Section 2.2, Internet Safety!

BY LINDSEY

Personal Online Internet Safety Guidelines

Online Disclosure of Personal Information

1. Full name- use nicknames & partial names

2. Home address- do not give out personal address to individual on the web.
3. Phone number- a phone number can be used in a reverse search on the
internet to identify the addresses of an individual
4. Social security number- disclosure of social security numbers is not a good
idea unless the website is secured. It could be used to steal financial and
personal information
5. Disclosure of passwords to anyone should be avoided. The greater the
number of people with access to personal information, the greater the risk
a. The password should be at least 8 characters long
b. Use a combination of letters and numbers
c. Change the Password every 1-2 months
d. Do not give out the password
e. Do not use birthdays, pet names, friends names, common words
6. Disclosure of the names of family members is not a good idea as well.
7. Credit card information should only be disclosed to trusted, verified, and
secure sites that have security and encryption software.
8. Photos- are potential sources of risk because they are personal information.
Photos can also be edited to falsify information, such as to make id cards

Social Networking and Online Chatting

9. Behave properly online
Employers and colleges recruiters are frequently turning to online social
networking site to assess the behavior of potential employees
a. Inappropriate pictures and illegal behavior may be viewed by future
employers and can prove fatal to one’s job potential
b. Your online reputations valuable
10.Posting harmful information about someone on the Internet and especially on
social networking sites is never a good idea
11.Safety guidelines and precautions:
a. Avoid yelling (keying in all caps) when chatting online.
b. Do not bully- spreading malicious and false information. Ignore Bullies
c. If a situation escalates or a bully does not stop, contact school
authorities and inform parents.
d. Never meet someone in person that you have met online only
 Financial safeguards

12.Don’t open emails or respond to sites that promise you will get rich quick or
anything else that seems to good to be true. Phishing
13.Do not give out credit information without parental permission and only when
the site is certified as secure. Encryption
14.The URL of a secure site begins with https:- the “s” indicates a secure website
15.An interactive lock is displayed on the site, usually in the bottom corner.
16.16. A seal is another indication of safety. If there is a seal, inspect it and make
sure it is authentic.

Potential Computer Hazards

17.Virus- a small piece of software that attaches to programs that are installed
on a user’s pc. An email virus has the potential to automatically mail itself to
contacts. Trojan Horse Virus is a virus that disguises itself as real program or
file.
18.Spam- Unwanted and unsolicited email advertisements or messages
19.Spyware- malicious software designed to take partial control of a computer’s
operations without the consent of the users.
a. Some spyware intercepts and records passwords and credit card
numbers
b. Tracks a user’s to different web sites to analyze their spending activity
and forecast consumer behavior
 The Internet, Section 1
Internet Search Tools
Search engines
1. Individual search engine- uses computer programs called “spiders”,
“crawlers”, or “robots” to match key search words with the web
pages that contain them
a. The results returned are lists of web pages and titles
b. Does not search the Internet itself, but instead, searches
databases of information about the Internet
c. Google.com, ask.com yahoo, live
2. Meta-search engine- sends requests for information to several
search engines simultaneously and compiles the results, dogpile,
AltaVista
3. As the results are compiled, duplications are eliminated, thus
yielding fewer results
4. A time-saver compared to a regular search engine
5. Google Custom Search allows user to control their search by
specifying
a. Name of the search engine, Description, Language, Sites
6. Subject directories- searchable databases that are developed and
maintained by human selection of sites to search broad subject
categories and their descriptions
a. Used in research and often linked to library systems, research
databases
b. Mostly made up of specialized databases, such as library
catalogs.
c. Searches for non-HTML formats (PDF, Word, Excel,
PowerPoint)
d. Results in more reliable pages than search engines
e. http://informatine.ucr.edu – academic librarians
f. www.lii.org – Librarians’ Internet Index
g. www.about.com
7. EBSCOhost- premium online information resources for institutions
a. Colleges and universities, Hospitals and medical institutions,
Corporations
b. Government, K-12 schools, Public libraries
1. Libraryresearch.com- a subsidiary of EBSCOhost
2. ERIN (Education Resources Information Center)
3. Incywincy.com
4. Complete planet.com
5. Google Scholar
Internet Search Methods

8. Keyword- Unique phrases, Synonyms or word variations

a. Field- a search parameter, such as a title, date of publication,
Useful for frilling down and focusing on specific content
9. Boolean Logic
a. Uses operators with keywords to narrow search parameters
b. Operators include And OR and “ “ + - NOT
c. AND narrows results by searching for pages that contain both
keywords
d. OR expands results by searching for phrases
10.Boolean is implied in many search engines, but a valuable method
for narrowing
11.Miscellaneous search methods
a. Different language support- searched for words in different
languages
b. Spell Checker- gives suggestions if the word keyed for the
search is misspelled
c. Phone Book- uses phone numbers to search for locations and
afforests
d. Math/equivalents- solves basic math problems and covets
equivalents