These days it’s easy to look at all the tech savvy kids and marvel at a generation that doesn’t know what it was like before the Internet. But even if our kids have a natural affinity for computers, we can’t expect them to know how to protect themselves online. Unfortunately, kids face online threats every day, and as adults we need to be aware of the dangers so we can help protect them.

You might be surprised to learn that the biggest danger to kids is revealing too much information online. Details on where children live, what their passwords are and how to contact them can fall into the wrong hands. This opens the door not only to the possibility of identity theft, but also to possible contact from an online predator. Kids can be naturally open, so it’s essential for parents to teach their kids what kinds of information it’s safe to share online. This is especially important when it comes to social networking sites. To kids it may seem like they are only posting information to their friends, but they need to understand that everything they put online is public. This includes information not only about themselves, but also about their friends and family.

Sharing too many details about their lives can lead to a cybercrime tactic we call "spearphishing." Spearphishing goes beyond a regular phishing attack—where a cybercrook sends spam emails trying to trick recipients out of money or information—to include specific information about the recipient in the email. Because the email contains personal details, recipients are more likely to think the message is legitimate.

The way to prevent kids from leaking personal details online is to have a frank and open dialog about the dangers. Parents need to educate their kids about what is risky behavior, and what is not, and broadly talk about the security threats that exist online. (For more on how parents are helping kids stay safe online, read this month’s article "Moms Fight Cybercrime with Education".)

Recently, for instance, there was a malware attack directed at Facebook users. The cybercriminals sent a message to Facebook friends saying that they were filmed naked. If the recipient of the message clicked on a link going to the purported naked clip, it takes them to a fake YouTube page that asks them to download a Flash plug-in. Once they do, it downloads a Trojan that replicates by contacting everyone on their Facebook friend list. This is a particularly insidious example because it appears as if the message is coming from someone the recipient knows. While it might be difficult to explain all the steps that take place in an attack like this to a kid, you can caution them about any link that leads to a site that asks you to install a player to see a video. Ninety-nine percent of the time, this is a trick to try to get the person to install a Trojan.

The threat of cybercriminals and online predators is serious, but some of the more common dangers that kids face online is ridicule and bullying from people they know. In fact, a new study by UCLA psychologists revealed that three out of four teenagers surveyed said that they were bullied at least once online in a 12-month period. And of those that were bullied, 85 percent were also bullied at school, so it’s safe to conclude that many of the online bullies were other kids at school.

While bullying may sound like an unfortunate side effect of adolescence, it can be extremely harmful. Take the case earlier this year when a mother in St. Louis, Missouri was indicted for bullying a neighborhood girl into committing suicide. The woman, Lori Drew, setup a fake MySpace page for a teenage boy named "Josh," and used the fake identity to chat and flirt with a 13-year-old girl. When "Josh" sent a message to the girl indicating that they were breaking up, she hanged herself. Investigators discovered that Drew set up the MySpace account using false information with the intention of seeing what the teenage girl might say about her own daughter, a former friend. The case was eventually moved to California, and Drew was found guilty of three misdemeanor charges covering unauthorized computer access.

This may be an extreme example of online bullying, but it is important in that it illustrates what can happen to kids in an anonymous online world. As adults, we need to teach kids not only about the information and learning that is available to them online, but also about the need to be cautious in their online activities.

By creating an open dialog about the possible dangers we can prevent a lot of the threats. And here are a few more tips for keeping kids safe online:

• Use strong security software and keep it up to date—Software like McAfee® Internet Security Suite protects kids from viruses, hackers and spyware
• Monitor your kids Internet activity—Make sure the computer is on a place where the whole family can see it, and feel free to check your child’s social networking pages to make sure they are not sharing sensitive information
• Explain the rules for using social networking sites—Make sure the child keeps their password private and does not chat with anyone they don’t know
• Tell kids to ignore email and instant messages from strangers—And instruct them not to click on any links in messages from people they don’t know