Internet
Back To School and Back on the Web: Comcast Offers Tips to Help Keep Children Safe Online
Berlin, CT
As summer comes to a close and children across Connecticut prepare to head back to school, Comcast is offering tips for parents to help keep their kids safe online.
"Children rely on the Internet more than ever for communication, research, school work and socialization, and while the Internet can be a powerful and effective tool, it is important to educate children on how to stay safe online," said Doug Guthrie, Regional Vice President of Comcast in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. "You don't have to be a computer expert to keep your children safe in cyber space. By following a few simple steps, you can help protect them from online threats."
Guthrie noted that Comcast is committed to providing a safe and secure Internet experience, saying that the company provides its high-speed Internet customers with free McAfee Internet Security Suite, one of the most highly-acclaimed Internet security solutions offered by any Internet Service Provider.
Comcast is offering the following tips and tools for parents:
Utilize parental controls. Comcast has partnered with McAfee to offer powerful parental controls to help filter out inappropriate content and also monitor Internet activity to help prevent identity theft. These controls log where children surf, can monitor chat sessions and provide age-based web access in addition to filtering offensive content. More information can be found on the Comcast.net Security home page at www.comcast.net/security.
Communicate with your children. Talk to your children about their online experience so that they are more likely to share uncomfortable situations.
Instruct children not to share private information. Children may not understand the significance of sharing their personal information on the Internet. Help your children understand that some information, i.e. their address, phone number, school, etc., is private and should not be shared on the Internet.
Create and sign a family contract for Internet use. Avoid confusion and establish clear rules surrounding Internet communication. A family contract is a useful tool to establish rules regarding information that cannot be shared online, the level of permission required before meeting someone in person, and other important information. An example of a family contract can be found on the Comcast.net Security home page at www.comcast.net/security.
Keep your home computer in a central and accessible location. The public presence of the computer and your close proximity will serve as a continual obstacle to strangers attempting to lure your child. Never locate the home computer in a private location, such as a child's bedroom.
Advise your child to always remain in public areas of chat rooms. Often times, chat rooms have "private" areas where chat monitors have limited ability to log conversations.
In addition to these tips, Comcast customers can log onto the Comcast.net Security home page at www.comcast.net/security to get more tips and download McAfee Internet Security Suite, including any software upgrades.
Some features of the McAfee Internet Security Suite include:
• McAfee Image Analysis - helps keep offensive content and pictures away from children;
• Identity Theft Protection - helps guard customers' identities when online; McAfee Password Vault provides a safe place to store confidential passwords;
• Windows Protection - detects and kills applications such as root kits that hide from Windows with McAfee X-Ray for Windows;
• McAfee SystemGuards - monitors computers for specific behaviors that indicate the presence of viruses, spyware or hacker-like activities;
• Backup & Restore Files - saves copies of customers' most valuable files as encrypted and compressed files on a CD/DVD, USB, external or network drive;
• Built-In PC Health and Performance Tools - helps ensure that the PC will run at peak performance with automated disc defragmenter and file clean-up for applications and browser history;
• McAfee Network Manager - monitors PCs across a network for security weaknesses; allows security issues to be fixed easily from one, centralized network map; and
• Built-In McAfee Shredder - enables the ability to digitally "shred" confidential files.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communication products and services. With 24.6 million cable customers, 14.4 million high-speed Internet customers, and 5.6 million Comcast Digital Voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.
Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, ten Comcast SportsNets networks and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet businesses, including Comcast.net (www.comcast.net). Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.
Comcast's New England regions serve 2.6 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and New York and employ nearly 7,000 individuals.