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Be Alert to Dangerous Programs
Dangerous Programs cover a number of programs that are designed to attack or violate your privacy. Often times these programs are marketed or package in a way that they are appealing to young people. They are usually downloaded and installed without prior knowledge or consent. (Actually consent is given when you accept the agreement that nobody reads).
While your child has no malicious intent, the writers of the programs do. Programs that are dangerous include:
Viruses, Worms and Trojan Viruses.
Most people have heard of them. Viruses and worms are designed to be spread and damage you computer’s software or clog the Internet. Do not open attachments from strangers. You even need to be careful of attachments from friends.
The more subtle and dangerous program is the Trojan Virus. These are often used by Internet marketers to collect personal information or your surfing habits.
Trojan Viruses sneak into your computer and are
hard for even the best antivirus programs to detect until they deploy or are activated.
The worst kind of Trojan viruses can search out credit card, bank account, social security numbers and/or passwords. The intent may be identity theft or just clean out your bank account.
Person to Person or Peer to Peer file sharing programs:
These programs usually offers the ability to download “Free Music and DVD Movies” either free or for an annual fee. They claim to be legal and have also sorts of warnings saying that they do not condone the sharing of copyrighted material.. And Peer to Peer file sharing programs are legal. However, the people who use the programs are downloading and sharing copyrighted
material with others. This is illegal,
period.
Peer to Peer sharing programs compete for your Internet connection. Either by downloading, uploading or access by Spyware. The majority of the free Peer to Peer programs are loaded with Spyware and/or Trojan viruses. They keep track of how much you download as well as upload to others. If you have a Broadband connection with your computer on 24 hours a day. You are a file sharing server with the rest of the world.
So what can you download for free? Illegal copies of:
- Music (Even Christian Music)
- Software
- Movies
- Adult entertainment (Movies and photo’s)
- Computer Games
There are also viruses written specifically for spreading via file sharing programs.
How do you know if you have one of these programs? Ask your children if they download free music off the Internet. If they answer yes, then investigate the program. If it is a file sharing program, then it needs to be deleted. Any item downloaded should also be deleted.
Some of the more common, popular programs are:
- KaZaa
- Limewire
- Morpheus
- P2P
- BearShare
There are some legal options for downloading music. They all include making an account and registering a credit card with them. Most songs are less than $1 each. Each download is put on your credit card.
- iTunes
- Napster (use to be illegal, but has been reborn)
- Walmart
- Real.com - Rhapsody
Spyware or Adware Programs
Spyware/Adware are programs written by Internet marketers with the sole purpose of tracking you movements on the Internet or to send advertisements directly to you. These ads might be related to sites you have visited or random.
Spyware is usually invited into your computer. Your teen sees a pop up ad for cute smiley faces for free. When they download and install the faces, they also install
Spyware. If it is acknowledged at all, it will
be in the fine print at the bottom the agreement you clicked through to install the program.
There is also a very official, scary pop up ad that says your computer may already be infected with nasty Spyware. Download this detector now! (Or something similar.) In reality, it is Spyware itself. While it may detect other Spyware programs, it will be running its own versions in the background.
How do I know If I have been infected?
If you are connected to the Internet, then
it is likely you are infected. You can see if you are by doing any one of the following:
a. Windows XP – Hold the following keys down in the following order – Ctrl+Alt+Delete (push delete once only). That will pop up the task manager. The second tab says processes. Click on it. In the lower left hand corner of the box it says Processes: #. The # represents a number. The number should be between 20-35 depending on your computer.
If that number exceeds 40, then you
definitely have nonessential programs running. Look down the list of process names. If you see any that are just random letters or say things like save.exe, savenow.exe, bargainbuddy.exe or bargains.exe, then you have at least some Spyware.
If your computer is really slow responding or if you have ads popping up, even when not on line, then you are contaminated.
b. Windows 98/ME - Hold the following keys down in the following order – Ctrl+Alt+Delete (push delete once only). That will pop up the task manager. Unlike XP, you will only see a list of programs. Normally there should be about 2-6, maybe 8 programs running. If you have more than that, look for the same types of names as in XP.
You can also click the start button >> Run >> type msconfig, OK >> Go to the startup tab.
You should have
about 5-10 items checked off there. If you have more, like 10-30, then you are heavily contaminated.
How do I remove them?
Use either free or paid for Spyware removal programs. Go to Building a Fortress. Windows 98 users must be especially careful. Most programs work well in WinXP. The author has some problems with using these programs in Windows 98/ME.
4. Computer/Xbox/PlayStation Games
Games dangerous? Exactly what do you mean?
There are different styles of games.
First Person Shooters: where you are behind the gun and are firing it at some kind of human or creature.
Third Person: where you are above the game, directing the action below.
Simulations: where you direct or interact with characters to manage their worlds or to solve a mystery.
Games
can harden your heart.
Most of the concern revolves around First Person Shooters. Here you are aiming a weapon at a “living” creature or person and choosing to end its “life”. This can have some potentially disturbing effects. And it is going to be a highly personal and difficult choice for you and your family.
For children that have difficulty separating reality from fantasy or for the child to prefer to live in the fantasy world, these kinds of games are not healthy.
Games can be addictive.
It is easy to get caught in the game world. When you play multiplayer on line, you are also exposed to a world of teens and adults that do not share the same values as you do.
Games are fun. They are designed to be exciting and thrilling. Like many things, balance is the key. How often does the teen play? How long? Are they obsessed with the game? Are they loosing touch with reality and acting like the game characters?
Game Ratings. Most games these days
have a rating on them. If it is rated “M” for Mature, there is a reason for that. That means the game is has extreme violence, profanity, sexual connotations, blood and/or gore. The game is not suitable for people under 17. And this is by worldly standards.
Check the rating on your children’s games. You will want to take a long hard look at whether it is suitable or not for them.
For further description of game ratings go to http://www.esrb.org/esrbratings_guide.asp
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Symbol
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Rating Description
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EARLY CHILDHOOD
Titles rated EC - Early Childhood have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.
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EVERYONE
Titles rated E - Everyone have content that may be suitable for persons ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal violence, some comic mischief and/or mild language
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TEEN
Titles rated T - Teen have content that may be suitable for persons ages 13 and older. May contain violent content, mild or strong language, and/or suggestive themes.
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MATURE
Titles rated M - Mature have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain mature sexual themes, more intense violence and/or strong language.
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ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO - Adults Only have content suitable only for adults. Titles in this category may include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence. Adult Only products are not intended for persons under the age of 18.
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RATING PENDING
Titles listed as RP - Rating Pending have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating.
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Common sense and clear guidelines are needed when dealing with games. If you have a 10-16 year old, then they should not be playing any of the games listed below. They have an M rating for violence or sexual themes or both (This is just a partial list of M Rated games. Look at the game itself to see what the rating is):
- Deception
- Doom 3
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Half Life 1 and 2
- Halo 1 and 2
- Leisure Suit Larry
- Mortal Kombat
- Psi Ops: the Mindgate Conspiracy
- Resident Evil: Outbreak
- Rumble Roses
- The Guy Game
The Author has downloaded demos for some of the games above. They deserve the rating. They are not suitable for any child (and many adults).
- The one possible exception to that is Halo 1 and 2. While the violent component is there, it does not seem to have the level of gore the others have. In the PC version, you can turn the blood off by going into the video settings and turning off the decals.
- Like many aspects of the Internet and the world of computers, parental participation is key to have a safe and enjoyable experience.
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