Because pedophiles are turning to common networking Web sites like myspace.com to find young victims, close parental supervision of children’s Internet activity is needed to fight the increasingly sophisticated and deceptive tactics of child molesters, said Attorney General Terry Goddard.
Compounding the problem is the large proportion of youngsters visiting such sites, said Mr. Goddard, at an event devoted to computer security hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Microsoft, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, American Association of Retired Persons, and the Boys and Girls Club of America.
“The amazing thing is that virtually all children are getting on them (social networking sites),” he said, adding, “Parents are losing control.”
Mr. Goddard also cited a recent New York Times article that detailed growing online pedophile communities that exchange child pornography, methods to gain trust with children, and arguments for the lowering of legal sexual consent ages.
The Aug. 22 meeting held at the Hyatt Regency in Phoenix was not limited to thwarting child molesters and online predators. A high priority was placed on protecting e-commerce, databases and computer networks from hackers and the viruses, worms and other destructive programs they create.
The practice of “phishing,” or sending out mass e-mails crafted to appear as if they were from legitimate banking and credit institutions was also covered. Typically, e-mail users receive phony notices urging viewers to enter personal information, such as bank account and Social Security numbers. The information is then used to commit identity theft by opening bank and credit card accounts in the victim’s name.
A warning for small business
Small business owners need to be particularly careful about computer security threats, said Paul Cooke, a strategic security adviser with Microsoft.
Generally larger businesses and corporations have made significant security improvements to their networks, but in response, hackers have redirected their activities to target smaller firms, he said.
“Simply because you’re not a big business doesn’t mean they won’t come after you,” he said.
The image of individual socially challenged young hackers seeking thrills by cracking into computer systems is misleading. Web sites trading computer passwords have sprouted up and organized crime has taken an active role in the rapidly growing phenomena of identity theft, he said.
Gail Thackeray, a deputy attorney general specializing in computer crimes, warned of another and more intimate danger companies face regarding business secrets and databases — employees.
It is not unheard of for employees of large businesses to commit online scams or to seek to exploit people from their office computers. In some instances, law enforcement efforts can reach a dead end when tracing computer crimes because misbehaving workers can hide behind their employer’s existing security measures, she said.
In fact, businesses are often reluctant to assist criminal investigations because of concerns about interrupting business transactions or bad publicity, said Ms. Thackeray.
To counter the menace posed by staff, employers must be constantly aware of their activities, and networks need to be configured to keep logs of Internet protocol, or IP, addresses to help determine if individual computers are being used appropriately, she said.
“Your employees are treating your office computers like they were their personal computers and they’re doing appalling things with them,” she said.
Eric Jensen, an owner of three DataDoctors franchises that specialize in cleaning infected computers and networks, said businesses suffer from lost productivity when they are forced to fix problems from employees viewing inappropriate Web sites, sending personal e-mails and downloading music or movies.
“While it’s (computer) getting fixed this person is doing nothing,” he said, adding that many times it is cheaper for a company to replace an entire computer than to lose revenue while one is fixed.
Data-damaging viruses and information stealing spyware programs are most often acquired when employees download music, movies and screensavers, or surf gambling sites, said Mr. Jensen.
Experts recommend computer users update their systems, install firewalls, anti-phishing and anti-virus programs, and modernize aging wireless equipment to minimize threats to their computers.
Survey statistics released by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children show that 30 percent of teens 13-17 have considered meeting somebody they have spoken with online, and 14 percent have met with people after online conversations.
One in four youths 10-17 in age have been exposed to unsolicited sexually explicit pictures online, and one in five youths of the same age category have received unwanted sexual solicitations online.