Children Online More than Ever; Need Good Sense and Good Security
Jersey City, NJ, January 26, 2010 - In 2009, children spent more time than ever hooked in to their electronic devices. During their time online, they need protection from two kinds of threats: targeted one-on-one danger from online predators, and automated menaces, said Melih Abdulhayoglu, CEO of Comodo. A January 10 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation surveying more than 2000 youngsters found that children age 8-18, especially minority children, are increasing their use of entertainment media dramatically. Children's computer use has grown from 27 minutes in 1999 to little over 1-1/2 hours a day in 2009. Top online activities include social networking, online games and video sites. "When children visit these kinds of sites they may encounter two kinds of danger," said Abdulhayoglu. "First, predators look for them on those sites because those sites attract children. This predator is willing to invest both time and money in gaining a child's trust. Children online need good sense, at a time when they are still trying to develop it. Comodo strongly recommends that parents take time to discuss what their children are doing online, to guard children from online predators. A very helpful resource is the FBI's Parent's Guide to Online Safety." At the same time, children online face the same hazard as netizens everywhere: malware. Just like grownups, they may unthinkingly open email attachments containing viruses, or they may visit infected websites. "In fact, because they are not as worldly, they probably do this more often," said Abdulhayoglu. Doing so causes malicious software to install itself on their computers. "Malware has evolved," said Abdulhayoglu. "Once it installs, even a grownup may not even know that it's there. It sits in the background and sends out ...

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