mobile messaging and cell phone cameras, it has become very easy and very quick to forward explicit personal photos. Since 2008, sexting messages have become virally popular with tweens in North America and Europe.

The sexting problem lies in how easy it is to re-broadcast the photos, to the embarassment and shame of the originator. An innocuous experimental message sent to a cute boy or girl can quickly spin out of control, and the originator can become the laughing stock and shameful gossip dirt of the entire school. When a photo becomes viral online, it is virtually impossible to remove the damage and recall all the copies.

What can potentially happen next is:

• Harassment or cyberstalking: threats to share the images
• Outing: posting or sharing the images publicly
• Impersonation: pretending to be the person who created the image and posting or sharing it publicly, often with the suggestion that the person is interested in sexual contact.

And always remember that nearly a quarter of sexters have regretted pressing “send” …

Published by Leyre Velasco, 25th May 2012

In La Piazza, we insist that it is important to keep an eye on your teenager’s online practices despite how difficult it is sometimes to strike a balance between trust and authority, as explained in Mom, were you spying on me?

Well, sometimes, even the most cautious parents and kids get unpleasant surprises when simply searching for information on the Internet. Usually, search engines crawl for websites and then use advanced techniques to determine search results. The fact is that no human categorisation or intervention is involved, as web spidering is bot-based.

Safe search

Therefore when you are searching pages or images, for example, the most innocent keywords could return results related to explicit sexual matters, pornography, violence, drug use, gambling etc..

A friend of mine recently told me that this type of situation happened to her once when her 13 year-old daughter was doing her homework. She had to do a project on the food pyramid. In order to illustrate the subject, she decided to prepare a Power Point presentation containing images of the different types of foods. There she was googling words like cereal, vegetables, bread, fish, etc.. Fair enough, the basic nutrients.

However, when she went looking for specifics and typed in certain type of vegetables or fruits, the returned results were not, let’s say, as expected. Luckily, my friend was sitting next to her daughter and was quick to press the Back button. Although my friend told me she had the feeling this could have happened, deep down she was hoping for a filter of some kind to be applied by default. Wrong!! As far as I know, you do have to change the default configuration of the search engine or else opt for other alternatives, so here go some of them:

• Apply child filters in your usual search engine. If you use Google, check the SafeSearch Filtering section.
• Get your child to use search engines which offer child-friendly content only. They achieve this by filtering out inappropriate content which you, as a parent, would find offensive for your child. In general, this is done by using human beings to filter out the unsuitable sites. Check out article Which Search Engines are Safe for Kids? for further information.
• Install Parental Control applications on your computer. The 2012 Panda Security products which feature this type of protection.

And keep an eye on the Internet history, and temporary Internet files to ensure that only what you want seen is viewed on your home computer.

Please share your comments with us and tell us if you found this article useful!

Published by Leyre Velasco, 17th May 2012

If you don’t have the foggiest idea about what today’s title post means, all the more reason for reading it.

We recently published Kids and technology: 6 basic rules to bear in mind in order to emphasize how important it is to encourage your teen to trust you and to share with you who his online friends are, what personal data he has facilitated on his Internet profiles as well as various other safety tips.

But .. what good is it that your child shares with you his WhatsApp, Messenger, or Skype conversations if you do not understand half the things he or others write?

What is LOL? What do the symbols xD stand for? Why FAIL? Why is your son, who usually gets outstanding marks in English, all of the sudden making atrocious spelling mistakes in Facebook?

Relax, breathe deeply. Your child simply speaks the Internet slang, a language with its own communication rules, plagued by new terms, acronyms and symbols mainly used in forums, chats, blogs and social networks and rapidly spreading to other common places such as the email at the workplace.

LOL

And I am warning you .. the vast majority of users are fluent in it, so please, do learn some basics and please, please, please, do not ask your child to follow the formal written English rules or the BBC standard English rules because this simply is not cool therefore it just won’t happen. It is not about wrecking any language rule possible –Internet users do not appreciate this either – yet there are unwritten and written rules that have become common practice amongst Internet users.

So, if you not only want to belong to the community but also want to understand what is discussed here, you have no other choice but to learn some basic terms. And don’t forget to always use your wit! As a study by the University of Tasmania published by the BBC called Do not be 404, know techslang points out, while the use of Internet slang saves the writer time, it takes the reader twice to understand the message.

The list of terms is endless, but here you will find some of the most used terms. And stop feeling like a fish out of water!

Acronyms:

• AKA: Also Known As. Used to list aliases a person, movie, book, etc.. is known as.
• ASAP: As soon as possible.
• LOL: Acronym for Laughing Out Loud or the Lot Of Laughs, it means noisy or loud laughter.
• IMO / IMHO: Acronym for In My Opinion / In My Humble / Honest Opinion.
• BRB: Be right back.
• BTW: By the way.
• THX: Thanks!
• OMG: Oh my God
• WTF: What the fuck. Rude as it is, excuse us for including it here but it has become common practice.
• FAIL: Or sometimes, Epic Fail. Mistake of huge proportions, very often used to express disappointment at failure.

Symbols:

• xD: Small face representing the expression of a smile with your eyes closed and tight. Used when you want to share a joke.
• o_0: Face with eyes wide open. Indicates confusion.
• ^ ^ ^: Long laugh
• XOXO: If the person you like writes this, it means that they are sending kisses.
• XXX: Kissing.

Do you dare send a funny acronym you learnt with your teen?

Published by Leyre Velasco, 3rd May 2012

Today in La Piazza we present a quick 10-question post for parents to test how safe their teens are online. So, if you are a parent, sit down with your kid and before he/she answers the questions, explain to him/her that this exercise is to be done jointly. The purpose is for both of you to know if he or she is safe when using the Internet and to improve security measures if necessary.

Do stress that, although he/she may not be aware of it, the Internet entails serious dangers such as fraud, sexual harassment, bullying, etc. Do not alarm him but speak firmly. The reason why most teenagers don’t take enough precautions is because they are either misinformed or disinformed.

Finally, ask him/her to be honest about it. The whole point of answering the questions is not for your teen to get a grilling but actually for you as a parent to learn how to protect your most precious treasure: your child.

Because the Internet is just another road you have to teach your children how to cross. And this is a road they love to cross. Plus, they do so every day.

Instructions

Ready? Here go the questions. Ask your kid to write down the answers on a piece of paper. Once the test is completed, add up the points per answer (check section Score points) and finally, check the Results section to see how safe, risky or dangerous your kid’s online practices are.

1. Does your screen name identify you as a boy or a girl?
2. Have you ever posted any personal information of yours or anyone else without explicit consent?
3. Have you ever uploaded your picture or family or friends without your parent’s consent?
4. Have you ever filled out online forms, questionnaires, profile pages without your parent’s consent?
5. Have you ever purchased anything online without permission?
6. Have you ever shared your passwords with someone other than your parents?
7. Have you ever downloaded and installed software without your parent’s knowledge?
8. Have you opened emails from total strangers?
9. Have you ever agreed to meet in person someone you have only met online?
10. Have you ever been involved in chat sessions with people using vulgar expressions or sexually explicit language?

How to calculate your scores

• Add 1 point if you answered YES to questions 1, 2, 3 and 6
• Add 2 points if you answered YES to questions 5 and 7
• Add 3 points if you answered YES to question 4
• Add 5 points if you answered YES to questions 8, 9 and 10

Results

If you scored… 0-2 points

You are SAFE!

Well done!!! You are cautious when you go online to chat with your friends because you are well aware of the dangers the Internet entails. Your passwords are usually strong, mixing alphanumerical characters, you never share them with anyone and you certainly think twice before you download applications. You never, ever chat to strangers and your online friends are not only acquaintances but people you know well. And you frequently talk to your parents about your online habits.

Our advise: Keep it up and teach your fellow students and friends how they can also improve their online experience.

If you scored… 3-4 points

You are at RISK!

OK, you would never meet anyone you don’t know online and you would never share information with strangers. However, you have uploaded pictures of friends or members of your family and have not told them, you don’t think downloading cool apps is dangerous and have done so occasionally. If you get a friend request from someone you don’t know, you do tell your parents.

Our advise: There is certainly room for improvement in the online safety department. You are aware certain security measures have to be taken when going online but you are still dangerously chancing it!  So, overall, you need to make sure you don’t share any personal information at all. Also, choose strong passwords and review your online practises with your parents. Afterwards, do take the test again.

If you scored… 5-26 points

You are in REAL DANGER!!!!

Your online profiles describe you so well that you have included your postal address and school you go to, plus all kinds of pictures of you and your friends, family, pets, etc. You use the Internet pretty much for everything, to download all kinds of applications, meet people online, chat, etc. You are an extrovert and have accepted friend requests from people you don’t even know because you think if he is one of your friend’s friends, it is OK. Sometimes you have chatted with people who used “bad words” but never told your parents because they will probably worry too much.

Our advise: You must RADICALLY change the way you use the Internet. First of all, sit down with your parents and review the personal information you share with others. Also, remove any strangers from your friends lists. Should you ever encounter strangers online, do speak to your parents about it. Change your passwords and choose strong, alphanumerical ones. Finally, take the test again until you get the lowest score (0-2 points – Safe).

Posted by Leyre Velasco

I have always thought that my mother was anything but naive. She has lived enriching experiences, has had a very intense working life with a high degree of responsibility and is practical, astute and witty. Let us say that she is not easy to rip off. At least, that’s what I thought.

Last Christmas, over one of many family get-togethers, she candidly announced:

“I have won an IPhone online”.

Somewhat stunned I asked:  “Win? IPhone? Online?”

Calmly, she replied:  “Yes, I won it over the Internet. I got a message on screen saying I had been selected over thousands of visitors and that the IPhone will be delivered to my address”.

At this point, my 12 year old daughter could not help the giggles.

I (rhetorically) asked: “Did you believe that?”

“Sure, – she replied -, why shouldn’t I?”

Getting seriously frightened, I asked:  “Which data did you provide?”

“Oh,  – my mother said – nothing much, just my email address and my postal address.”

So far, she has been getting emails requesting her participation on further contests but no mention of the IPhone, of course.

My mother was not at all conscious of the implications of her naivity. Because fraud through pop-ups is probably one of the oldest frauds there is on the Internet. Behind the so-called prizes there might be professional fraudsters, well able to spoof your identity or, without any scruples, make use of your personal data, all for economic benefit.

My mother is a regular Internet user. Her naivity is fruit of her lack of knowledge regarding the dangers of the Internet. That is why I believe it is so important to spread good Internet practises in order to raise awareness among different types of users. We teach our daughter security guidelines and therefore, she is cautious. My mother – up until now – has always browsed alone, no Jiminy Cricket around

How can you protect yourself?

• It is very important to have an antivirus program that includes a spam filter installed and up-to-date. Any of Panda Security’s solutions will protect you against these kind of threats.
• Check the source of information received. Ignore any pop-up that asks for your personal or financial information.
• Scan you computer for free.
• Inform yourself. We recommend pages on security, for instance, this blog or the Security Info page.

Luckily, my mother never provided her credit card details. Otherwise, she could have been in serious trouble. She has now installed the antivirus, scanned the computer and hopefully, from now onwards, she will be more cautious when browsing the net.

How about you? Have you ever been ripped off online? Tell us your experiences!

Published by Ana Etxebarria

Social media has become an extension of the high school playground for the vast majority of teenagers, with its share of flirting, drama, cruelty and flashes of maturity.

In addition, electronic behavior has become a new frontier of parenting and, as a result, our own behavior may be changing as fast as our kids. We’re watching them more closely, talking to them more about online activities and understanding that social media has become part of growing up.

Friends

Another surprising fact is that 80 percent of parents who use social media (and who also have a child who uses social media) have friended their child on these sites.

This ‘friendship’ poses a dilemma for parents, who have to choose between being controlling parents who check which websites their children have visited, use parental control software, etc, or permissive parents who don’t embrace the trend to monitor and encourage their children’s autonomy.

According to recent studies, only a small percentage of parents (about 15 percent) consciously avoid monitoring their children’s online activities because they trust them. In my opinion that is an incredibly low figure.

I am a mother of three and I belong to a generation where social interaction between children took place in the playground. Well, let my tell you something: back then parents also fell into one of the aforementioned two categories. There were those who didn’t trust their children despite in some cases not having a reason for not doing so, and those who trusted them. Luckily, my parents belonged to the latter group although I had close friends whose parents showed an incredibly high level of distrust towards them.

So, if you think you know your children well enough, there is good communication between you and them, you are a good role model for them, and there is no reason to the contrary…Why not trust your kids? Why are we so worried and why some of us get so intrusive?

Not so long ago a friend of mine told me that they had installed some sort of ‘spyware’ (I can’t find a better word for it) on their 11-year-old son’s computer and they monitor every step he takes online: the games he plays, the sites he visits, the time he spends on each page, the photos he downloads, who he chats with, the content of his conversations, etc. Isn’t it terrible? That’s like reading someone’s journal, tapping their phone lines or hiding cameras in every room in their apartment.

Do you monitor your child’s social media activities? Do you use parental controls? Why or why not? I’d love to hear your opinions or personal experiences.