Cyber Crime

TIPS FOR CHILDREN

• Do not give out identifying information such as name, home address, school name or telephone number in a chat room.

• Do not send your photograph to any one on the Net without initially checking with the parent or guardian.

• Do not respond to messages or bulletin board items that are obscene, belligerent or threatening.

• Never arrange a face-to-face meeting without informing your parent or guardian.

• Remember that people online may not be who they seem to be.

PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER

• Use the latest version of a good anti-virus software package which allows updating from the Internet.

• Use the latest version of the operating system, web browsers and e-mail programs.

• Don't open e-mail attachments unless you know the source. Attachments, especially executables (those having .exe extension) can be dangerous.

• Confirm the site you are doing business with. Secure yourself against "Web-Spoofing". Do not go to websites from email links.

• Create passwords containing at least 8 digits. They should not be dictionary words. They should combine upper and lower case characters.

• Use different passwords for different websites.

• Send credit card information only to secure sites.

• Use a security program that gives you control over "Cookies" that send information back to websites. Letting all cookies in without monitoring them could be risky.

PROTECT YOUR WEBSITE

• Stay informed and be in touch with security related news.

• Watch traffic to your site. Put host-based intrusion detection devices on your web servers and monitor activity looking for any irregularities.

• Put in firewall.

• Configure your firewall correctly.

• Develop your web content off line.

• Make sure that the web servers running your public web site are physically separate and individually protected from your internal corporate network.

• Protect your databases. If your web site serves up dynamic content from a database, consider putting that database behind a second interface on your firewall, with tighter access rules than the interface to your web server.

• Back up your web site after every update.

For more information on Cyber Crime and how to prevent it, visit the FBI's website on Cyber Crime.