Being aware of cyber risks couldn't be more important these days as cyber fraud steals $239 million from consumers, according to the FBI. TEP is committed to bringing you the latest information about tools and resources to protect your family, your private information and your business.

Tips For Families

10 Things You Can Do Today to Protect Your Children on the Internet
download pdf from fosi.org

12 Tools to Keep Kids Safe Online
PC Magazine, March 4 2008

News

The Rough-and-Tumble Online Universe Traversed by Young Cybernauts
New York Times, January 22, 2008
A baby-faced eighth grader, viciously bullied online, hangs himself. With a click of her mouse, a young woman with anorexia uses cyberspace to find tips on starving. A high school student, with a world of plot outlines available on the Internet, admits that he cannot recall ever actually reading a book.

If 21st-century parenthood is not scary enough, “Growing Up Online,” a documentary to be broadcast on the “Frontline” program on most PBS stations on Tuesday night, uses those real-life stories to ask an increasingly important question: What does it mean to be part of the first generation coming of age steeped in a virtual world seemingly outside parental control? Read more.

Virginia Tries to Ensure Students' Safety in Cyberspace; State-Mandated Classes on Internet Take Shape
Washington Post, May 3 2008
Alan Portillo didn't think much, if at all, about his online vulnerability. Then the 15-year-old heard technology teacher Wendy Maitland list three pieces of information an online predator would need to find him. Birth date, she said. Alan's age was on his e-mail. Gender. His full name was also on his e-mail and topped his MySpace page. ZIP code. A photo on the page showed an area near his neighborhood, with "Arlington" emblazoned across one building. Read more.

Texas attorney general warns that Internet safety starts with user
Abilene Reporter News, April 23, 2008
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sounded the first warning, and other speakers repeated it, ensuring that everyone listening got the message: Cyberspace security begins with you. Read more.

Cyber bullying needs deleting
The Journal Times, May 28, 2008
Used to be that home was a safe haven from bullies. Not so since the rise of “cyber bullying.” The family of Megan Meier can testify to that. The Missouri teenager committed suicide after a “boy” she met on the social networking site MySpace rejected her. In fact, there was no such person. Read more.

'Cyber bullying' opens new legal vistas Technology aids harassers, but court case could change that
Royal Oak Daily Tribune, May 27. 2008
Twenty years ago, an image of a school bully might bring to mind a big kid shaking down a weaker student for lunch money. These days, however, technology has made harassment a whole new game, minus the wedgies and swirlies. With social networking Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and numerous chat rooms, a bully doesn't even have to be in the same room to torment a victim. But a recent indictment against a woman, who allegedly partook in an online hoax that resulted in a teen suicide, could set a precedent for punishing cyber bullies. Read more.

More Family Resources

Childnet
www.childnet-int.org
Childnet is a non-profit organization working around the world to help make the internet a great place for children. They run projects in 4 key areas of Access, Awareness, Protection and Policy.

Childnet's Know It All
Childnet's Know It All guide will help you to understand the risks as well as giving you the practical advice and help you need to talk to your children and support them so they can use these new communication tools safely and responsibly.

Insafe
www.saferinternet.org
Delivers a rich assortment of internet safety-related information and serves as a coordination point for relevant activities in 16 countries.

Cybersmart Kids
www.cybersmartkids.com.au
A young person's guide to surfing the Net, using e-mail and chatrooms, the smart way. Have fun on the Internet and explore cool sites, but remember to always be cybersmart.

Susi: Safer Use of Services on the Internet
www.besafeonline.org
Advice and information about Internet safety for parents and teachers, plus opportunities to discuss problems and share solutions.

Research

A Call To Arms: The Case for More Research, Education and Resources to Improve Online Safety, Family Online Safety Institute, April 2008
download pdf

Rep. Bean’s “SAFER NET Act”: An Education-Based Approach to Online Child Safety, The Progress & Freedom Foundation, February 2007
download pdf

Two Sensible, Education-Based Legislative Approaches to Online Child Safety, The Progress & Freedom Foundation, September 2007
download pdf

Resources For Businesses:

Identity Theft a Huge Problem for Small Businesses
TheStreet.com, July 2, 2008
Identity theft is a multibillion-dollar problem affecting 8 million people a year. But experts say it isn't just a consumer issue. In the thousands of cases prosecuted by the U.S. Secret Service in the past six years, half of the time, it was businesses that provided the entry point for thieves, according to Sai Huda, CEO of Compliance Coach, makers of Web-based compliance tool CompliancePal. Read more.

Identity Theft: The ‘Business Bust-Out’
Business Week, July 23, 2007
A criminal rents space in the same building as your company. Then he applies for corporate credit cards using your firm's name. The application passes a credit check because the company name and address match, but the cards are delivered to the criminal's mailbox. He sells them on the street and vanishes before you discover your firm's credit is wrecked. Read more.

Security & Privacy - Made Simpler
Better Business Bureau, March 27, 2006
No matter what type of business you are in, you probably collect, store, and share information about your customers. Whether it is providing a necessary service, completing a financial transaction, or creating a mailing list, customer data has become a key currency of today’s information-based economy.

As a business owner, you make important strategic decisions that affect your bottom line. Each day, how you manage the security and privacy of the data you collect has become a core part of those strategic business decisions, because it can influence the success or failure of your business. Security & Privacy - Made Simpler is an identity theft and fraud prevention initiative. Targeting small business owners, it includes information about securing both customer and employee data. Read More.

Information Compromise and the Risk of Identity Theft: Guidance for Your Business
Federal Trade Commission, June 2004
These days, it is almost impossible to be in business and not collect or hold personally identifying information - names and addresses, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or other account numbers - about your customers, employees, business partners, students, or patients. If this information falls into the wrong hands, it could put these individuals at risk for identity theft.

Still, not all personal information compromises result in identity theft, and the type of personal information compromised can significantly affect the degree of potential damage. What steps should you take and whom should you contact if personal information is compromised? Although the answers vary from case to case, the following guidance from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, can help you make smart, sound decisions. Read More.

A New Wrinkle in Crime: Corporate Identity Theft
Privacy & American Business, June/July 2003
Discussions about the dramatic rise in the number of identity theft incidents have so far focused on individual, consumer victims. Recently, however, fraud experts and analysts are starting to see a new victim emerge - companies themselves. Identity thieves have begun stealing company identities for payment, credit, goods and services. Although at the moment corporate identity theft does not occur as frequently as personal identity theft, analysts say it appears to be growing at an alarming rate. While already working to shield their customers from identity theft, this new wave of crime requires companies to devote additional time and resources to protect themselves from becoming victims. Read more.