Posted by Interceptor on Sep 11 2001, 04:42 PM
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Winn Schwartau is one of the country's leading experts on information security, infrastructure protection and electronic privacy. He's also a wonderfully pleasant person and has wriiten a book "Internet & Computer Ethics for Kids (and Parents & Teachers Who Haven't Got a Clue.)"
Considering the average hacker or script kiddie is a teenager using a computer at home, cyber ethics is probably another topic we should discuss with our children. As Winn points out in the book's preface, "Today's Generation Gap is often technical...But, our ignorance does not relieve us of our responsibility as parents, nor should we be afraid of the differences."
"Internet & Computer Ethics" provides background information on many topics, including computer viruses, Trojan Horse (illegally used backdoor programs), software piracy and pornography. Each short chapter includes a variety of thought-provoking questions designed to help the reader formulate their own ethical guidelines.
His book is also great reading for any child, teacher, human resources director and anyone else who accesses the Internet or has responsibility for others who use computers.
If you have children, NiceKids.net is definitely worth the visit.
The book can be ordered online at
http://www.nicekids.net.
Unfortunately you cannot rely solely on filtering programs like Cybersitter, NetNanny, or SurfSafe as they are all easily disabled. The only way you can prevent surfing objectionable content is thru constant supervision, teaching them acceptable behavior and by taking punitive measures when a youngster disregards house rules pertaining to the Internet and computer useage. As both a security buff and parent, I realize this is not the answer you were looking for.
However, there are ways to keep an eye on your child without ALWAYS having to be looking over his/her shoulder. Keylogger programs ( here and
here ) and hardware ( Keyghost )allow you to keep a record of keystrokes your child makes and sites he or she visits while online. Access Control is a program used to limit time spent on the computer and the Internet as punishment should they stray from the rules. It's kind of like being grounded from the Internet although it's main purpose is somewhat different, and it cannot be defeated by your child.
Create as many users as you wish... each with separate settings
Specify what days and times the computer may be accessed
Specify what days and times the internet may be accessed
Specify what days and times ANY program or game may be accessed
Choose how much access time is allowed during time frames you specify!
Internet time expire tells the user when they have one-minute left of internet access
Computer time expire tells the user when they have one-minute left of computer access
Program time expire tells the user when they have one-minute left of access for that particular application