A home computer is connected to the Internet, which exposes it to security risks. Some safe browsing practices can help the computer by protecting all the information stored from viruses and exposure. To avoid becoming victims of predators and being exposed to inappropriate material, it is important to teach our children to practice safe browsing and the tips below.
1. Adjust Web Browser Settings – You can set your browsers to identify risky or adult-only Web sites and filter those sites. Pop-up ads can be dangerous for Internet-browsing because some ads are pornographic or can lead to other risky Web sites.
2. Supervise Children – Supervision is a good way to teach children about what kind of Web sites are safe or not. A family computer should always be in an area where others can observe the browsing.
3. Use a Firewall – You should use a firewall to block intruders from accessing personal information.
4. Run Anti-Virus Software on a Regular Basis – Anti-virus software scans the computer for viruses that may have intruded while browsing the Internet.
5. Back Up Hard Drive on a Regular Basis – You should have a back up critical information regularly. Any files that you don’t want to lose should be saved to a disk or flash drive just in case if a virus infects the computer through the Internet or e-mail wiping out or corrupting important hard drive files.
6. Delete Unknown E-mails and Attachments – When checking e-mail, you should delete any items from any unknown sender or which contain unknown attachments. Most e-mail providers offer filter options to automatically block unknown senders.
7. Expose Limited Information – You should try to avoid giving out personal information like addresses, banking information or Social Security numbers.
Follow the tips above to ensure that your kids will enjoy browsing the internet in a safe way.