Digital+Security+and+Safety

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Protect community security
=Overview=

Digital Safety and Security (self-protection): this issue relates to a person's well-being and safety online, technically meaning on the computer and on the internet. Also what precautions could be taken to prevent one from any possible dangers on the internet. The internet is open to everyone, those who are friendly and innocent and others who's intentions are not as clear. As all people, whom ever they may be can access a site or blog online, there really is a limited amount of things that are viewed as acceptable online. Most of us today consider being safe as surrounding yourself with others, locking your doors at night, keeping treasured items in safes, however when it comes to being safe online these things are not available, and so one protects themselves by remembering to not share all their personal information such as their whereabouts and phone numbers. By following only the guidelines above and possibly a few more, each one of us can be digital citizens.

=Background=

Teenagers are not really aware of their surroundings on the internet they are naive and curious and think there is no danger involved. They think the internet is a safe and easy place where they can get away from the real world and just 'chill', but it isn't like that the internet can be a very dangerous place if you don't know what your doing. They don't realize who they are talking to and opening up to. People can easily act like they're somebody they're not. Teens, especially girls, think they meet great people who are really just [|pretending to be somebody else]. He/She acts all charming and as they get to talking the victim feels more and more comfortable with him. Near the end of the story, the victim has put all their trust in the person. Then a few months later, the victim **could** end up either being [|kidnapped], raped, stolen from, suicidal or even killed.*

Things go on on the internet that nobody knows about. Sure people believe that the Internet is a domain where teenagers rule, as proven by the fact that the majority of teens know how the internet functions. But, then again teensters are also known for being naive, rebelious and stupid. This is because of the very fact that teens believe that "No one will ever know..." But somehow everything that is done on the net is recorded somehow, by spyware or by the site itself. A lot of disrespect has been surfing the net without some people ever finding out. If you do search the net you will find stories of bad things happening to good people only because they were a little insecure or bullied on the internet (lots of them might be fake but some are true). Bullying over the net is often referred to as cyberbullying and is most common for kids committing suicide. Just recently a bunch of teenage girls ganged and beat up one girl cause of something she wrote on MySpace. So not only does the victim suffer, but also the bully. These examples prove that parents as well as the teenagers do not know as much as they think they do about social life on the internet. To prevent cyber bullying we reccomened having common sense, not being sensitive, and confronting the cyber bullier yourself in the real world to try and solve the problem, who knows maybe your cyber bullier is a fat kid with nothing better to do.

Another severe problem are websites. Porn, Limewire, government websites, etc are a part of the internet and there is not much we can do about the them. There are several flaws for e.g.: Pop Ups, viruses, malware, trojans,etc which can lead to having a screwed up computer. The best people can people can do against these is having a anti-virus program and having a little bit of common sense.

Note- Thieves, Rapists, Bullies and Predators have existed before the creation of the world wide web. Parents warn their children about many things... Don't talk to strangers, Don't open the door for anyone and so on... But there if one thing that is rarely warned about; Be Secure on the Web. People have paid a price for being insecure on the net.

Also the majority of the consequences we wrote have happened but are rare, we just wrote them to make you more aware of the dangers and consequences. Here are a few videos that help put things in perspective about some of the worst consequences of things that have happened on the internet. This video tells the story of a girl who lost her life caused by the internet. She had broken her friendship with a girl she had befriended when she had to go to a new school. To see the rest of the story go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7403957.stm or http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3882520 This Is an example of what could happen when your chatting with someone your not even sure your know. One word describes this: DANGEROUS... This video explains what you shoud do on the net on social status sites: Facebook, MySpace, Ning...

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This video shows what can happen if you are communicating with someone you dont know on the web. This will show you how to use your common sense and quickly avoid complications. media type="youtube" key="xZHq4CQekTY&hl=en" height="355" width="425"

Thieves, Rapists, Bullies and Predators have existed before the creation of the world wide web. Parents warn their children about many things... Don't talk to strangers, Don't open the door for anyone and so on... But there if one thing that is rarely warned about; Be Secure on the Web. People have paid a price for being insecure on the net.

=Social and Ethical Aspects=

Social aspects on the internet are what you do socially or publicly online. One example is, if you were in a tightly crowded chat room and a friend asked you where you wanted to meet, you probably woudn't do it if a gazillion people were reading what you type. You probably would open a new window, discuss it there and then return to the old one. This is the same situation like when you want to tell secrets and other things. As said before it is your simple common sense. People have to know what, when, where and how to put particular things on the internet and who could be reading them.

Ethical aspects are important when your dealing with the internet. In more simple terms, this is the legal side of things. What you can and can't do on the web. For example, it is illegal to download music and video files from the internet. Keep telling yourself everybody does it, but if/when you get busted you and not everybody will //be// busted. Another example is, it is not against the law if you watch videos (as long as they are not pornographic) on video sharing sites (Youtube, Megavideo), but it is illegal to post copyright products/videos on them (e.g. films, and episodes for television series'). A man (real name unknown) created a site that you were able to watch almost any episode of any television series, but he was eventually arrested and the site was blocked.

= = =Possible Solutions=

There are many proposed solutions to the ultimate digital obstacles that stand in the way of having fun on the net, safety and security. Most teens nowadays have taken the time to join groups and sharing sites online that may have a negative affect on their life overtime. When teens join these sites, they do not think of the possible predators and dangers they are exposing themselves to, as it is online a matter of time before they are put in a position where they realize the importance of security online, be it through a personal experience or common realization. The following site on [|digital safety and security] gives readers a brief overview of what teens are exposed to online, and provides ideas and opinions which clearly highlight the issues in today's society.

If we take the time to inform others about the several predators and problems on the internet, it would help us immensely. Kids get on the internet open-minded. Predators on the internet are relentless of who they talk to and what they say to these people. If we do something as simple as telling parents about the actual danger on the internet, we could stop some of the tragedies happening online today. When they get involved in their kids internet lives it lowers the risk of something happening to their children. When kids that get on the internet talk to people that they don't know they become vulnerable to anyone. They talk to people who seem nice and treat them better than some might in reality. They begin to be infatuated by this person. Their parents begin to lose contact with their children and one day they look in their child's bedroom, and he's not their anymore. A few days pass and the next thing you know, they get a phone call. Tears pour down their face as they watch their young child being lowered into his grave. By telling parents of our classmates and friends we can make a difference. Ten minutes could save lives. = = =Guidelines and Rules for Teenagers=

> use ad blockers, proxies, firewalls, web shields, etc. When on p2p you should be connected to a VPN (virtual private network) which connects you to a secure server which is tightly secured against trackers and use a IP blocking program called Peerguardian 2 which blocks IPs which are on the black list of p2p form connecting to your computer (media defenders, record labels, corparations, etc). There are also general things that everyone should have if they're online eg virus buster, firewall, etc. Slides [|http://docs.google.com/Presentation?docid=dd7qpnmc_6c3sddvpd&amp;hl=en#|1-10] show about this topic.
 * You should always be using some sort of security when doing anything related to the internet. When on a web browser you should
 * Teens need to make sure they know who they are talking to on the internet. They shouldn't just go around meeting people unless they are 100% sure it is safe...
 * [|Parents] should have some sites blocked until they are certain that their child knows how to be responsible on the internet...
 * Children as well as teens should have a limited time for themselves as to how long they stay on the internet/computer. It should not be all they do when they are home and become an addiction.They need to learn how to discipline themselves. It is all part of being responsible...
 * Avoid the internet taking over your life...

Links to: Action Qatar Academy Action Vienna International School Action Westwood School