“ LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION ”

1. INTERNET SAFETY MGH POLICE, SECURITY, & OUTSIDE SERVICES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT 55 FRUIT STREET, BOSTON, MA 02114 Matt Thomas, Senior Investigator, (617) 724-3838 24-Hour Emergency Dispatch, (617) 726-2121 mdthomas@partners.org “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

2. Disclaimer The information provided during this seminar is intended to assist you and your child(ren) with safe practices when using various aspects of the Internet. There is no guarantee that you will not be vulnerable to cyber-crime. This presentation is designed as a basis for learning. “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

3. A Rhetorical Question… If you knew that, at this moment, someone was in your home or work … … breaking in … … committing sex crimes … … committing fraud or theft … … stealing your identity … … destroying your hard work … … defaming your character … Wouldn’t you try to stop them??? “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

4. Where Do We Connect? • You can connect to the Internet from almost anywhere • Home • Work • School • Library • Coffee Shops • Cyber Cafés • Video Gaming Systems • Wireless Devices “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

5. Browsing the Internet • Benefits: • Having the world’s largest library and entertainment system at your fingertips • Read stories, tour museums, visit other countries, shop and do research • Potential Risks: • Websites containing inappropriate material • Websites that are demeaning, racist, sexist or violent • Hard to determine the reliability of information • Tips: • Use parental controls and guides • Choose search engines carefully • Avoid websites you determine to be inappropriate • Help kids find information online “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

6. Using E-mail • Benefits: • Communicate rapidly and cost-effectively with people all over the world • Ability to transmit messages, documents and photos in a matter of seconds • Potential Risks: • Kids can set up private email accounts without permission • “Spam” • Senders can disguise themselves as legitimate businesses for illicit purposes • Tips: • Know the risks yourselves and discuss them with your kids • Research the effectiveness of “spam” filters • Don’t open e-mail from people you don’t know • Report inappropriate e-mail to your service provider “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

7. Instant Messaging • Benefits: • Conversations in “real time” • Appealing to kids who use their own lingo to communicate • “Buddy Lists” let people know if their friends are online • Potential Risks: • Method used in cyber bullying, harassing and intimidation • Conversations can go from innocent to sexually explicit in seconds • Tips: • IM only people you know in real life • Use privacy settings to only allow contact from persons you know • Become familiar with blocking features • Learn the online lingo used in conversation “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

8. Social Networking • Benefits: • Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and Xanga • Stay in contact with friends, family and others with similar interests • Exchange IMs, e-mail, comments photos, artwork, videos and music • Potential Risks: • Too much personal information can be posted in “profiles” • People pretend to be someone they are not • You can’t rescind postings once they are sent • Employers are using these sites to look for employees’ inappropriate postings • Tips: • Communicate and allow access to only those people you know • Use appropriate screen names so as not to attract predators • Do not give out personal information and “think before you type” “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

9. Texting • Benefits: • 24/7 communication • Send text messages, images and videos • Potential Risks: • Communication without others’ knowledge • People use cell phones to take and distribute illicit photos of themselves • People use cell phones to take and distribute illicit photos of others • “Sexting” • Tips: • Create rules for cell phone use • Review cell phone records for any unknown numbers and late night calls • Know the implications of sending sexually explicit and provocative images • Remove the Internet features “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

10. Posting Videos and Photographs • Benefits: • Electronics allow people to post videos, photographs and audio files online • Stay in touch with long distance relatives or persons travelling abroad • Potential Risks: • Webcam sessions and photos can easily be captured, saved and distributed • Posting sexually explicit material may have legal ramifications • Tips: • Know your kids are using this equipment • If it would embarrass you, don’t post it • Know your camera’s field of vision • Don’t post identity revealing or sexually explicit photos • Know that once it is posted, you lose control of it and can’t take it back “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

11. Online Gaming • Benefits: • Easy access through a home computer or Internet-enabled game console • Challenge friends, family and others around the world • Many games have text, chat and/or IM functions • Another type of social networking • Potential Risks: • You don’t know who is on the other end of the game • Inappropriate language, threats or harassment • Tips: • Keep the computer or gaming console in a public area in your home • Set rules for your kids • Check the ratings of the games you or your kids play • Review parental controls that are available “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

12. Fraud • Online Auctions • General Merchandise • Computer Equipment / Software • Adult Services • Prizes / Sweepstakes • “IF IT SOUNDS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS” “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

13. Cyber-Stalking/Harassment • Quick Access to Information • Anonymous Medium • Ability to Change Identity Quickly • Types: • Obsessional: obsession with the potential victim • Delusional: believes the victim wants them to stalk them • Vengeful: unable to let go of a relationship of any sort • Victim Characteristics: • New to the Internet • Females • Children • Emotionally unstable persons “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

14. Internet Child Abductions • Online Predator Profile: • Married with children not at home • Successful career, upper management • College graduate, post graduate degree • Upper-middle class lifestyle • Age range of 35 and older • Phase # 1: • Lurk in chat rooms • Find a child that is vulnerable • Talk with child • Gain confidence of child • Chip away at parental authority • Groom the child to want to leave home “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

15. Internet Child Abductions • Phase # 2: • Identify with child • Attempt to locate child through questioning • Narrowing down geographic location • Phase # 3: • Abduction plan started • Move his/her own location closer to child • Physical observation of the child • Abduction location determined • Actual abduction “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

16. Reality • Online Predator • Username: “Sunflower” • Profile: 12-Year Old Female • Photos Sent Via Chat • Meeting Request During Vacation “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”

17. Resources • National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC): • www.NetSmartz.org (more online safety tips) • www.NetSmartz411.org (general information) • www.cybertipline.com (for reporting child exploitation) • Publications: • “Keeping Kids Safer on the Internet” • “Blog Beware” • “Your Kids Can Fill in the Blanks, Can You?” • “Know the Rules… Internet Safety Quiz for Adults” “LEADERS in SERVICE and PROTECTION”