Mobile Security News archives
Keeping Kids Safe Online Is A Family Affair
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsWednesday, June 30th, 2010
(NAPSI)-The Web offers many wonderful experiences for young people, so teaching them about Internet safety and providing them with the right “training wheels” is important.
A recent survey by Yahoo! found that parents are taking action to keep their children safe on the Internet, but more frequent action is necessary. The survey found that:
• 70 percent of parents talk to their children about online safety at least two to three times a year.
• 45 percent of parents talk to their children about online safety at least once a month.
• 74 percent of parents are connected to their children’s profiles on social networking sites.
• 71 percent of parents have taken at least one action to manage their children’s use of the Internet or cell phones.
Teens and Technology: From IM to MySpace to Sexting
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsMonday, June 28th, 2010
Today’s parents deal with a great deal more than parents did fifteen years ago, even five years ago. Parents today are not only up against the usual social stressors of teens, but also the stressful world of technology and how it influences their children and teens.
Here are 3 major tips on what parents should look for with technology and their teens…
…Cell Phones: You pay the bill, and you should stay up to date and informed. Teens stay up until all hours of the night texting and talking on cell phones. Make it a house rule that everyone turns in their phones at 10:00 p.m. every night. Since you have access to the bill online at all times, check who they are talking too, when, and for how long. Finally the main concern today is the new fad of “SEXTING.” Sexting is the new sensation of teens sending naked or semi-naked pictures and videos of each other. This is a dangerous practice because the reputations and futures of teens can be destroyed. We must remember teens often think only in the present and don’t consider the future complications these actions will hold.
Cyberbullying, Sexting & Digital Reputation Management Prevalent Topics at Cox’s 5th National Teen Summit
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsThursday, June 24th, 2010
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Typifying its mantra “Your Friend in the Digital Age,” Cox Communications led its 5th National Teen Summit on Internet Safety on June 15, 2010. Presented to inform both teens and parents of online safety issues, including cyberbullying, sexting and the potential long-term impact of social media posts on digital reputation, the Summit also featured discussions with a teen focus group led by children’s advocate and America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh.
Report: A fifth of Android apps expose private data
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsWednesday, June 23rd, 2010
About 20 percent of the 48,000 apps in the Android marketplace allow a third-party application access to sensitive or private information, according to a report released on Tuesday.
And some of the apps were found to have the ability to do things like make calls and send text messages without the mobile user doing anything. For instance, 5 percent of the apps can place calls to any number and 2 percent can allow an app to send unknown SMS messages to premium numbers that incur expensive charges, security firm SMobile Systems concluded in its Android market threat report.
Meanwhile, dozens of apps were found to have the same type of access to sensitive information as known spyware does, including access to the content of e-mails and text messages, phone call information, and device location, said Dan Hoffman, chief technology officer at SMobile Systems.
“Just because it’s coming from a known location like the Android market or the Apple App Store (with the iPhone) doesn’t mean you can assume that the app isn’t malicious or that there is a proper vetting process,” he said.
Read more about Android Security
NYC Department of Education pushes to ban sexting
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsTuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Teen sexting continues to be a huge problem throughout the United States, and officials in New York City are finding ways to discourage high schoolers from sending explicit images of themselves through their cell phones. What is their latest proposal? Suspending or expelling teens who sext or cyberbully other students…even if they do it off campus or during summer break.
Under the Department of Education’s proposal, sexting could result to a 90-day suspension for the offending students. The consequences for cyberbullying could range from a parent-teacher conference to expulsion.
Addressing cyber bullying
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsTuesday, June 22nd, 2010
ARARAT – Ararat Primary School 800 has addressed the growing problem of cyber bullying with an educational workshop aimed at students and their parents.
Teacher Matt Haddow said the workshop was designed to create awareness of the dangers posed by technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones and the rising incidence of cyber bullying.
Mr Haddow said widespread access to these technologies and the anonymity of cyberspace makes bullying a lot easier.
”Bullying doesn’t just happen face to face anymore,” he said.
Mr Haddow said bullies are now able to access a much wider audience, almost instantaneously, with the touch of a button.
School Ban Would Crack Down On Sexting–Even In The Home
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsMonday, June 21st, 2010
While Vermont previously considered legalizing teen sexting, New York City public schools may outlaw it entirely.
The New York City Department of Education has proposed a ban on cyberbullying and sexting. Not only would the ban prohibit both practices during school hours, but they would be illegal outside of school too, according to New York Civil Liberties Union takes issue with the proposal because, as WCBSTV notes,
Not only does the Department of Education want to ban sexually explicit text messaging that students may do off hours on nights, weekends and summer vacation, but they also want to punish them for it, handing out up to a 90-day suspension.
The consequences for cyberbullying could range from a parent-teacher conference to expulsion.
School bullies surface online
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsMonday, June 21st, 2010
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) — Social media sites like MySpace and Facebook have been used to connect students but they’re also being used to threaten or bully.
As more teens use the Internet to socialize, child taunting is becoming more prevalent in the online community.
“The thing that we’re facing now is cyber-bullying,” said Karen Loy, principal at Northwest Middle School. “That’s where you see those text messages or it’s on MySpace or Facebook,” she said.
Ben Harrington is the executive director of the Mental Health Association of East Tennessee. He said this type of bullying is like none other.
“The bully doesn’t have to do it face to face anymore, they can do it sort of anonymously and they can spread all sorts of stuff,” Harrington said.
Strama & Gross: Learn how to fight cyberbullying
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsWednesday, June 16th, 2010
‘Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’
Sadly, the saying we learned as children is simply not true in today’s era of text messaging, social media and the Internet.
A child’s world is small: home, family, school and friends. That safe bubble can now easily be burst through a few clicks of a keyboard. An electronic whisper campaign of text messages that spreads nasty rumors or an unflattering photograph posted on a Facebook page for the entire school to see can devastate a child, ruin his or her reputation and, in some very sad cases, result in suicide.
AG agents take on cyberbullying by youths
Filed Under: Mobile Security NewsWednesday, June 16th, 2010
By Jessica Berardino
Observer-Reporter
Bullying is on the rise, and technology is one of the reasons why.
Children are being targeted through text messages, e-mails, instant messages, blogs, message boards and websites.
The state attorney general’s office is making efforts to stem cyberbullying, and last October launched “Operation Safe Surf.”
Senior Supervisory Special Agent Richard Shaheen spoke with middle school students and parents recently at First Presbyterian Church of Washington about the reality of the Internet.
“Anytime you can help kids out and provide them with instructions to keep them safe, it’s a great feeling,” Shaheen said.
