The World Wide Web is the biggest information exchange out there: many more people than you intend have access to your information, including your parents, teachers, employer(s), the police and strangers, some of whom might be dangerous.
You will be able to find all the information and tips you need to protect yourself, your friends and your family against the potential for online trouble on this page.
Cyberfriends
Meeting people online is fun and interesting, but they are nothing like the friends you meet offline. As much as you think you might know about your cyberfriends, unless you have actually met them in real life you will not know if the person on the other computer is really who that person gives out to be; you feel that you know everything they have told you, but they may not have told you the truth. Unfortunately all the things like body language, tone of voice, etc. that we use to judge people and see if they are telling the truth, are missing on the web. Therefore, do not turn to your online friends to ask for advice about important issues or give them the tools to (ab)use you.
Posers
Know who you are chatting to online. Instead of talking with your friend, even one you know in real life, you might be talking to a crook, their friend, a roommate or even a parent.
The best way to protect yourself against posers is to come up with a secret code word for your friends. If you suspect that someone you are chatting with may be a poser, ask them for the code word. Most posers at this point immediately log-off.
