Safe(r) Internet Searching

How do you keep both your computers and your kids safe when searching on the Internet? Of course you may have filters to keep out some objectionable content and virus protection to help stop evildoers from taking over your computer. But another line of defense is being aware of what you are clicking on when you search, and setting your search preferences.

Dangerous Searches & Results
One of the Internet's leading computer security firms, McAfee, points out that "cybercriminals often use the names of popular celebrities to tempt viewers to visit websites that are actually laden with malicious software. Anyone looking for the latest videos or pictures could end up with a malware-ridden computer instead of the trendy content they were expecting." A recent study placed Harry Potter star Emma Watson at the top of the list. Certain searches for Emma Watson yield results that give you a 1-in-8 chance of clicking a link that is simply there to lure you in and infect your computer or entice you to give up personal information.

Teachers and parents working with kids should ask younger kids to search for celebrity information only on sites that they have vetted. In addition to helping keep your computers safe, sites that rank high for celebrity results often contain poor information and other questionable content. Older students must be made aware of the issues and risks involved in searching for information about celebrities and need direction about how to assess a site for quality BEFORE clicking on a link.

Setting Strict SafeSearch on Google
It is always wise to have students set their search preferences in Google to strict safe search. There are three levels for Google's result. Strict SafeSearch does a fairly good (but not perfect) job of removing sexually explicit videos and images from search results pages, as well as text results. Moderate filtering does not take out links to explicit content and no filtering, well, doesn't filter anything.

To set your filtering level, on the Google results page (what you get once you've actually run a search), look for the little gear in the upper right portion of the page. Click on that and choose Search Settings. For more information, refer to Google's search help about filtering, or read about Google SafeSearch.