This website is still being developed, and is far from complete. I hope over Christams to find time to add a lot more content....

As parents we owe a duty of care to the safety and well being of our children, this task as been made increasingly more difficult by the advent of the Internet. Total strangers now have a 'doorway' into our homes, and in most cases with complete anonymity.

This website is being developed to discuss the risks and possible ways to close this ‘doorway’

The federal government has implemented strategies this year that many in the industry believe will not be the solution problem.

The government’s initiative includes ‘filtering software’, such software has been available for many years. The most popular of these is a program called Net Nanny. To find out more about existing solutions select the ‘Compare Free Filters’ option on the menu.

Parental supervision is still considered the best solution, but is it always practical?
For the purpose of the discussion we have divided children into two groups, ‘Innocent Kids’ and ‘Curious Kids’. The first category covers younger children and the second covers older kids who perhaps need to be ‘protected from themselves’

Innocent Kids: At some point most users on the Internet would have had an inappropriate popup jump onto their screen without warning, or perhaps visited a page believing they would find one type of content and not another.

Curious Kids: The nightmare for many parents is older children who are curious or adventurous or both. The major problem is these kids often are more computer literate than their parents, and this presents a whole new set of problems.

Childprotection.com.au is a pet project undertaken by me Tony Owen, A computer programmer and website designer from Mount Gambier on the Limestonecoast in South Australia.

As a concerned parent with a reasonable grasp on all things Internet, I hope to find the time to create a resource that will benefit parents in protecting their children from the perils of the internet.

A little History...
I have had an interest in computing for over 20 years, I loved the idea of communicating via computer. Prior to the Internet as we know it, enthusiasts used a system called 'Findonet' ... Some people who ran Fidonet systems converted to operating Internet services quite early. I converted my system in 1995.

I still provide Internet Services to people in my region but in the last year I have been focusing on Webdesign and a community portal limestonecoast.com The website has information for people who live in my area and has been a lot of fun creating.

I can be emailed on tony@limestonecoast.com

Innocent Kids

My five year old loves the Internet, and most people smile when he asks “can you type in www.superman or www.spiderman". He now believes that if you put "www" before any super hero you will get a page with games and pictures, and in most cases he is correct.

The scary part is as his spelling improves, he will undoubtedly start typing in a wealth of names himself and more than likely the ".com" that is also needed.

Unfortunately "misspelled" domain names are used by unscrupulous individuals to trick and exploit unsuspecting people. It is most probable that at some stage my son will end up viewing content or landing on a page that he wasn't expecting.

The following is just one scenario that could happen:

A “Fake” website that looks like so many of the websites my son has visited would offer a free download of a screen saver or a game. My son, not being able to resist some a temptation “clicks here” and begins to install the software.

Once installed the screen saver or game would then install an additional program that would open a “back door” to the Internet. This back door would then download other software, which could cause “popups” to appear, allow the computer to be remote controlled or watch for bank sites to be loaded and forward record login details to the villains.

These “free downloads” are called “Trojan Horses”, named after the Trojan War in Greek Mythology. The Trojans thought they were given a Wooden Horse as gift to the Gods however the Horse contained a “payload” of Greek soldiers.

Curious Kids

The problems parents face with older children, is that in many cases they are more computer literate than their parents.
If a parent installs a filter program, it would basically be a "no brainer" for most kids with a little research (or the help of their friends) to bypass any security put on the computer.

For example the following ideas are amongst only a few that could be implimented:

1)Install a second 'hidden hard disk' in the computer, that would have a seperate copy of Windows installed. The hard disk can be activated from the computer BIOS when desired.
2) Run a 'complete' seperate operating system from CD or Memory Stick
3) Procure a cheap older laptop or computer that links into the families internet
4) Borrow a friends computer and link it into the families internet

If there is enough interest, I will create a section called 'securing you computer', that will make it a lot harder to setup the first two points made. If you have a reasonable idea about how a computer operates (or have a 'techy' friend), impliment the following :
1) Enter the BIOS of the computer (normally by hitting a key like DEL or F10 as the computer is starting)
2) Find 'Boot Order' normally in an 'advanced menu' and set the only Bootable devide to the hard disk (normally IDE0)
3) Set the BIOS Password to one you will remember (this will stop someone getting in easily and changing stuff back)

Although it must sound like a broken record, but supervision is the answer. Of course kid's are going to have great arguments such as 'I can concentrate with people around, I need to study alone in my bedroom' and etc.
I have heard aguments about 'education', and these seem quite valid .. but I remember how curious I was as a teenager, and that frankly is what scares me the most (especially coupled with the fact I thought I could handle any situation at thirteen)

Parents have an interesting time to come, that is for certain!