Last month McAfee released results from their 2012 Teen Internet Behavior study. The study revealed that 61 percent of teens think that they can successfully hide their online behavior from their parents.
Here are a few examples of what they do:
We think that the best way to protect your child on the Internet is for both parents and kids to understand the risks and for families to communicate with each other about their experiences online. That means making sure everyone knows the basics of online safety. Some parents have also found that once you establish your own rules, it helps to create an Internet contract.
For more information:
Donald asks:
How do I eliminate the security warnings that pop up every time I open a new page?
Donald’s question has two answers.
Answer #1: They are fake security warnings
Donald notes that the warnings “pop up” and happen every time he opens a new page, which makes us think they might not be real. Donald might be seeing fake warnings because his computer is infected with rogue security software.
Rogue security software (also known as "scareware") creates pop-up warnings that look like legitimate security updates. It provides limited or no security and generates erroneous or misleading alerts. Some rogue security software also attempts to lure users into participating in fraudulent transactions.
You can run a free PC safety scan that will help locate and remove the problem if your computer is infected. If you don’t have anti-virus software installed or you want to try a different one, you can download Microsoft Security Essentials (free).
Answer #2: Adjust your security settings
The security warnings that Donald is seeing might be real Internet Explorer security warnings, which could indicate that a website he’s trying to visit could be dangerous. If you see these warnings, follow the instructions. If you know that the sites you’re visiting are safe and you’re still seeing these warnings, your security settings might be set too high.
To adjust Internet Explorer security settings
Thomas writes:
“My computer is already slow. If I download your security scanner, it will probably bring it to its knees.”
The Microsoft Security Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. If you’re worried about saving space on your hard drive, you can delete the scanner after you run it. If you forget to delete it, the scanner will expire 10 days after you download it.
To rerun a scan with the latest anti-malware definitions, download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner again.
Note: The Microsoft Safety Scanner is not a replacement for using an anti-virus software program that provides ongoing protection.
For real-time protection that helps to guard your home or small business PCs against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, download Microsoft Security Essentials.
If an online deal for software seems too good to be true, it probably is. The software could be pirated, which means that it's been copied and sold illegally.
Pirated software often contains viruses, spyware, and scams that can cause a loss of data, a corrupted system, and even identity theft. Only computers with genuine Microsoft software can get important security updates from Microsoft Update or Windows Update.
Watch a video about the risks of software piracy.
Learn more about how to protect your computer from pirated software.
John writes:
I received an email that said that I won a prize from Microsoft and I am concerned that others may fall for this scam. Can't anything be done about these types of scams?
The Microsoft Lottery scam is a fraudulent email that claims that you have won a lottery, a prize, a sweepstakes, or another kind of award. The goal of this phishing scam is to convince you to send money to claim your award or to turn over personal information.
Learn more about scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently.
There is no Microsoft Lottery. If you receive an email like this, you can delete it or you can report it.
How to report an email scam
You can use Microsoft tools to report a suspected scam.
You can also download the Microsoft Junk E-mail Reporting Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook.
Want to know an easy way to make sure you have the most up-to-date security settings and software for your Windows operating system? Microsoft offers a free downloadable tool that scans your computer and makes recommended changes based on your current settings.
Run the Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter.
The following are a few examples of how the Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter helps protect your computer:
Find out what else the Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter can do.
Microsoft releases security updates on the second Tuesday of every month.
The bulletin announces the release of 9 security updates:
Get the updates.
Watch a video about the updates.
To get more information about security updates and other privacy and security issues delivered to your email inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
Today the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) posted details about the July security updates. On Tuesday, July 10 at approximately 10 AM Pacific Time Microsoft will release 9 bulletins.
The easiest way to get the updates when they're available is to turn on Windows automatic updating. For more information about how this works, see Understanding Windows automatic updating.
The Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification Service offers details about security updates approximately three business days before they are released. We do this to allow customers (especially IT professionals) to plan for effective deployment of security updates.
Advanced Notification includes information about:
Spam and other email that you don’t want can clog up your inbox. Some spam can be fraudulent and can contain malicious software or links to malicious websites, but some email can just be annoying. Graymail is email that you signed up for, but you don’t want anymore.
If you use Hotmail, you can get rid of graymail and automate your inbox in just 60 seconds.
Get more information about graymail.