Assessing the Risks


If you aren't familiar with all the features offered by IM programs today, you should check them out and understand how to use them so you can make informed choices about what is and isn't appropriate for you and your family. Features such as remote assistance (which gives you the ability to allow somebody in another location to access your computer to help you solve a technical problem, but which can also be used maliciously by someone to whom you have given access to view sensitive files and saved passwords) and video conversations that feed live images between people enable some troubling scenarios for those who don't use them wisely.

Think About It

According to Georgetown University research results released in April 2004, 44 percent of kids reveal their IM address in their blogs, and most of their blogs are open to the public, allowing anyone to communicate with them or send files, photos, bots, and more.


For teens, who often consider the size of their IM buddy list to be a status symbol, clicking the Accept button to allow people to join their list of contacts is often a given. Unfortunately, not everybody who asks to be your buddy is somebody you would want as a friend, or someone your friends would appreciate you exposing them to.



Look Both Ways. Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
Look Both Ways: Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
ISBN: 0735623473
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 157
Authors: Linda Criddle

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