Slashdot Mirror
Explaining Online Virus Safety to Parents?
DrRobin asks: "For the past couple of years, some of the techie parents in my town (Needham, MA) have been giving talks for parents of local elementary schools about online kid/family safety. I know there are a lot of weighty issues here in general but I want to ask if people here have any specific thoughts about the sub-topic I am supposed to cover: viruses (and worms, trojans, etc.). The parents are pretty sharp in general but not necessarily clued in to the net world. I have been on the net since '83 but my principal expertise is the little bitty wetware viruses that make you ill, rather than the software kind that infect computers. Any pointers people think would be helpful to parents would be appreciated."
If someone hands you an email attachment, email back, and ask what it is
bob: oh, look, i got an emailed attachment from bill. hmm, i wonder what it is, but i'm not gonna open it. instead, i'll send it back to him and ask him what it is...
bob's email to bill: what is this attachment?
bill: oh hey, look, bob sent me an attachment..asking what it is, i wonder..(double-click)..ahhh!!! virus!!! ahhh!!! that b@stard bob, he sent me a virus!!
Free Webmail
"Clicking on an executable attachment is a bit like taking a drink from an open bottle you found by the side of the road"
(I've probably messed that quote up, but you get the idea).
Matt
After they set their security settings to restricted, please explain to them what it means...recent conversation in my office after I sent a file to one of my not-so-computer-savvy co-workers...
Her: "Can't open it, it's a virus."
Me: "???"...walked over, looked at her computer, the high-security dialog box stating file must be saved to disk had come up... "It's not a virus, this is just a warning you have to save the file to disk before you open it so the computer can scan it for viruses."
Her: "But I don't HAVE a disk!"
Denver Isuzu Suzuki