Mistakes on Internet can be costly

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December 23, 2009

By LAUREN VILBERT The Press Republican Wed Dec 23, 2009, 11:21 AM EST

PLATTSBURGH — A State Police expert on computer crime urges parents to teach children to use the Internet, not vice-versa.

Jay Miner Jr., an investigator with the Computer Crime Unit of Northern New York, said it's important for adults to be familiar with online dangers and for young people to think ahead when they use social-network sites.

"Consider the future, with schools, employers and even future potential spouses," he advises. "What you do and post today could come back to haunt you."

NO PRIVACY

Miner was the guest speaker at an Internet Safety Forum organized by the Plattsburgh High School Community School Organization to answer any questions that parents had about their children's use of the Internet. He gave a follow-up presentation to the student body at PHS a few days later.

The idea is education," said Marla Wolkowicz, chief organizer of the event and co-president of the CSO.

"As we walk into a world with greater and faster technological options and see what our children are exposing themselves to, we need to take specific precautions."

Miner, who has been working on computer crime for about five years, said people should "consider the Internet to be a public forum, with no expectation of privacy."

The major safety threats for users are identity theft, viruses, unwanted sexual advances, pornography, cyber-bullying and inappropriate material.

BUGS AND SCAMS

Issues with identity theft and viruses surface with password-hacking schemes sent through e-mail and "click here" claims of winning the foreign lottery, free iPods, laptops, etc., Miner said.

Scammers use these ways to get information and money from victims.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it is," Miner said.

File-sharing programs such as Limewire, Bear Share and Morpheus can expose computers to viruses. File sharers on these programs offer copyrighted material without authorization from the artist or author, which is illegal and may result in prosecution of users, Miner said.

There has been a nationwide crackdown by the FBI on the biggest file sharers, and area students have been charged, he said.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

The privacy issue for students on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace is an area that Wolkowicz and other parents specifically wanted to know more about.

To protect yourself on these social networks, make sure your profile is set to private, where only friends you know can see your information, Miner said. And don't add people you don't know.

"Facebook is more restrictive and much better at policing content than MySpace," he said.

"There is still potential to misuse Facebook. The risk is adding an unknown friend; that friend can relay information about you. Social-networking sites and personal information posted online are used by predators to locate and approach victims."

According to the Division of Criminal Justice Services, as of January 2008, 169 sex offenders live in Clinton County.

"These are just the ones we know about," Miner added.

SEXTING

He also suggested that cell phones are not immune from privacy issues.

Text messaging is now a standard way for children to communicate.

Sexting — sending sexually explicit messages or photos between cell phones — has become very common among children and teens, Miner said.

"Once these messages or images are transmitted, it is important to understand you will never get it back."

Police have begun to monitor and apprehend individuals who use cell technology inappropriately, he said.

Nancy Jackson of Schuyler Falls said she came to the event because her daughter was receiving inappropriate text messages.

"I am glad I came tonight. It was an excellent and informative presentation, and I suggest more parents should learn more about this," she said.