Chapter Fifteen. Step 12: Don t Let Your Defenses Down When Using Mobile Devices

Chapter Fifteen. Step 12: Don't Let Your Defenses Down When Using Mobile Devices

Marco lives in New York City with his mom. His dad moved to Miami after his parents' divorce. Many of his friends already had cell phones, and Marco pleaded with his dad to get him one. On the morning of his 11th birthday, his mom gave him her present, a new pair of jeans and a shirt, and then handed him a package from his dad. Inside was the exact cell phone Marco had asked for.

After school Marco activated the phone and studied the manual. The next day he took it to school, showing it off on the bus and in-between classes. It had super-cool features like a digital camera, a Web browser, and instant messaging. He showed his friends how he could download stuff like games, music, and mini-applications.

After school Marco ran into Tony. Tony was an older kid, a high school dropout who worked at the video arcade. A lot of kids thought Tony was cool and tried to impress him. Tony told Marco that he could use his phone to download pornography, and made it seem like a really cool thing to do. Marco wasn't so sure but let Tony play around with his phone for a few minutes. "See," Tony said, holding up the phone. Marco's jaw dropped when he saw a picture of a naked girl staring back at him. Marco felt kind of uneasy, and as soon as he could, he got his phone away from Tony and headed home.

On the bus he desperately tried to figure out how to delete the picture before his mom could see it. What he didn't realize was that Tony had actually downloaded 10 pictures, charging all of them to Marco's cell phone account. Tony had also e-mailed the photos to himself. When Marco's mom found the other nine pictures, and saw the cell phone bill, Marco would be in big, big trouble.