Pandora’s Blog

I don’t know what it is lately… I guess the cops are slow. Certainly there can’t be a shortage of creeps on the Internet… maybe they just got wiser or better at evading cops. Either way, it boils down to the fact that I have only one story to share this week.

A 49-year-old man was arrested in Oregon for attempting to solicit what he thought was a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old girl online. He even took steps to meet the 11-year-old in person (which landed him being arrested). The saddest part is that he is a prominent businessman and leader of the community (Medford, OR), he is a member of the Rotary club and volunteers for a local high school sports broadcasting company. Until a year ago, he also volunteered with religious youth groups.

… And then he gets arrested for going down the path of attempting to have sex with minors he meets on the internet. Great.

This is just one more reason for parents to be vigilant, cautious and always monitoring. It appears that physically no kids were hurt, but we don’t know if he actually was talking to real kids. We do know that without a doubt he tried. That is the key. Your kids may not be a victim of internet predators, but that doesn’t mean that predators aren’t working hard to make them a victim… But you can be absolutely sure and 100% certain that your kids are safe when they go online in your house if you have PC Pandora monitoring software.

Here’s the story:

Rasmussen Released From Jail; Faces Internet Sex Charges Involving Children

OREGON CITY — A 47-year-old Medford man who is vice-president of a local travel agency, a Rotary member and a prominent local golfer has been arrested in Clackamas County on charges that he was trying to meet two girls he’d been communicating with online.

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office says Kelly Ray Rasmussen is currently charged with two counts of first-degree online sexual corruption of a child. Several other related charges have been dropped.

Rasmussen was released from jail at about 7 p.m. Wednesday on his own recognizance, without being required to post bail. His bail was intially set at $155,000 after he was arrested Tuesday.

Deputies say they believe he began communicating online with undercover police officers posing as a 13-year-old girl in July and an 11-year-old girl in September. He was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Clackamas County “while he was poised to meet with his 13-year-old female victim.”

Investigators say that he had traveled to Portland and had taken “substantial criminal steps” to meet with the 11-year-old on Monday.

After his arrest, police searched his rental car, his Portland hotel room and his home in Medford.

Rasmussen is a well-known resident in the Rogue Valley: He’s vice-president and a co-owner of Jackson Travel Agency and figures prominently in local golf tournaments and was a champion raquetball player. He is a member of Medford Rogue Rotary Club and was affiliated with the Rogue Valley Country Club.

He has also been a long-time volunteer for South and North Medford high football and basketball broadcasts for Table Rock Sports. The company says until further notice, Rasmussen will no longer be involved with any future high school broadcasts. In a statement, Table Rock Sports adds “Like others in the community, we are shocked by today’s news.”

Rasmussen’s case was investigated and the arrest conducted with the assistance of the Interagency Child Exploitation Prevention Team (”Intercept”), comprised of criminal investigators representing the Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah counties as well as the Oregon Department of Justice and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Intercept was created to protect children from online predators by arresting and prosecuting them. Members of the Southern Oregon High-tech Crimes Task Force executed a search warrant at his Medford home looking for evidence in the case.

Anyone with information about Rasmussen and this ongoing criminal investigation is encouraged to contact the Clackamas County sheriff’s confidential tip line at 503-723-4949.

A second story on the arrest is here: Local Cops Helped in Rasmussen Arrest

Here’s an interesting one. An Ofsted report (from the UK) has found that children actually want more protection when they go online.

Nearly half (45%) think adults should supervise young people when using the web, while around a quarter (24%) believe children should be taught basic online safety. Almost two thirds (61%) asked for pornographic website and chat rooms to be blocked or filtered.

Some children also proposed that young people should not be allowed to post pictures of themselves online, and that the computer should be in a place where adults know they are using it and can monitor what they are doing.

One thing is certain about this study: kids in the UK are taking their Internet safety seriously, but they want help.

I wish kids in the US could be this proactive. Until then, there is monitoring software like PC Pandora to help parents do the job. Use PC Pandora to make sure your kids aren’t spending too much time on pornographic websites or talking to strangers. Use monitoring software to make sure your kids are safe online… that’s the bottom line. It’s all about knowing and being sure. If you’re not using PC Pandora, you’re just guessing…

Children want more web protection

Children want more protection when they are using the Internet, an Ofsted report has found.

Nearly half (45%) think adults should supervise young people when using the web, while around a quarter (24%) believe children should be taught basic online safety.

The survey questioned 686 youngsters aged between four and 20 of varying backgrounds about the issues they would like to see considered in the National Minimum Standards, which are non-enforceable guidelines on how children should be looked after.

The survey found that children were particularly keen that the new set of standards address specific concerns about the Internet.

Almost two thirds (61%) asked for pornographic website and chat rooms to be blocked or filtered.

The children also proposed that young people should not be allowed to post pictures of themselves online, and that the computer should be in a place where adults know they are using it and can monitor what they are doing.

Those in children’s homes were also more likely to say that they should only be allowed to get on the safe, age-appropriate websites, the report found.

The young people questioned all said that the new standards should apply to everyone, including children and parents, as well as managers, trainers and carers.

Dr Roger Morgan, Children’s Rights Director for England, said: “The message here is simple, children are taking their Internet safety seriously, but many clearly don’t feel confident that they can protect themselves on their own.

“They want adults to take a greater role in overseeing their web use and to be told exactly what is safe, so that they are better prepared to steer clear of unsuitable sites. Indeed many children suggested unsafe sites should be blocked completely so they cannot access them.”

That should read as “is equal to”…

Jason Miller at SecurityProNews.com wrote an interesting piece on cyber security as perceived by “mom.” Makes for some good Friday reading.

Basically, moms are putting Internet safety up on the list of important issues, up there with the equivalent of drinking and driving. This is a good thing.

The article below lists some stats and even takes a look at monitoring software at the end. I wrote to the authors and posed the question to somewhat retort to the ending conversation: I wonder how many kids are confusing “shocked,” “hurt” and “offended” with “angry your parents know what you rare really doing online”? Again, people, it’s not “spying”! It’s being a good parent. Never before has a child had such unprecedented and unlimited connectivity and access to the world… nor has the world has so much access to your child. “Spying” is what governments do; parents supervise, protect… and parent!

Remember, our PC Pandora is there to help you in your quest. Between predators and cyberbullying, there are just too many threats out there. You have to monitor.

Cyber Security As Worrisome As Drunk Driving To Moms
By Jason Lee Miller

Since over half of moms surveyed by McAfee and Harris Interactive feel the government isn’t doing enough to keep their kids safe online, they’re taking matters into their own hands. Kids, of course, are offended.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of mothers surveyed were just as concerned about cyber dangers as they were about drunk driving or drug experimentation. While 44 percent worry about their children’s online safety, almost a quarter worry about that more than what they might be doing outside the house.

They have good reason to worry. While 72 percent of mothers had a verbal agreement with their teens about what is allowed online, nearly half (48 percent) admitted not knowing all the time what goes on. Kids take advantage of that, McAfee says, and many are “spinning a web of evasive operations to avoid their parents’ supervision.

Almost two-thirds (63%) of teens said they know how to hide what they do online from their parents; 43 percent have closed or minimized the browser when they heard their parents coming. Nearly a third (32%) have cleared their browser history, 16 percent have created secret email accounts or social networking profiles, and 11 percent have figured out how to unlock or disable parental or filtering controls.

Even after all the media coverage of the dangers teens face online, 52 percent admitted to giving out personal information online to someone they didn’t know, and 24 percent have given personal photos and/or physical descriptions of themselves. Teen girls are twice as likely to do so than boys (34% compared to 15%).

Giving out too much personal information is the primary worry of 58 percent of mothers, while 44 percent worry about what their teens do when using the Internet in their rooms alone, and 24 percent worry about their Internet use when parents are out of the house.

“As a father of three I certainly worry about what my kids may do and encounter online,” said Dave DeWalt, McAfee president and chief executive officer. “While progress has been made over the past decade to combat online dangers, they remain very real for our kids.”

Some mothers have taken to covert actions to monitor their children. About a quarter (26%) have befriended their child on a social network, and 59 percent have checked their kid’s browser history after they’ve finished using the Internet. Only 15 percent are using monitoring software.

Many of the teens surveyed (24%) said they’d be shocked to find out their parents were spying on them, one in five would be hurt to find that out, and 34 percent said they’d be offended by it.

To bolster online safety and help educate parents, McAfee has appointed Chicago mom Tracy Mooney as its first Chief Cyber Security Mom.

“There are times I’ve felt overwhelmed trying to keep up with all the new things my kids are doing online,” said Mooney. “There’s a lot of information out there, parents just need to know where to go to find it. Kids will always want to break the rules and stretch boundaries and you have to give them their space and privacy. What works for me is acting before it happens and teaching them how to behave responsibly and safely online, as you would teach them to behave in the real world.”

I came across a couple very interesting stories. They use Facebook as the subject here, but each story can be applied to the broad social network world.

The first story takes a look at the art of “creeping.” This is basically randomly viewing people’s profiles on social networks without being on their friends list. You may think that only the scumbags creep, but not so. Actually, it’s people like you and me that are guilty of creeping (well, not me because I am so anti-social networking that I won’t even view a good friend’s profile). It’s an interesting word and idea for social networking etiquette. Ask yourself: are you a creep?

The second story is actually something I have been preaching for years. But it takes a smart person from the UK to bring it up. The shallow “friends” acquired on social networks will lead to a huge downturn of personal relationships. Experts in the UK say it’s happening and that the acquiring friends part is becoming an addiction.

While both of these stories are lighter and somewhat humorous, parents should be reminded that social networks are a serious addiction. Whether you have a profile and are addicted to making “friends” or don’t have one and are a creep… parents need to monitor their child’s online activity. Our PC Pandora will let you know what your child is doing online. You know, they aren’t always honest about what they are doing. Especially when it comes to social networks…

Check out the stories below…

Facebook: creepshow
By Wes Young, Opinion Columnist

Facebook has allowed our generation to stay in touch with friends in many ways, including wall posts, photos, messages, event invitations and status updates, but it has also created a questionable extracurricular activity: “creeping.”

For the record, I prefer to use “creeping” instead of stalking because stalking someone sounds much creepier than “creeping” someone. Miss Maz Hardy writes the blog “A guide to Facebook Etiquette” on www.blogspot.com. She said using “the news and minifeed revelations is perfectly acceptable and expected operandi of surveillance.” By her definition, everything else is “creeping.”

I’ll admit I’ve “creeped” someone before. Let’s face it, Facebook has made it easy and tempting. Because I’ve “creeped,” I’ve come up with my own definition. Any time you view the profile of a person with whom you are not Facebook “friends,” you’ve just “creeped.” When you visit a friend’s page without a good reason, i.e. something showed up in the minifeed, it’s his or her birthday, or you are close to them but haven’t seen or heard from them in a while, you’ve just “creeped.” Anything else is acceptable use of Facebook.

So what’s the big deal? Most people wouldn’t physically go out and follow someone around to find out everything about his or her life, so why would do people feel comfortable “creeping” others on Facebook?

Gavin Driskill, a student at Vanderbilt, summed up the reason in an interview with USA Today. He said, “You’re just sitting there, and there’s no direct interaction. So in one sense you feel safe because you can get this information without sharing anything about you.

“Though they could be Facebook-stalking you.”

That’s a scary thought. I can picture it now: a student walking across campus. A stranger runs up and says “Hey, you’re so-and-so. I saw you on Facebook. Aren’t you double majoring in elementary education and psychology with a minor in Spanish? Did you have fun at the Tumbleweed on Thursday night?” Creepy.

Facebook could basically kill the first date. You meet the “perfect” girl or guy in class and add him or her on Facebook. You both “creep” each other, and by the time you get to dinner on Friday night, you already know everything about each other. You don’t feel comfortable enough with him or her to discuss more serious topics, or worse, you’re bored because you’re talking about all the things you already know in order to keep conversation flowing. Good luck making it to the second date.

Luckily, there are ways to prevent “creeping.” Set your profile to private. If you feel like someone knows too much, only allow him or her to see your limited profile. Use caution when uploading pictures and writing wall posts. Facebook is a communication tool, but we all know “creepers” exist. I doubt you want to share anything you wouldn’t share in face to face conversation. If you get caught “creeping,” your best option is to make a joke about it.

The easiest way to deal with “creeping” is to avoid it, and follow the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Facebook to blame for ‘friendship addiction’ among women
By Paul Revoir, Daily Mail (UK)

Social networking site Facebook is fuelling insecurity, according to addictions expert David Smallwood

Social networking website Facebook has been blamed for creating a “friendship addiction” amongst women which fuels their insecurity.

Leading psychologist David Smallwood from the Priory has claimed many have become hooked on the urge to “acquire” more and more friends.

He claims women are vulnerable to the addiction as they get their self worth from relationships and Facebook compels them to seek out hundreds of cohorts.

Last year it was revealed that females between 25 and 49-years old were spending more time on the internet than men for the first time ever.

The so-called feminisation of the web has been driven by social networking sites, which allow people to keep in touch with friends and chat online.

Facebook, which has become an internet phenomenon, has nearly 60million users with two million joining every week.

Research has shown that in some cases social networking sites are acting as a substitute for proper family life in countries like Britain.

But yesterday Mr Smallwood, lead therapist with the Priory’s addictions unit, warned at least 10 per cent of the population are at risk from “friendship addiction”.

He pointed out that the site is particularly unsuitable for people recovering from drug, alcohol and shopping dependancy.

He said: ‘The problem with Facebook is it’s all about acquisition and this is an addictive process.

‘Acquisition of friends is like any other fix but it’s competitive - you judge yourself by how many friends you have online.

‘You go out of your way to amass friends and that means people bend out of shape and become something they are not.

‘To appear successful, you go and put yourself in credit card debt by buying clothes and handbags. I see patients who are on Facebook and my response is “get yourself of it”.

Sites can also increase people’s sense of rejection through its system of friend “requests”, it is claimed.

People who are rejected are barred from accessing the webpage of the person that turned them down.

Mr Smallwood said: ‘If you’re an addict you need to do things to fix yourself and make yourself feel better.

‘People in recovery look for ways of being ‘fixed’ and these websites can act the same Way.

‘But the problem is there are only three to four people who can be at the top in terms of popularity. Anyone else is just an also-ran which increases the feelings of inadequacy.’

Despite his claims a report published yesterday claimed sites like Facebook actually prevent people becoming socially isolated.

Wow. My 20th post. My 20th round-up of scum and villainy tat troll the Internet looking to have sex with underage kids. That means that for at least 20 weeks there have been enough stories to tell of arrests. Do you really think predators aren’t a problem? I should go back and count, but I guarantee it’s over 200 guys… in the last few months… and they are just the ones caught.

Parents, there is too much at stake. Your child may not currently be talking to one of these sickos… but that doesn’t mean the sickos aren’t trying to talk to them… PC Pandora monitoring software can help keep your kids far away from creeps like this.

Below are the counts of 24 scumbags. Here’s a summary:

• A 49-year-old and 30-year-old man from PA were both arrested on separate accounts for trying to arrange sex with young teenage girls over the Internet in a sting operation conducted by the state attorney general’s office.
• A 33-year-old Connecticut man arrested in July was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges he sexually assaulted several young women, including some he met through the social networking Internet site MySpace.com.
• 21 alleged internet predators were arrested during a sting operation this weekend at a Grand Rapids-area (WI) house over the weekend, thinking they would have sex with a girl as young as 13 or 14. Perverted Justice worked on this one worked with about a dozen Kent County sheriff’s detectives and deputies.
• A 25-year-old man from Illinois used Facebook to trick a teenage boy into having sex with him and then blackmailed him for more. The man has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison.

Full stories with links here…

(more…)

Maybe this is the way to go about it… a Brigham Young University student, Justin Bergener, created SchoolTipline.com, which lets students anonymously report incidents of cyberbullying, as well as information about thefts, drugs and harassment.

Bergener said he hopes students who might otherwise be too scared or shy to speak up will be willing to post on the site. Lots of schools are already using the site and even parents have reporter incidences.

Maybe this is the way to go. There is a code of silence in Middle Schools and a report in the Journal of School Health (see second story pasted below) shows that some 72% of teens who are frequent Internet users say they’ve been the victim of online bullying at least once during the past year. Yet, 90% of bullied teens don’t tell their parents about the incidents, mainly because they feel the need to deal with the problem on their own and are fearful of parental restrictions on Internet use.

If kids aren’t telling their parents, maybe this site can be the answer. This and, of course, monitoring software like our PC Pandora. With PC Pandora you’ll know if your child is a victim of a cyberbully, and you’ll know; you’ll also know if your child is the cyberbully and be able to stop them before the law does.

Web Site Lets Kids Report Cyberbullying

SALT LAKE CITY — Six Utah schools have started using a Web site that allows students to anonymously report bullies.

A Brigham Young University student, Justin Bergener, created the site, which also lets students post information about thefts, drugs and harassment.

Bergener said he hopes students who might otherwise be too scared or shy to speak up will be willing to post on the site.

“There really is this culture and code of silence that’s particularly prevalent in middle schools and high schools,” Bergener said.

Many students may not want to be seen in the office talking to an authority figure, said Rosanna Ungerman, principal of Provo’s Dixon Middle School.

“It allows students to have an outlet and avenue to report things they might otherwise not have reported,” Ungerman said.

Nearly 50 schools in other states are also using the Web site.

Even some parents have reported incidents anonymously, said Judy Runolfson, Lehi Junior High’s assistant principal.

“There’s a greater awareness that it’s a situation that needs to be looked into right away because we know it can lead from something that’s not that bad to something much worse,” Runolfson said.

Lehi seventh-grader Kimmy Mortenson said she hasn’t used the Web site, but thinks it’s a good idea.

“I think kids would feel more comfortable about reporting bullies that way,” Mortenson said. “They can safely report and not get bullied by the bully.”

Kids Hide Cyberbullying Incidents from Parents

By SLJ Staff — School Library Journal,
Cyberbullying is more common than you think, and teens aren’t telling their parents about it, says a new study in the Journal of School Health.

In fact, some 72 percent of teens who are frequent Internet users say they’ve been the victim of online bullying at least once during the past year.

“Extending the School Grounds?—Bullying Experiences in Cyberspace” says online bullying is associated with in-school bullying, with 85 percent of respondents who reported at least one online incident also reporting being bullied in school.

Meanwhile, 90 percent of bullied teens don’t tell their parents about the online incidents, mainly because they feel the need to deal with the problem on their own and are fearful of parental restrictions on Internet use, says the study.

“Just as school-based bullying is considered a public health concern, online bullying should be recognized as an issue that needs attention,” say the study’s authors Jaana Juvonen and Elisheva F. Gross of the University of California in Los Angeles. “Because of the generation gap in electronic communication, however, parents and educators need to better understand both the positive and negative functions of teen online behavior.”

Bullying is a national public health problem affecting millions of students, but with the rapid increase in electronic communication, bullying is no longer limited to schools, the study adds.

The most frequent forms of online and in-school bullying involved name-calling or insults, and the online incidents most typically took place through instant messaging. Repeated school-based bullying experiences increased the likelihood of repeated cyberbullying more than the use of any particular electronic communication tool, with about two-thirds of cyberbullying victims reported knowing their perpetrators, and half of them knowing the bully from school, the study says.

Both in-school and online bullying experiences also were independently associated with increased social anxiety.

As I mentioned in the previous blogpost, there is a lot of criticism of the new laws passed aimed at protecting kids online. One of the criticisms I agree with is the special attention (and now, money) that the NCMEC is going to get. Makes it harder for little companies like us to possibly partner with states and the feds to help parents protect their kids.

There are a couple of other points in the article below that, while I can agree with the actual statement, I still feel people are missing the point and overall idea behind the new laws.

I also do not understand how if you are convicted as a sex offender, how making you put your name on a blacklist that will keep you out of areas where children play (virtually), how that is considered unconstitutional? How is it constitutional to let these perverts play with kids? Hello?

Anyway, here’s an interesting piece. But again, I remind you, parents: you are the best defense – do you job in the home with tools like PC Pandora. The only way to truly keep your kids safe is to KNOW they are safe.

Foes See Problems in New Net Laws Protecting Children
By Patricia Resende

The Center for Democracy and Technology has cited problems with the new POCA and KIDSPA laws signed by President George Bush. The laws aim to protect children from online predators, but the center’s John Morris says the trend to outsource law enforcement is dangerous. Morris also said an authorized blacklist is unconstitutional.

President George Bush signed two bills into law on Monday that would protect children from online predators, but one group said the bills were rushed to the White House for signature without careful consideration.

While Congress considered the nation’s financial bailout plan, other significant bills protecting children were being debated, including the Protect Our Children Act of 2008 (POCA) and Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act (KIDSPA).

The POCA law will increase funding for fighting child pornography by providing law enforcement with $320 million over the next five years, force the Department of Justice to develop a way to fight child pornography, and provide forensic and other resources to help state law enforcement protect children.
PROTECT, the National Association to Protect Children, a children’s advocacy group, fought hard for the bill by testifying before Congress, as did talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, who encouraged her viewers to send letters to their state’s senators supporting the bill.

Problematic Provisions
The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), which promotes democratic values and liberties, believes there are some problems with POCA and some holes in KIDSPA.

John Morris, general counsel and director of CDT’s Internet Standards, Technology and Policy Project, said Congress insisted on adding parts of another bill the SAFE Act before the bill would pass. He disagrees with a provision outsourcing investigative responsibilities to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). He believes the trend in Congress to outsource law-enforcement functions to private groups leads down a dangerous path.

Morris echoed the thoughts of Greir Weeks, PROTECT director, who testified before Congress on the same issue. “It would be inappropriate at best to house a database containing records on hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and millions of crimes in private or corporate hands, or to outsource such a core law-enforcement function,” Weeks said. “We encourage you to exercise close oversight of the Department of Justice as it makes these decisions over the coming year.”

Another problem provision, according to Morris, is a blacklist that NCMEC runs with Internet service providers.

“Although the program might have been desirable (and probably avoided constitutional concerns because NCMEC is private), now that Congress has authorized the program it runs smack into the clear constitutional prohibition against a governmental blacklist of content under a long line of ‘prior restraint’ cases,” Morris said. “Congress did make clear that NCMEC’s blacklist could only be used for a very narrow category of child pornography, but this narrowing of the program does not avoid its clear unconstitutionality.”

Dangerous Holes
Morris saw problems in KIDSPA as well. That law creates a national registry of sex offenders’ e-mail addresses and allows social-networking services such as MySpace and Facebook to use the list to screen out sex offenders.

Morris said the definition of a “social network” in the bill is too broad and will be used to impose regulations on Web sites. Another problem, writes Morris in his blog, is that sex offenders who want to break the terms of their release by contacting minors can do so by simply creating new e-mail addresses.

A far more effective approach Congress could have taken would have been to allow probation officers to limit the ability of sex offenders to access social networks, according to Morris.

Bush is grasping at straws and doing whatever he can to try and make himself look good and not the colossal calamity he has been for 8 years. Thanks to mounting pressure after the Oprah show from Americans across the country, Bush signed into law two Acts this Monday:

[From: S E N A T U S]

President Bush has signed the KIDS (Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators) Act into law. The bill is S. 431.

The bill provides for the following requirements, according to an official White House statement:

sex offenders to provide Internet identifiers, including e-mail addresses, to State sex offender registries; and tasks the Justice Department to establish and maintain a system that allows social networking websites to compare Internet identifiers of its users with those provided to the National Sex Offender Registry;

You can read the bill text here.

Additionally, the President also signed into law today the PROTECT (Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology To Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children) act. That bill is S. 1738. You can read the bill text here.

It requires “the Department of Justice to create and implement a National Strategy for Child Exploitation, Prevention, and Interdiction; statutorily establishes the existing Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program; and makes other amendments to Federal child pornography laws,” according to an official White House statement.

There has been a lot of buzz on the internet about how the law is bogus, it’s flawed and it clearly shows how out of touch our lawmakers are. On the contrary, it shows how short-sighted idiots on the Internet are and how gullible american parents are presumed to be.

Did you really think this was going to fix everything? Of course we know that the KIDS act relies on the honesty of predators. But NOW, if they DO lie, and are caught lying, they can be dealt with properly.

As you may or may not know, the system until now is flawed because a predator is able to be caught multiple times and released on probation or parole or with a small fine or minimal jail time. Now it makes it a federal offense for an RSO to be on a social network site, especially if using a fake name/profile. Don’t you see how good this is? No it won’t stop them from lying. Of course not! But now, when they are caught lying – they can REALLY be punished.

And thanks to PROTECT, law enforcement now gets the grants it needs ($320 million over the next 5 years) to inter-train and pursue these scumbags.

Of course, this isn’t going to solve anything in the short term. If the scumbags are going to get back on the social networks, they will be able to play until (if ever) caught. Some argue that the passing of these laws will give parents a false sense of security. I really hope not.

Fortunately there is some security. Parents can do their part in the home by utilizing computer monitoring software like PC Pandora. Our software will give you a visual record of everything your child does online. If they are talking to strangers, you will know. What better security can you get than knowledge!?

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 15, 2008 — The big tech news across the board for October is the celebration of Cyber Security Awareness Month. More so a reminder than a celebration, PC owners everywhere are encouraged once again to check up on their antivirus and Internet protections, and firewall and password strengths. They are reminded to take active steps to avoid falling victim to identity theft, phishing scams and cyber attacks. In the past year, the issue of child safety - and consequently security - on the Internet has become a big topic, especially when it comes to teaching kids how to navigate the web safely and not to give out too much personal information.

October may almost be over, but Internet safety and security of the home computer are year-long practices. Pandora Corp. makers of PC Pandora monitoring software and the Pandora Recovery tool is adding extra emphasis on two key security areas this month: the ability to track harmful changes to your home computer and recover lost data, and the knowledge that your children are safe when they go online.

They are two areas where computer monitoring software and data recovery tools can save the day.

“So much can happen to your PC, on purpose or by accident, that will affect its performance and, potentially, your safety,” says James Leasure, Co-founder of Pandora Corp. “The wrong files being moved or deleted can result in a seriously corrupted system. Worse than that, if certain settings get changed or the wrong files get deleted, you may find yourself locked out of online banking accounts or even have your private passwords and personal information opened up to anyone that cares to look.”

For anyone who spends a significant amount of time working at home or on the go, or for home PCs with multiple users, monitoring software can be a lifesaver if an important document is lost, deleted or becomes corrupted. Having a record of activity like online banking and bill paying may come in handy when unexpected situations arise, such as online payments failing to go through, or an operating system becoming corrupted.

“Computer monitoring software lets you go back in time on your machine and replay everything that happened,” says Leasure. “Imagine having security tapes to review of all action on your machine. Maybe it’s a confirmation number you forgot to write down or safely finding a website that corrupted your machine, everything will be there.”

A second device that can be handy in this situation is a data recovery tool like Pandora Recovery, which lets you find and recover lost or deleted files. Available as a free download or as a mobile USB Flash Drive installation for use on multiple computers, it’s an essential tool that will help you retrieve those important documents or files that go ‘missing’ – whether it’s by accident or on purpose.

Younger users may be more prone to accidents on the PC, but they are also more likely to engage in illegal activity when using the Internet. From bullying peers to downloading pirated music and movies, or even inappropriate and illegal photos of underage peers, kids are always finding ways to get into trouble. Unfortunately for parents, the computer’s owner can be the one who will answer to authorities.

“When you toss potential illegal activity into the mix along with being active on social networks where predators can lurk, giving out too much personal information, and the rising trend in vicious cyberbullying tactics, you have even more reason to be monitoring Internet activity of your children with software like our PC Pandora,” says Leasure.

PC Pandora is monitoring software that monitors and records all activity on a computer. By taking sequential snapshots of all activity on screen, PC Pandora acts as a DVR for your machine. The snapshots allow you to see everything that happened on your computer, telling you who did what and when. Further details of user activity, such as websites visited, emails sent and received, instant messenger chats, keystrokes logged, peer-2-peer files shared, programs accessed, Internet search queries and more, can be seen in text-based files. The IRIS feature will even send those text-based files right to a parent’s email, very valuable for working moms and dads who can’t always be home when the kids are online.

“PC Pandora gives parents a full visual and documented record of everything that happens on the home PC,” explains Leasure. “This gives them the ability to find and fix problems quickly, but more importantly, the knowledge that their children are being safe when they go online. In some cases, PC Pandora will give you the evidence you need to hold your children accountable for their online activity.”

Security to the home PC is essential in today’s connected and networked world. Having the ability to know everything that happens on your machine can play a vital role in fixing system errors and keeping your kids safe online. Computer monitoring software like PC Pandora 5.0 and free data recovery tools like Pandora Recovery are imperative security measures.

A 2-hour trial of PC Pandora 5.0 is available at www.pcpandora.com. As a special promotion for Cyber Security Awareness Month (October), the company is offering the software at a discounted price; parents can use the code ‘CSAM08’ at checkout to get $10 off the Standard or Pro editions of PC Pandora monitoring software.

Pandora Recovery is available for FREE at www.pandorarecovery.com. Recovery Mobile can be purchased alone or within the Pandora Power Pack, which includes 4 licenses for PC Pandora – a great value for families and small businesses.

Teenage Online Statistics:

A recent Pew Internet & American Life Project report says:

• 94% of teens 12-17 go online
• 63% of online teens go online daily
• 94% go online to do research for school assignments; 48% do so on a typical day
• 32% of online teens have been contacted by a complete stranger online; of teens that have been contacted, 23% say they were made scared or uncomfortable by the stranger contact
• Social network users more likely to have been contacted by strangers
• 32% of online teens have experienced a form of cyberbullying, such as having private material (IM, text, email) forwarded without permission, receiving threatening messages, having a rumor spread about them online or having someone post an embarrassing picture of them online without permission
• Having Internet monitoring software (but not filters) is correlated with lower reported levels of contact by someone unknown to the teen or his/her friends

By contrast:

• 65% of parents say they check up on their teens after they go online - This means that 35% of parents DO NOT check!
• 45% of families have monitoring software on the computer that their child uses - This means that 55% of parents cannot confirm what their child does online or has no clue.
• 7% of parents have no rules about media use at all - This figure should be ZERO!

About PC Pandora: Pandora Corporation was formed with one goal - to help our customers monitor, control and protect their families and themselves online. First released in mid 2005, PC Pandora has been constantly upgraded to industry-leading specifications and has received accolades from users, reviewers and even school districts and law enforcement agencies, who use the program to help in the day-to-day supervision of the children and citizens they are charged with protecting. The company website devotes space to helping parents by providing 18 Tips to Safe Surfing and Pandora’s Blog, where current news in the world of online safety is discussed regularly. PC Pandora has vaulted into a leadership position by boasting a combination of features that are unparalleled in the monitoring industry. In February 2008, Version 5.0 was released, again widening the spectrum of coverage and protection offered by the program. In addition, through the company’s SAFE SCHOOLS program, schools and school districts can receive up to $100,000 worth of software to aid in protecting their students and their PCs. PC Pandora is also now available through the Pandora Corp. store at Amazon.com.

Reporters and Producers: Looking to cover this topic? We are your technology solution and experts. Software is available for review and testing. Staff members are always available for interviews. Let us help you show your audience how easy it can be to keep their kids safe online.

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This is so typical. Social networks may have started out as a place for teens and young adults (actually, I thought they started as places for older adults to reconnect with people from their past). But now that teachers are showing up online (remember, some teachers – many – are still under 30 and thus considered “young adults”) and kids are creeped out. Some have the balls to assert that social networks are “theirs” and that teachers shouldn’t follow them into their personal lives. Last time I checked, you could make your profile private and disallow someone from being on your friends list or being able to view your page. The internet isn’t yours, you know.

Still, there may be ONE cause for concern and creeped outedness – the very very very few teachers that do like to have affairs with their students. Yes, it happens. That is why parents need to use parental control and monitoring software like PC Pandora to make sure their kids aren’t getting too “Hot For Teacher”… or visa versa.

My thoughts: actually, I wish my teachers were online. If I knew I could get a hold of them at any time to ask about a homework assignment - that would have been sweet. Then again, I come from a generation that valued an education and had respect for teachers. Unlike today’s kids that have zero respect and treat teachers like they would a homeless bum – they walk over them. I also come from a generation that didn’t have any cases of teacher/student relationships (that we knew of).

I, personally, think it’s a great idea that teachers are on social network sites, but that is where I think it should end. They should just be there and that is it. If kids want to go to them, they can. I don’t think that should be a 2-way street. Not yet. If a teacher wants to be active on a site with other adults, fine… but they should have a separate page that identifies them as Mr. Teacher and is reserved for students only. Just as in the real world, there needs to be a separation between the job and the personal life.

Here’s the story. It’s a good read…

Teachers befriend students on social networking sites, but some creeped out
By Katherine Leal Unmuth / The Dallas Morning News

Social networking Web sites started out as places for teenagers and college students to socialize. But the increasing number of adults – particularly teachers and school administrators –going online is making some young people uncomfortable.

What is “Creepy Treehouse?” Slang for how students feel creeped out by school teachers and college professors who are using Facebook and MySpace to interact with their students online. Education blogger Jared Stein defines it this way: “a place, physical or virtual (e.g. online), built by adults with the intention of luring in kids.” The term derives from urban legends about sexual predators luring children into treehouses.

Why are some students creeped out? They believe the popular Web sites are meant for young people and not for uncool or even dangerous teachers. “Students can be creeped out or feel repulsed when a teacher uses Facebook to emulate what students are doing and go into their personal space,” Mr. Stein said. “They’re inviting the students to accept them as a peer.”

One student’s discomfort. Dallas Townview Magnet student Francisco Daniel, 17, explains: “If someone older than us is on MySpace, it’s creepy. It’s something they should have outgrown.”

Another says it’s OK. McKinney North High School student Julia Hart said she has made Facebook friends with her technology teacher. “It depends on the teacher,” she wrote. “I think it is great for teachers to use the social networking sites because they are made for everyone, not just teens.”

Examples of Creepy Treehouse. (1) Teachers who send unwelcome invitations to their students to become online “friends.” (2) Teachers who encourage students to use the Web sites as part of class discussion when students are reluctant. (3) Teachers who reveal too many details about their personal lives, such as information about romantic relationships or party pictures. (4) Teachers who use their online pages to push their political views on students.

Creepy Treehouse spawns new Web sites. Some students think teachers and administrators who try to engage them online are cyber-stalkers searching for incriminating photos or information. They are organizing new online groups against teachers. On Facebook, you can find “Teachers … please stop going on Facebook,” with the description, “Must you follow us wherever we go, and bother us in our private lives?”

Does anyone support teachers online? Rival Facebook groups, though far outnumbered by the opposition, are organizing to support teachers. They include “Students should get over Teachers being on Facebook” and “No … it’s not awkward being friends with my teachers on Facebook.”

One teacher says: The Academy of Irving ISD technology teacher Darren Wilson doesn’t use the sites but acknowledges that many of his colleagues are online. “I think they just want to better understand their students’ lives outside the school,” he said. “It’s another tool for teachers to connect with the kids.”

What do school bosses think about Creepy Treehouse? Some principals don’t oppose teachers connecting with students on social networking sites, as long as such interaction is limited to school-focused topics or they don’t put too much personal information online.

One principal says: Irving MacArthur High School principal Cynthia Bean cautions teachers against sharing too much information online with students. It can be a slippery slope, she says. “I don’t want to run their personal life, but I think on these venues it’s too easy to lose sight of your professional relationship with kids and that’s what worries me.”