Computer Crime Prevention
Online security was once a corporate issue and not too long ago firewalls were of no concern to home computer users. Hackers got their kicks from gaining entry to corporate and government networks. We might have had a picture in our mind's eye of such hackers as geeks who didn't want to steal our money, but cause inconvenience with computer viruses.

Online crime as shifted and businesses have tightened their computer security, hackers are going for private individuals, yep you and me. Our private PC's are a wealth of information and stealing our identity can be relatively simple. It is the amount of information and data that we store on our computers not just user names and passwords for online banks and commerce sites, but e-mail addresses, instant message IDs, and even licensing keys for expensive software.

We need to be aware of the term 'phishing' and 'bots', they are components of a massive crime wave committing fraud and extortion, by using spy ware, worms and spam. Phishing begins with emails that appear to be from a reputable source such as your bank … more.


Securing your computer
We lock our cars, we secure our homes but apart from installing anti-vurus software (which is as only as good as its update), we don't really secure our computers as much as we should. When was the last time you downloaded a security patch or updated your software such as Windows? Do you check the the integrity of a laptop that is used between work and home?, it could be infected with a harmful virus.

If you are using wireless networks turn on the encryption features to secure your connection. Educating your family or other users about internet security such as not clicking on unexpected e-mail attachments. Show caution when using peer-to-peer products and services, such as file-sharing networks.

PC's are excellent tools for education, like most lessons that encourage experiments and interaction, abuse and misuse is almost a certainty, how many chemistry labs have witnessed near-bomb making experiments? How can it be prevented? Computer abuse in schools isn't about swearing at or beating up the PC monitor, but mischief and misuse.

Technology is about discovery and the Internet is a fantastic resource. When we teach students how to research topics, use search engines and find images, are they really going to avoid those websites that show images that they wouldn't show their parents?

Let's take a scenario; if your classroom's computers are unfiltered and some smart student finds a very questionable website with child porn or other hard-core sexually explicit site and downloads it. Has a criminal offence has been committed? Does liability go beyond the student that downloaded the website? What is the schools legal position? ...more