Protect yourself - Use the Internet without getting hurt or hurting your friends

Updated Jan 17, 2007 at 11:17 PM by NRSKarenRN

This was sent to me by my brother who is an IT Director at international company...wants everyone to be internet safe. Karen

Protect yourself - Use the Internet without getting hurt or hurting your friends and family!

If you bought a chain saw and didn't know how to use it correctly you could get hurt right? Or worse, how about if you hurt a friend, or family member because no one told you what you needed to know?

Don't care for my analogy? OK how's this:

You hear about the increase in identity theft, internet predators, computer viruses etc... There is an increase because people haven't taken the time and haven't been shown how to protect themselves.

We need some instructions so we don't get hurt. So here goes with a few tips to remember:

1) TROLLING: Notice the email you are reading. This email was sent to MANY people. But I used the BCC function in my email program. Just about every email program has this ability. Check your programs help function to find out how to use it. BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy. What it does is block others from capturing email addresses of people the may or may not know. The reason we do this is to protect against "trolling". Trolling and SPAM often go together such as in the email each of you received by another person. (See #2 below). Viruses often "read" your emails to obtain the email addresses of your friends so they can send them the a copy virus. Using the BCC field helps reduce spam and the spread of viruses.

To learn more read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

2) SPAM: I'm not talking about the kind you eat from a can. Each of you received the below email from another person. The email below is an internet scam. As is just about every other email that asks you to "Pass it on" or "tell a friend".
To learn more read here: http://spam.abuse.net

3) Viruses: Viruses often come via email as attachments and have recently been spreading from Instant Messenger programs. To protect yourself, don't open any programs or attachments unless your very very sure you know who sent it to you and what it is. And for GODS sake, please make sure you are using an Anti-Virus program and make sure it is up to date. New viruses appear every week!!!

4) Clean your email: So now if you decide to share this information with someone else please clean up the email. What do I mean? Well after you click "forward" scroll down and remove any email addresses from friends or family as I did on the below email. Leaving email addresses from friends or family is like handing out your cell phone number or the numbers of your friends to perfect strangers. They are going to get calls that they don't want. Cleaning the email only takes a second and helps protects others from the things I mentioned above?

LEARN YOUR NETIQUETTE !

What is NETIQUETTE ? Please read here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette

----------------

Phone issues: National Do Not Call List

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free. Your registration will be effective for five years.

The Federal Trade Commission does allow cell phone users to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry — the same one already in force for landlines — either via the Web or by calling 1-888-382-1222.

National Do Not Call Registry
http://www.donotcall.gov/

More from the Federal Trade Commission...

*Liddle Noodnik* · Jan 18, 2007, 05:20 AM

Karen, I was thinking that those who use Allnurses would do well to be more cautious about what info they give out. Town they live in, children's names and photos, that kind of thing, on general posts...

I've also seen people get in trouble on discussion boards when they give out info privately to people they hardly know.

Just a thought.

muffie · Jan 18, 2007, 08:10 AM

thanks for the good info

*SmilingBluEyes* · Jan 18, 2007, 10:07 PM

I am with Zoe. Posting pics of my kids especially, gives me pause. I think often, because nurses are so trusted by the public, we get a wee bit too trusting here on this site. People really need to be very careful, particularly when it comes to their own loved ones and HIPAA.

Thanks for the great reminder.

*CHATSDALE* · Jan 19, 2007, 09:31 PM

you can give out info without being aware of it..

nurse A lists her location as city, state

talks about children age when they aren't feeling well and have to stay home from school

mentions a school fair that she attends with them and the grades that they are in

posts a picture taken on vacation with bf with his name and with the children

predator has city, state, school, he knows childrens names and what they look like..he knows what nurse a looks like and can watch when the children are picked up, follow them home and now he knows where they live

he can find out the park where they play and approach them with the news that nurse a and bf b have been injured and are at the hospital, offers them a ride to hospital

ITS A BIG DARK WORLD OUT THERE, BE CAREFUL

*Liddle Noodnik* · Jan 20, 2007, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by CHATSDALE

you can give out info without being aware of it..

nurse A lists her location as city, state

talks about children age when they aren't feeling well and have to stay home from school

mentions a school fair that she attends with them and the grades that they are in

posts a picture taken on vacation with bf with his name and with the children

predator has city, state, school, he knows childrens names and what they look like..he knows what nurse a looks like and can watch when the children are picked up, follow them home and now he knows where they live

he can find out the park where they play and approach them with the news that nurse a and bf b have been injured and are at the hospital, offers them a ride to hospital

ITS A BIG DARK WORLD OUT THERE, BE CAREFUL

Yes, it is

*anonymurse* · Apr 11, 2007, 05:57 AM

VCPI (Virginia Center for Policing Innovation) has a free parent education CD called "Mousetrap: Protecting America's children from online predators"
(for one copy, you pay $2 shipping in Virginia). I just took a quick look at the CD and it seems to be a fairly detailed awareness/orientation piece with PDFs and video clips, definitely worth the $2. Click on the "order" link at http://vcpionline.org/mousetrap.asp (the CD, minus PDFs and vids, is at the "Mousetrap Online" link).

zuzi · Apr 21, 2007, 02:10 PM

May be I am to innocent or I don’t know way, but on allnurses, all the time I felt protected and only in some special cases I needed to be careful by my self. May be you have right is time to open my eyes very well. I don’t like this paranoid state of “don’t do that, or is dangerous to do that or someone can be with an eye on you” I like to be my self but it seems that are too many crazy people in this world and you don’t know who can be behind a name or try to trapped you. Yuck I don’t like at all this style…so is time to be much careful. Good advices girls!

Protect yourself - Use the Internet without getting hurt or hurting your friends

Protect yourself - Use the Internet without getting hurt or hurting your friends

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