Children and Computers: The Hidden Dangers

News Type: Other — Seeded on Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:24 PM EST

Article Source: co.thurston.wa.us

odd-news, internet, children, humor, computers, safety, www, fail, geeks

The fine folks from the Thurston County, WA, Sheriff's Office bring us
tips for your child's online safety... written by someone who has
never gone online and for your child, who uses a time machine to go back to 1997 before going online.

The "Information Super Highway," which is made up of commercial online services such as Prodigy, America Online, CompuServe, and the Internet, allows millions of people around the world to communicate anonymously in a virtually uncontrolled electronic world. If your child has a home computer, uses a computer at school, or has access to a friend's computer (particularly if they have an internet connection), please take some time to review this guide.

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5.5

1.1

{"commentId":10690015,"authorDomain":"josh-of-arc"}

Josh of Arc

Some gems from my favorite section: Warning Signs of Possible Computer Crime Problem:

Lack of interest in self and appearance, grooming and hygiene, or indications of lack of sleep, sudden drop in school grades, and unauthorized absences from classes.

...also called "being a teenager."

An obsession with fantasy adventure games such as Dungeons and Dragons

...which, last I checked, was the 1980s offline game boogieman.

Use of the computer to scan or run telephone or credit card numbers

...Scan telephone numbers? Run telephone numbers?

{"commentId":10690015,"threadId":"724998","contentId":"3504367","authorDomain":"josh-of-arc"}

2 votes

#1 - Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:32 PM EST

{"commentId":10690162,"authorDomain":"josh-of-arc"}

Josh of Arc

And to add a dose of hilarity, this is not merely stale content. Note the last-modified date in the page's response headers:

Content-Length: 28901
Content-Type: text/html
Last-Modified: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:46:52 GMT
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Etag: "15179a8af58ca1:15b48"
Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0
MicrosoftOfficeWebServer: 5.0_Pub
X-Powered-By: ASP.NET
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:43:07 GMT

FAIL!

{"commentId":10690162,"threadId":"724998","contentId":"3504367","authorDomain":"josh-of-arc"}

1 vote

#2 - Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:45 PM EST

{"commentId":10694170,"authorDomain":"hsquared"}

hsquared-1401940

That looks like this. But then, they are ahead of the curve. It's not confined to any borders.

My gosh, it may be a virus.

H²

{"commentId":10694170,"threadId":"724998","contentId":"3504367","authorDomain":"hsquared"}

1 vote

#3 - Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:37 PM EST

{"commentId":10694419,"authorDomain":"josh-of-arc"}

Josh of Arc

A virus confined to Washington State, mercifully.

{"commentId":10694419,"threadId":"724998","contentId":"3504367","authorDomain":"josh-of-arc"}

2 votes

#3.1 - Sun Nov 15, 2009 9:02 PM EST

{"commentId":10700635,"authorDomain":"lilgremlin"}

lilgremlin

Look for related doodling or writing using of words such as: Hacking, Phreaking, or any words with "ph" replacing 'f"

Beware if they start asking for "phish food" ice cream. They are clearly into negative online behavior.

{"commentId":10700635,"threadId":"724998","contentId":"3504367","authorDomain":"lilgremlin"}

1 vote

#4 - Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:28 AM EST

{"commentId":10726509,"authorDomain":"SirThinkswaytoomuch"}

Sir. Thinkswaytoomuch

Check the screen of an unattended computer. If the computer is showing a series of changing numbers, the computer may be running a hacking program trying to identify calling card "pin" numbers, long distance access numbers, or be attempting to validate credit card numbers.

Yes, because real hackers use visual interfaces for their programs.

{"commentId":10726509,"threadId":"724998","contentId":"3504367","authorDomain":"SirThinkswaytoomuch"}

#5 - Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:00 PM EST

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"724998","isPrivate":false}

JOSH OF ARC

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Children and Computers: The Hidden Dangers

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