When a Child Catches an Internet Virus, the Whole Family Suffers

 by Melih Abdulhayoglu, Founder and CEO of Comodo, Creating Trust Online, www.comodo.com

More than 75% of American children live in a household with a computer, and 61% of all American households have internet access.  This is good news, as the internet is the central communications engine of our time.

As parents, we must accept that the door to the internet is already open.  Children are going to use the Internet, and unfortunately it's not realistic to expect children to be security experts.  There are criminals who prey on unsecured PC users, and they have the ability to go undetected while tracking everything typed into the internet, including personal information, passwords and security questions.  How could a child tell the difference?  Even adults, who should know better, get computer infections. Every parent understands that there is a disadvantage to this ever-expanding medium; when children use their browser, they need good judgment and discretion.  But they're children—they're still learning about making good choices.

We must demand solutions from our online security providers; tools that will allow our children to benefit from the Internet, but that will protect them and their family's computers.  Comodo Internet Security includes an antivirus and a process to stop every file that might try to run or install itself.

Users who install Comodo Internet Security will receive an automatic update to an upcoming version which will include parental controls.  The controls will provide parents with the tools they need to proactively protect their children.  Comodo Internet Security is free, and users can download it at www.comodo.com.

As a security expert and as a father, I feel strongly that all families need this kind of protection.  Malicious criminals are too resourceful, too powerful, too creative and too greedy for the average parent and PC user to fight alone.

 

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