Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
THE ROAD TO CYBER SAFETY
By Ray Weikal
Technology is like a fast-growing megacity, new neighborhoods springing up virtually overnight: Online games, Web cams, chat rooms, social networks, file sharing, instant messaging, cell phones. And just like real cities, not all these places are nice. They can be extravagant shopping and eating centers — the electronic version of Zona Rosa — or they can be makeshift shanty towns with questionable residents.
It can be tough for even the experts to track. Many parents can find themselves completely lost and asking for directions from their pre-teen children. At recent series of cyber-safety seminars produced in North Kansas City by students from William Jewell College, moms and dads, grandparents and guardians asked the most basic questions. What kind of information is available on Facebook? What should be done if a child is being bullied with text messaging? How can access to Internet content be controlled?
At the heart of the problem lie the criminals who use these technologies. Unlike parents, these perpetrators always seem to be right at the cutting-edge, finding new ways to exploit their victims, Jeff Lanza said, a special agent in the FBI’s Kansas City office.
“Where kids go, child predators will go,” he said.
With that in mind, Sun News is starting a monthly series to help families navigate their way through the technological megalopolis. Working closely with law enforcement officials from the Western Missouri Cybercrimes Taskforce, the FBI and other groups, the goal is to explain what’s happening, how it works and what can be done to protect the users.
The first stop on the tour: online gaming systems.
The big box
Machines like the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii are really about gaming. In fact, according to Capt. Paul Carrill of the Western Missouri Cybercrimes Taskforce, they are fully functioning computers and multifaceted communication devices. That’s where many parents get tripped up, he said.
“They shouldn’t be called games,” he said. “They should be called computers that people use to play games.”
Sexual predators thrive on modern communication technologies, Carrill said. To operate, they need a way to solicit information from and communicate with a potential victim, he said.
Since it became widely available in the 1990s, the Internet has become a tool for these predators, and law enforcement agencies have been scrambling to keep up ever since.
“The computer has opened up the ability for strangers to talk to kids,” said FBI Special Agent Jeff Lanza. He works out of the bureau’s Kansas City office and has been leading cyber safety classes for children for about five years.
Carrill’s taskforce has been one of the nation’s leaders in prosecuting sex offenders. But every time officers catch up with the “bad guys,” some new technology comes along. It’s a constant process of training and retraining, Carrill said.
The advent of online gaming systems is a good example.
“We’re struggling to ratchet up our education on online games,” Carrill said. “How police chiefs ever imagined they’d have to train their officers to use nine different game consoles?”
Although the problem hasn’t become widespread, predators are starting to figure out that these consoles can be used to reach kids, Carrill said. News reports about alleged cases of adult strangers trying to use game systems to reach children have surfaced in Pennsylvania, Ohio, California and Missouri. There have been no investigations along these lines so far in the Kansas City area, Carrill said. He expects it’s just a matter of time.
“It may just be that the public doesn’t know who to report these things to,” Carrill said.
Predators work by getting kids to reveal personal information, Carrill said. That becomes even easier with systems like the Xbox 360, which essentially include built-in phone systems. Now, an adult anywhere in the world can interact live and by voice with a child.
Parents, Lanza cautioned, need to know what their kids are doing with their gaming systems. It’s just as important that kids feel safe talking to their parents about what happens online. If a child thinks that telling the truth might mean the loss of online privileges, they may not talk about an incident, Lanza said.
“Kids should never be afraid to tell their parents what happened,” he said. “Parents should be instructing them that they should not be providing personal information in these conversations.”
More than a game
Parry Aftab, a New York-based attorney, has been working to prevent and investigate cyber-crimes since 1995.
Several years ago, she started www.wiredsafety.org, an all-volunteer effort to create a kind of “911” for the Internet.
Aftab has been interviewed numerous times for national TV and print news outlets.
She recently took a few minutes to share her expertise and observations about online gaming systems with the Sun News.
Sun News: What’s the main safety concern with Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii?
Parry Aftab: Kids are exposed to things that are dangerous. They may be vulnerable through these systems to sexual predators. We’re actually seeing a rise in females using these games to victimize young boys. We’ve also seen a substantial number of cases of cyber-bullying. I talked to some second- and third-graders recently who told how you can use the Wii for cyber-bullying.
SN: What accounts for the increase in female sexual predators who use these devices?
PA: It’s easy. Boys, especially 13-year-olds, are especially vulnerable. Often, they want to save the world and the game is a place to do that. These women act like their mother or older sister. They charm them, then they seduce them. Ironically, it’s not the fast-paced, really violent games that parents have to worry about in these cases. The bad guys use anything that’s slower, the role-playing type games.
SN: What’s the technical difference between just playing games with a computer and these games played with live voice communication?
PA: What parents don’t understand is that their kids are using phones. They hear the kids yelling, and they think that kids are just reacting to the game. That’s the real risk. It’s a phone that isn’t tracked.
SN: What advice do you give to parents who are considering purchasing a new gaming system?
PA: I tell parents to think before they buy. When you are looking to buy the latest device, know the risk. Your kids could be talking to bad guys and the bad guys could be talking to them. We’ve given two safety awards to Microsoft for the Xbox 360, because they’ve really centralized risk management. Xbox controls the risk in one place. It’s easier for law enforcement to work with them. Still, the Xbox 360 is not designed for kids younger than 13.
Locking the door
Education and communication is the key to protecting kids from cyber crimes, according to experts.
Parents and guardians need to take the time to learn how game systems work, what safety features they include and
what to do if something bad does happen, said
Special Agent Jeff Lanza of the FBI’s Kansas City office. He spends much of his time teaching community members how to stay safe while using the Internet.
“Parents should go to the game’s Web site and become aware of all the instructions for safety issues,” Lanza said. “They should also check the age guidelines. If it’s designed for a kid who is 13, parents need to watch carefully.”
Every major gaming system comes with parental controls. The locks and filters on some consoles are easier to find and use than others.
Here’s a quick rundown:
• Xbox 360 — visit www.xbox.com/en-US/support/familysettings/
• Playstation 3 — visit www.us.playstation.com/Support and click on the “Parental Controls” box on the right side of the page
• Nintendo Wii — visit www.support.nintendo.com, click on the appropriate region, then click on the “Info for Parents”
button on the left side of the page
There are many Web sites that offer additional advice about online safety:
www.wiredsafety.org
www.netsmartz.org
www.cybertipline.com
Suspected incidents of cyber crime, including concerns about sexual predators, can be reported by calling 911 if it’s an emergency or the non-emergency number for local law enforcement agencies.
To report an incident to the FBI, call the bureau’s Kansas City office at 512-8200.
Just as important as the technical knowledge is making sure that parents are constantly talking with their children about what happens online. Kids who feel hurt or misunderstood are often the easiest for predators to victimize, said Capt. Paul Carrill of the Western Missouri Cybercrimes Taskforce. Just like taking kids to the mall, parents need to supervise, Carrill said.
“The No. 1 rule with any computer system is ‘no secrets,’” Carrill said. “Take a virtual tour of the online worlds your kids play in and meet the friends they play with.”
Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.
printable version
e-mail this story
It can be tough for even the experts to track. Many parents can find themselves completely lost and asking for directions from their pre-teen children. At recent series of cyber-safety seminars produced in North Kansas City by students from William Jewell College, moms and dads, grandparents and guardians asked the most basic questions. What kind of information is available on Facebook? What should be done if a child is being bullied with text messaging? How can access to Internet content be controlled?
At the heart of the problem lie the criminals who use these technologies. Unlike parents, these perpetrators always seem to be right at the cutting-edge, finding new ways to exploit their victims, Jeff Lanza said, a special agent in the FBI’s Kansas City office.
“Where kids go, child predators will go,” he said.
With that in mind, Sun News is starting a monthly series to help families navigate their way through the technological megalopolis. Working closely with law enforcement officials from the Western Missouri Cybercrimes Taskforce, the FBI and other groups, the goal is to explain what’s happening, how it works and what can be done to protect the users.
The first stop on the tour: online gaming systems.
The big box
Machines like the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii are really about gaming. In fact, according to Capt. Paul Carrill of the Western Missouri Cybercrimes Taskforce, they are fully functioning computers and multifaceted communication devices. That’s where many parents get tripped up, he said.
“They shouldn’t be called games,” he said. “They should be called computers that people use to play games.”
Sexual predators thrive on modern communication technologies, Carrill said. To operate, they need a way to solicit information from and communicate with a potential victim, he said.
Since it became widely available in the 1990s, the Internet has become a tool for these predators, and law enforcement agencies have been scrambling to keep up ever since.
“The computer has opened up the ability for strangers to talk to kids,” said FBI Special Agent Jeff Lanza. He works out of the bureau’s Kansas City office and has been leading cyber safety classes for children for about five years.
Carrill’s taskforce has been one of the nation’s leaders in prosecuting sex offenders. But every time officers catch up with the “bad guys,” some new technology comes along. It’s a constant process of training and retraining, Carrill said.
The advent of online gaming systems is a good example.
“We’re struggling to ratchet up our education on online games,” Carrill said. “How police chiefs ever imagined they’d have to train their officers to use nine different game consoles?”
Although the problem hasn’t become widespread, predators are starting to figure out that these consoles can be used to reach kids, Carrill said. News reports about alleged cases of adult strangers trying to use game systems to reach children have surfaced in Pennsylvania, Ohio, California and Missouri. There have been no investigations along these lines so far in the Kansas City area, Carrill said. He expects it’s just a matter of time.
“It may just be that the public doesn’t know who to report these things to,” Carrill said.
Predators work by getting kids to reveal personal information, Carrill said. That becomes even easier with systems like the Xbox 360, which essentially include built-in phone systems. Now, an adult anywhere in the world can interact live and by voice with a child.
Parents, Lanza cautioned, need to know what their kids are doing with their gaming systems. It’s just as important that kids feel safe talking to their parents about what happens online. If a child thinks that telling the truth might mean the loss of online privileges, they may not talk about an incident, Lanza said.
“Kids should never be afraid to tell their parents what happened,” he said. “Parents should be instructing them that they should not be providing personal information in these conversations.”
More than a game
Parry Aftab, a New York-based attorney, has been working to prevent and investigate cyber-crimes since 1995.
Several years ago, she started www.wiredsafety.org, an all-volunteer effort to create a kind of “911” for the Internet.
Aftab has been interviewed numerous times for national TV and print news outlets.
She recently took a few minutes to share her expertise and observations about online gaming systems with the Sun News.
Sun News: What’s the main safety concern with Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii?
Parry Aftab: Kids are exposed to things that are dangerous. They may be vulnerable through these systems to sexual predators. We’re actually seeing a rise in females using these games to victimize young boys. We’ve also seen a substantial number of cases of cyber-bullying. I talked to some second- and third-graders recently who told how you can use the Wii for cyber-bullying.
SN: What accounts for the increase in female sexual predators who use these devices?
PA: It’s easy. Boys, especially 13-year-olds, are especially vulnerable. Often, they want to save the world and the game is a place to do that. These women act like their mother or older sister. They charm them, then they seduce them. Ironically, it’s not the fast-paced, really violent games that parents have to worry about in these cases. The bad guys use anything that’s slower, the role-playing type games.
SN: What’s the technical difference between just playing games with a computer and these games played with live voice communication?
PA: What parents don’t understand is that their kids are using phones. They hear the kids yelling, and they think that kids are just reacting to the game. That’s the real risk. It’s a phone that isn’t tracked.
SN: What advice do you give to parents who are considering purchasing a new gaming system?
PA: I tell parents to think before they buy. When you are looking to buy the latest device, know the risk. Your kids could be talking to bad guys and the bad guys could be talking to them. We’ve given two safety awards to Microsoft for the Xbox 360, because they’ve really centralized risk management. Xbox controls the risk in one place. It’s easier for law enforcement to work with them. Still, the Xbox 360 is not designed for kids younger than 13.
Locking the door
Education and communication is the key to protecting kids from cyber crimes, according to experts.
Parents and guardians need to take the time to learn how game systems work, what safety features they include and
what to do if something bad does happen, said
Special Agent Jeff Lanza of the FBI’s Kansas City office. He spends much of his time teaching community members how to stay safe while using the Internet.
“Parents should go to the game’s Web site and become aware of all the instructions for safety issues,” Lanza said. “They should also check the age guidelines. If it’s designed for a kid who is 13, parents need to watch carefully.”
Every major gaming system comes with parental controls. The locks and filters on some consoles are easier to find and use than others.
Here’s a quick rundown:
• Xbox 360 — visit www.xbox.com/en-US/support/familysettings/
• Playstation 3 — visit www.us.playstation.com/Support and click on the “Parental Controls” box on the right side of the page
• Nintendo Wii — visit www.support.nintendo.com, click on the appropriate region, then click on the “Info for Parents”
button on the left side of the page
There are many Web sites that offer additional advice about online safety:
www.wiredsafety.org
www.netsmartz.org
www.cybertipline.com
Suspected incidents of cyber crime, including concerns about sexual predators, can be reported by calling 911 if it’s an emergency or the non-emergency number for local law enforcement agencies.
To report an incident to the FBI, call the bureau’s Kansas City office at 512-8200.
Just as important as the technical knowledge is making sure that parents are constantly talking with their children about what happens online. Kids who feel hurt or misunderstood are often the easiest for predators to victimize, said Capt. Paul Carrill of the Western Missouri Cybercrimes Taskforce. Just like taking kids to the mall, parents need to supervise, Carrill said.
“The No. 1 rule with any computer system is ‘no secrets,’” Carrill said. “Take a virtual tour of the online worlds your kids play in and meet the friends they play with.”
Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.