Dave and Bill  

Having Ken back on the show after three months is actually pretty good timing considering that most kids are home for summer and home alone for extended hours without parental supervision. It's hard for families with both parents working. And it's because of children being home alone more during the summer that parents need all the help they can to deal with the 21st century technologies. Your children should not be surfing the net unsupervised.

I look at my kids today and it's a great and new generation they're growing up in; unlike my childhood memories, oops, don't get me wrong my generation was great too, just not full of new technologies. There generation wouldn't know what it's like not having technology in the palm of their hands, while the highlight for me was adjusting the rabbit ears on the television. And there social life is carried in their pockets. My kids stayed home and traveled the world through the Internet, literally meeting people all over the world through the games they played.

My kids were the early ones and the Internet hadn't become plagued with predators, pedophiles and organized criminals. The Internet has become an adult playground and your children are their prize. However, there are conscientious individuals who are trying to level the playing field, such as PC Pandora, helping parents and small businesses in defending their loved ones and their business dreams in the 21st Century.

Kids today are staying indoors playing on computers and socializing online, unlike the days when we were kids and played with friends in our neighborhood during the summer. We were usually with people our parents knew and within calling distance for supper. Well, your kids may be within calling distance in their bedrooms but, half-way around the world, talking with no one you as a parent knows. And during the summer, with more time on their hands, and while parents are working, kids will be kids surfing the Internet's wild wild west. Unfortunately, many children are left unsupervised will stray and be curious of what and whom they may find feeling safe because they are in the safety of their own home and no one knows who they are... they can be anyone. Problem is... it goes both ways.

We covered a lot of information as usual but, the excitement about PC Pandora's 5.0 should be of significance for small business owners with small networks of 30 to 40 computers. This is important for school labs making it easier and practical to maintain the safe use of the lab's computers. Small businesses are now able to address security issues on how their computers are used, what information is accessed, or even time management for employees. The next version 6.0 should have a time out function. In other words, as a parent, when I say no more computer time after 11:00... Guess what? The Computer shuts down at 11:00, no arguments, it just turns off.

There are basically two schools of thought: filtering and monitoring. The CyberHood Watch suggests monitoring. Ken covers both topics about 22 minutes into the show if you want to fast forward and find out more. Don't worry about the sound it was a brief problem with the servers and corrects itself.

Parenting and monitoring can prove to be a very positive experience for both the parent and the child. One parent after monitoring their child's online computer activity realized that the child was being a responsible cybercitizen, which validated good computer habits allowing the parent to scale back on monitoring.

Be sure your monitoring software has screen capture capabilities, which is taking actual images of what is on the desktop, with thumb nail views. Also, be sure to have a program that allows a parent to have a detailed log of what has transpired in text communications.

Again, the topic of CyberBullying was brought up and how devastating it has become and how monitoring your children can be for their own safety. Do you know if your child is being bullied? Or, is your child doing the bullying?

Be proactive with your kids. Know what they are doing online. Do something with them, set up a Facebook account and see there site. Know the password to their site. Remember, you may think your children are more tech savvy than you are, and that may be true, but they still have the maturity of a child. It's tech savvy equipment in the hands of children and parental supervision is still a key factor to your kids wellbeing online.

Your child can't go to the corner store and buy inappropriate magazines, but they can go home and get on the Internet and see anything they want; far more explicit than any magazine.

With PC Pandora you can investigate what your child has or has not done online... it takes the guess work of what your child is doing online.

PC Pandora has graciously agreed to giving all of our radio listeners the opportunity to download and use their product, with a very special $10.00 OSA discount... please click this picture below!

It seems a previous spill on a motorcycle last September 22nd, while preparing for a charity ride dubbed, "Fall Ride for Fallen Officers" for the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation, still haunts Mark Shurtleff, Utah's Attorney General. He has undergone seven surgeries in the past nine months according to Melinda Rogers writer for the Salt Lake Tribune.

He was admitted to a local Salt Lake City hospital around 10:30 a.m. on Friday due to a serious leg infection.

Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, is scheduled to be a guest on the CyberHood Watch radio show (CHWradio.com), on Tuesday, July 1st, at 1:00 p.m., MST (3:00 p.m. Eastern). We certainly hope Attorney General Shurtleff recovers quickly and the CyberHood Watch community understands if he doesn't feel well enough to keep his engagement. We understand if the Attorney General can't make it and we look forward to rescheduling another time if necessary.

Get well soon...

The CyberHood Watch community.

Brand new updates coming to the PC Pandora line of Monitoring Software... New and exciting updates, improvements, along with better network services, all while maintaining the best support in the industry... Join us as we interview Ken Shallcross, and Find out why PC Pandora is ranked #1

During the show I couldn't quite grasp the thought what would cause a young teen to be so thoughtless and cruel to one of his peers? And for such miniscule reasons. I've always heard the comment that kids can be so cruel, but cruel to a point it pushes another teen to despair and the end result suicide.

Can you imagine for a moment the embarrassment being bullied at school and how you felt all day? What if the bully was much bigger than you and the last words he/she said were I'm going to beat you up. Add a bit of jeering from your peers; now how do you feel? Hopefully, by the end of the week they've found someone else to bully or at least a parent or teacher intervened on your behalf and diffused the situation.

Enter the Internet with websites built with the specific intent to bully you 24/7. It's the 21st Century and that bully that was bigger than you and could push his weight around, can now be that string bean with no muscle but, can deliver a punch verbally and anonymously that is more painful than a physical beating. And to top it all off, it's a permanent reminder for the remainder of your life. It doesn't end with the recess bell ringing.

Amy Ryan was our guest today and personally lived through the ordeal with her twelve year old son being a victim of "CyberBullying". Amy tells the story in her own words and the affects it had on her son. No parent should have to witness their child suffering at the whims of a CyberBully. The fact is that most kids won't tell their parents it's even happening until it's too late and tragedy happens.

Some of the things Amy shared with us are that young teens tend to make very bold statements online that are public and draw a lot of attention but, yet are really not aware how hurtful they are to the victim. The CyberBully because they are somewhat anonymous and without the presence of peers that may disapprove of their actions, don't see the affects of their words and how the victim is reacting. The other thing that occurs is that the child usually doesn't know how to get themselves out of what they've started, or have participated in. Amy advocates talking to your kids and students how teasing/bullying affects the one being bullied and sometimes to the point of suicide. Amy Ryan said, "If you wouldn't write it down and give it to your Preacher or your Momma, don't put it on the Internet, because once you put it out there it's permanent and you have no idea what damage it's gona do to someone else, or even to yourself. Because years down the road you're looking for a job, or applying to college... employers are googeling you now and looking on Facebook...to see what kind of person you are."

Young teens seem to feel bolder because of the perceived anonymity, also, allowing those that typically wouldn't have the physical presence to warrant any fear but, being anonymous allows them to be the CyberBully.

Something that you wouldn't expect to have happened did take place, which was some parents of the community shunned Amy and her family as being over reactive and didn't want to become involved. Not only was the family shunned but, they were also harassed to the point of being vandalized. Ultimately, Amy removed her son from school and enrolled him in a private school. The majority of the harassment happened in the first six months but, has continued for three years. And all of this is a permanent record that will follow her son forever. Fortunately, the upside were the parents that thanked Amy for bringing this problem to other parents attention and the discovery it was happening to other children as well.

"One of the first steps for parents to take when a CyberBullying occurs is to take it seriously", said Amy. If it's your child doing the CyberBullying, immediately take them off the computer until they fully understand what their actions are causing to others and don't dismiss it as "normal" teen aged behavior. "You don't want to find out too late that your child has been responsible, or even partially responsible for a teen tragedy", said Amy.

What can we do about what our children are doing online? This is something Bill and I have talked about before with several of our guests, who also recommend monitoring (not just filtering) and Amy confirmed. This is the 21st century and parenting skills need to keep up with the times or your leaving your children alone on the internet to find out for themselves with no parental guidance or accountability for their behavior online. It is important for parents today to ensure good monitoring software that will provide parents a resource to help parent your child's online social skills. As Amy put it, we need to teach our kids how to act and behave in public but, we don't mentor them and teach them the social skills of how to behave online. We believe they are going to do what's right on their own... very risky.

It's all about developing "Responsible CyberCitizens" in our children and their parents, which demands from all of us the respect for the power of the Internet. Organized Cybercrime understands the power of the Internet (here in the U.S. it costs all of us about $150 billion a year - $400 billion worldwide); those who distribute p.o.r.n.o.g.r.a.p.h.y understand the power of the internet (its a billion dollar industry). Our children may be tech-savvy, but they are still children playing with a powerful toll that's also in the hands of professional predators and cybercriminals.

I asked Amy to share with us what came to mind when she heard the phrase "Responsible CyberCitizen". Amy felt it was a necessity for parents to know and understand computers well enough to enjoy their many benefits, while at the same time, to be aware of all the dangers associated with the Internet, especially when dealing with youths."

Bill and I understand all too well the dangers of the Internet and it is very difficult to keep up with the cybercriminals...It's a full time career. That's why we suggest finding yourself a professional service, a Managed Security Service, which will handle the task for you. Both Bill and I, even as authorities in our industry, do not want to become IT Security Specialists. That's why we subscribe to an expert security service so we can enjoy a hassle-free computing. That way we can concentrate on what's important for you, knowing we are in good hands with a team of specialists keeping us safe.

Amy finished by saying, "The main thing about being a Responsible CyberCitizen is to be AWARE & to spread AWARENESS across every platform possible."

Cyber Bullying is one of those unfortunate byproducts of the Internet that can devastate a family and push some teens to suicide. Parents, here is your wake up call to what is happening and your chance to learn from Amy Ryan who has been through it.

Sometimes this is just too much fun. It's always a pleasure to have a guest that you know could run circles around you when it comes to Internet security issues. Especially when they walk the talk and are knee deep in the trenches. I'm talking about G. L. Sheerin a technical architect with a fortune 50 company that develops and deploys new technologies to automate and streamline customer interaction. Gary Sheerin ensures best practices in security and networking capabilities for his company's business units.

Bill and I believe to combat the nefarious levels of organized crime and the deviants that run amuck on the Internet threatening the innocence of our children, some of us have taken up the mantel and are doing something positive.

Our battle is not focused on organized crime, cybercriminals, predators, and/or hackers but, on the complacency of the people who use the computers and do little or nothing to secure their children or families from these threats. We believe that complacency needs to be replaced with "Responsible CyberCitizens" and Gary Sheerin an IT professional with more than a decade of experience in network design and security has bridged the gap in his "Peter's Packet" Series, whose first volume, "Virus Game" introduces children to the world of computer science and weaves technology into his kid-friendly story in a fun, informative way. What better way than to influence the upcoming tech-savvy Net-Generation than to become Responsible CyberCitizens. Eighty percent of the Internet is made up of people like you and me; we dominate the internet. The more responsible cybercitizens the less likely we will be victimized and the more difficult it will be for predators to groom our children to become victims.

Granted even though Peter Packet's Series may have your children interested in computer science and understanding that "packets" are what delivers information in the computer world, and also delivers malware but, this doesn't take away the fact that kids are still kids and susceptible to the perils of the Internet. However, the influence of both children and parents as responsible cybercitizens will diminish the number of victims.

G.L. Sheerin alluded to a "Peter Packet School" that would enhance math and technology. That would make for an interesting theme based school.

The "Virus Game" introduces Peter Dempsey who hates computers and all the peripherals associated with PCs. However, as fate has it Peter is hit by a bolt of lightning that gives him the ability to see and communicate with the lives that live within our computers.

Peter befriends the "packets" and from here the secret world of the internet and all the characters that live within the "Packet World" are revealed to Peter. Peter becomes privy to a new super virus that will shut down the Internet and the Packet World forever if he doesn't help to stop the nemesis; Terry Williams.

Besides sharing with us the Peter Packet series, Gary also discussed with Bill and I some safety issues that are important in securing your children's online habits, especially now that summer is here and many children are left unsupervised and free to surf the Internet. This would be a great time to introduce your child to the Peter's Packet Series and grab a copy of the "Virus Game".

Once again, The CyberHood Watch was affirmed of its direction and the services being offered to its members. We asked Gary to share his thoughts on what he felt about monitoring your children's online activities and what he thought about a managed security service for everyday people like us. Be sure to listen in to CHWradio.com and get ready for some interesting and fun conversation.

One of Mr. Sheerin's expertises was the ability to sniff out and recognize malware that had attached itself to a packet; hence, sniffing packets. Malware encompasses viruses, Trojans, Worms, spyware, etc.