I am often asked the question "how do I keep my kids safe online".  It isn't an easy answer as the rules of the game are constantly changing.  Not only has Internet predation, pornography and vile content increased, so have the delivery mechanisms for the "Web".  Five years ago, we were pretty good if we simply had good software and practices around the computer.  These days, there are cell phones, Internet devices, music players and game consoles all connected to the 'Net.  Being "Online" is quickly becoming ubiquitous and our kids use of the Internet and all its associated technologies far surpasses what most of us understand.  However, in most households, other than cell phones, the Internet is accessed via DSL, Cable or Satellite.  This is where most of the Web content comes and goes and is the first line of attack in protecting our kids from the dangers online. 

The threat against the home computer is simple in concept.  In essence, someone clicks on a link in a webpage that they "shouldn't" and unleash images they shouldn't see, content they shouldn't experience or malicious viral applications that harm the computer and/or steal data.  Thus, you simply have to stop that, which sounds easier than it is.  Your home network should be protected.  Your computer should be "filtered" for content and your computer should be protected from viruses, "malware" and "spyware". 

Protecting your Home Network & Making your Home Network a "Safe Zone"

The first line of attack us to protect your home network.  When your home is connected to the Internet via DSL, Cable or Satellite, that connection becomes part of the Internet.  Without some sort of device to decide what information/data/traffic is safe and what information/data/traffic is not safe, you are wide open to a multitude of attacks.  Granted, someone has to “find” your network and the computers on your network, but that can occur through surfing the Web.  Thus, you need some device sitting between your home connection and the Internet to act as a traffic cop and guard dog.  In addition, it would be great if this device could help decide what information to allow through and what information to not allow through (web filtering).  For this purpose, I highly recommend the ZoneAlarm Z100G Secure Wireless Router.  This device is built by a company (CheckPoint) that secures many of the world's top networks.  It protects your network and most uniquely, it contains a great suite of content filtering capabilities.  You can block categories of sites and prevent the entire network from seeing those types of sites.  I would recommend browsing the site categories and blocking pornography, chat, swimsuit/glamour, image search, etc.  The router has many more capabilities, which you can read about on the ZoneAlarm site.  

Admittedly, there are a few extra costs.  The initial cost is around $150.00, which includes a one year

subscription to the filtering service.  The downside is a yearly subscription of $69.00 to keep up the filtering and protection capabilities.  For me, that is a small price to pay to keep my family safer online.  The other catch is that the device only supports five attached devices out of the box (five computers, four computers and one printer, etc.).  You can upgrade to 15 devices for an additional fee.  If you are tech savvy, you can figure out a way to attach one device to the router and then attach all your devices to that one device, but that would be cheating and I won’t go into the details.

The category filtering looks something like the following:

Making your Computer a "Safe Zone"

When it comes to kids, you can't be "too safe" on the Internet.  In addition to the firewall and content filtering capabilities of the ZoneAlarm Z100g, I recommend a content filter on the kids computer.  To that end, I would use SafeEyes.  It again requires a yearly subscription and an install, but is a great program.  You can manage all of the users on your network (or just your computer) via their web interface.  You can change settings, view stats, etc.  It will even email you the weekly usage report.  One nice feature of SafeEyes is that it will install on the iPhone and iPod.  Thus, your kiddos that are using networked iPods or Web-Enabled iPhones can be covered via SafeEyes.  Unfortuniatly, the iPhone/iPod is a sepperate subscription.

Protecting Your Computer

Last, but not least, you need a good Anti-Virus program.  I have tried many and for the price, the performance and the capability, I o with AVG.  They have both a free version and a full-blown Internet Suite for around $39.95. 

In conclusion, you can protect your network from the bad guys by installing a firewall.  You can protect your family’s eyes by filtering content at the network level via a content-filtering firewall.  For both of those I recommend the ZoneAlarm Z100G Secure Wireless Router.  You can protect your computer from the bad guys via antivirus and anti-spyware software.  For that I recommend AVG (the free version is good, the Internet Suite is better).  You can protect your family’s eyes even further at a much more granular level by installing content filters on the necessary computers, iPods and iPhones.  For that I recommend SafeEyes.  By taking these simple steps you are protecting your family from experiencing the worst the Net has to offer, while protecting your personal data and yet still experiencing the great things the Web provides us.