• Read Ohio Attorney General’s web page at www.ag.state.oh.us/citizen/isafety/index.asp.
• Utilize Parental Controls provided by your Internet Service Provider. Check with your provider directly to determine availability and usage.
• Educate yourself about Internet safety for both children and adults at any of the many online sites such as:
  • http://www.staysafe.org/ Information for kids, teens, parents, 50+ and more.
  • http://www.isafe.org/ i-SAFE is a non-profit foundation whose mission is to educate and empower youth to make their Internet experiences safe and responsible.
  • http://www.safekids.com/
  • http://www.safeteens.com/
  • http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm FBI's "A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety"
  • http://www.wiredkids.org/wiredkids_org.html Information for children of all ages, parents, educators, etc.
  • http://www.missingkids.com/ Good resource for Internet safety as well as child molestation prevention, etc.
  • http://www.netsmartz.org/ Provided by National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
• Be constantly wary of online scams, identity theft, personal information scams known as "phishing," spyware, and hoaxes*. Trustworthy sites such as those below provide a wealth of information:
  • http://onguardonline.gov/index.html Provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information. Especially relevant are their Stop-Think-Click tips.
  • http://www.scambusters.org/index.html Scams, phishing, identity theft, and much more.
  • http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/ U.S. Dept. of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) provides hoax information.
  • www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html Hoax information.
  • http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft information.

*Hoaxes may appear relatively harmless but the cost and risk associated is multiplied by millions of individuals propagating hoax e-mail. Costs involve wasted time and e-mail server processing resources, which may slow down to a crawl or crash under the heavy load. Spammers (bulk mailers of unsolicited mail) harvest e-mail addresses from hoaxes and chain letters.

Many of you have wireless networks at home to gain access to the internet. Numerous security problems can result if you do not take the proper steps to secure your network. Here are a few tips to help secure your network.

• Change the Default Username and Password
  • At the core of most Wi-Fi home networks is an access point and/or router. For most equipment, the default user name and password are simple and very well-known to hackers on the internet.
• Turn on WPA / WEP Encryption
  • Access points and routers all use a network name called the SSID. Manufacturers ship their products with the same SSID. An example is Linksys ships all of their products with “Linksys” as its SSID. Why is it important to change the defaulted SSID? Any good hacker that see’s a SSID that have not been changed see a poorly configured network and are much more likely to attack it.
• Enable MAC Address Filtering
  • Each piece of Wi-Fi equipment possesses a unique identifier called the physical address or MAC address. Most routers have an option to key in the MAC addresses that restrict their networks to only those devices that have been manually entered.
• Disable SSID Broadcast
  • Each access point and router broadcasts its SSID (network name) over the air at regular intervals. For home users, this is unnecessary, and it increases the chances of someone trying to logon to your network.
• Enable Firewalls on Each Computer
  • Most routers have built in firewall capabilities. Ensure your router’s firewall as well as each computer that connects to your router is enabled.
• Router and Access Point Location
  • Wi-Fi signals WILL reach the exterior of your home. The further your signal reaches, the easier it is for others to exploit your network. Position your router and access points near the center of your home to minimize Wi-Fi leakage.
• Disable your Network During Extended Periods of Non-Use
  • Shutting down your network will prevent outside hackers from breaking in. Although impractical on a daily basis, during vacations or extended travel, power off your computers as well as your routers and access points.