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Children Used To Steal Parents' Data
Barence writes "PC Pro's Davey Winder has revealed how pre-school children are being targeted by data thieves. Security vendors have uncovered a bunch of Flash-based games, colorful and attractive to young kids, which came complete with a remote access trojan. The trojan is usually installed behind a button to download more free games, but BitDefender even found one painting application where the very act of swiping the paintbrush over an online pet to change the color of the virtual animal was enough to trigger redirection to an infected site."
And parents wonder why they can't let the kids use the work laptop. It's because we're Ogres! Ogres, Damnit!
At least SOMEBODY is thinking of the children.
Too bad it's all priests and data thieves....
They still do!
uh. um.
nvrmnd
This space available.
They used to steal it; I'm glad they stopped. I hope they learned their lesson.
One word: Smurfberries.
This calls for action. The internet must be cleaned up. All PC's must be outfitted with a Breathalyzer to ensure nobody is intoxicated while driving the mouse. Also, social security cards should be required for every transaction. Congress must solve this complex problem by instituting a 'no toddler left alone' policy by putting friendly DHS staff at the desk of every workstation in every house in the nation. Think of the jobs created! And the children saved! RealID Internet ID Security+ Cards (TM) will now be mandatory for all plebeians. Network monitoring will be installed on every home workstation per mandatory Child-Safe-Cloud-Initiative protocols. The Congress will pass laws dictating internet rationing, and you will be given 1/30 internets everyday. If you go over your internets, you will be taxed over 9000 E-Points, which will be filed on your 1040IEEE-Z form. Fingerprint-Retinal-Anal probes will be given to ensure the AAA during each online transaction. I, senator [INSERT NAME HERE] propose this bill to save the chilrens and this great nation that is under continual attack by anonymous super hackers.
Or just watch the sites your kids go to until the come of proper age. And if at proper age they still are clicking on aforementioned items, well, not everybody can be speshul buttercup, eh mates?
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
My nephews and niece did this when they used to visit my parents place. Within days of their visit my dad, who is not much of a computer person, will call me asking why windows has stopped working. I got a lot of software installed on their computer to monitor these things, yet somehow the kids always managed to install some crap. One good thing that happened was when they turned their attention to Ipads. It has apps on it that are kid friendly but haven't seen Viruses Trojans etc in Ipad apps yet.
How many two year olds know what a "login" is? Mine does. And my four year old has had one since she was little too. I dont let them use my account. They know how to switch to theirs and even (rightly, I guess) get mad when anyone doesn't use their own login. On the Mac, there's a pretty good whitelist of websites and you need admin privs to allow new applications to run.
mod me funny
BitDefender Online Threats Lab, one of the security vendors doing research in this area of cybercrime, uncovered a whole bunch of Flash-based games, colourful and attractive to young kids, which came complete with a trojan that has been designed to appeal to those same youngsters.
The article ends with this:
The moral of this tale? Don't use your laptop as a babysitter, and don't be one of the 24.7% of parents who, according to BitDefender's research, don't supervise their young kids' online activity.
How about not using Flash? (At least not on the kid's account!)
BTW: Did you notice how BitDefender got mentioned a total of four times in seven paragraphs and one pull-quote?
What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
It is cold here in the winter time so kids cannot go out much. There are only that many other things around the house that you can get them engaged in. Besides, the computer has some cool paint software that kids can play with. There is also one app on the Ipad (among the many) that teaches how to play piano. As long as you don't let them spend too much time on the computer and you can properly monitor their usage, it is fine for kids to be on the computer to get familiar with it.
I have a problem with articles like this... a vague threat is made, that some Flash-based games that kids like to play also load trojans. Great. So, neither the writer of the article or Bit Defender say they know what games / sites to stay away from. Thanks. You know, some foods may cause cancer... so let's stop eating, okay?
"But worse still, BitDefender even found one painting application where the very act of swiping the paintbrush over an online pet to change the colour of the virtual animal was enough to trigger redirection to an infected site"
No way! You mean a scripting language reacted to user input such as onMouseOver and executed a forbidden instruction such as redirecting the site, by exploiting a vulnerability in document.location.href? This is clearly ADVERTISEMENT for BitDefender who is mentioned throughout the article as a "researcher" while showing no actual "research".
They are not actually talking about the attack vector, because they haven't found anything. They are essentially saying that a href is a vulnerability because it might lead to an "infected" (whatever that means) site.
WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
My 4 year old daughter can navigate around youtube pretty easily, finding all the kitten and my little pony videos she could want. She's also smart enough to know which videos are bad and to stay away from them. Same goes for netflix.
My 4 year old nephew can play solitaire with only a little help from grandpa. He also knows his way around several kids sites like pbs kids.
It surprised me when my little one first used my computer, I have a trackball and it didn't faze her one bit.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
To be fair, these apps look like legit apps for children. It works much the same way as other malware which would fool most adults. It's not like all parents are computer security specialists - despite all the idiots who love to talk about how their ability to figure out sex suddenly grants them equivalent knowledge to doctors, teachers, bankers, cops, and whatever else they think parenting is equivalent to. :)
flash used to steal data. Nothing [new] to see here, move along.
Never say never. Ah!! I did it again!
In American America the internet minds your children for you.
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
It's more likely people like you will doom our species.
Where do you live, Antarctica?
In Antarctica, it would be summer now.
As long as you don't let them spend too much time on the computer and you can properly monitor their usage, it is fine for kids to be on the computer to get familiar with it.
... and properly monitoring is exactly what isn't happen here. How come kids are let on a computer with such an insecure operating system? This habit will be a bitch to break later on when they are older. As a good parent, you wouldn't let them take drugs either, especially at such a young age!
This is my excuse for not going to work today: "it's cold outside".
Last year, we did get a day off at work due to "excessive" amounts snow on the roads. Only trouble: management announced the "good" news via work e-mail...
Because it's the 21st century? We're no longer in the dark ages dude. My kids weer using computers at 3 and 4 20 years ago. It's nothing new. Computer literacy is just as important as reading, writing and math and the sooner the kids start, the better.
And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour Isaiah 3:5
My kids have their own computers and don't use mine.
What are pre-school children doing using the Internet unsupervised?
What are pre-school children doing on a computer that lets them connect to the Internet at all (this is what NetNanny, software firewalls, etc. are FOR).
What are pre-school children doing clicking on anything that they see on the screen?
What are pre-school children doing using admin-level accounts that allow modification of any settings but their own?
What are parents doing to allow all of the above and then complain about what happens to their PC (or their child)?
Where do you live, Antarctica?
In Antarctica, it would be summer now.
Still not awefully warm. It's one of the drawbacks of living on a giant ice cube...
Kids stealing Parents data.. Hmm Identity theft..... Simple solution
:-X
Do not tell your kid any of the following
1. Your Birth Date
2. Your Wife's/Kids Birthday (You were born that's enough why do you want to know when)
3. Your mothers name. (Just call her grandma Ok.)
4. Your Postal address zip code etc. (This is home... that is school... you walk from here to there...)
5. Any of your family history.
6. Anything else?
That will teach those Imps to steal my data
To Share Is To care
Looks like you have the same amount of intelligence as the OP. I can't wait for you to starve to death because it's "too cold outside" for getting foodstuffs to feed yourself with.
Why should the trackball faze her any more than any other object in the house. They are all new items as far as she is concerned. Whether they were invented 1 month ago or a 1000 years ago are irrelevant. Everything is new. She'd just learn using a trackball just like learning to use a cup or even walk.
I like to think of the brain as a sponge and knowledge to be water. In kids it's like a dry sponge it has plenty of space and will absorb things quickly. We on the other hand have quite a lot of our spongie brain filled already for better or for worse.
My nephew who is also 4 years old navigates youtube for his cartoon fix. And knows how to start any installed games. He also knows how navigate to flash game sites from history and knows not to click on ads :).
Mr. Soupy Sales
... so what is the problem with that? Did the snow stop the bits from making it passed your driveway onto your computer when you checked your e-mail in the morning or something?
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Trackballs are complicated shit man ... complicated!* When it comes to keeping the proles from asking to use your computer to check their Facebook account it is the greatest deterrent ever. "Sure, you can use my computer. You do know how to use a trackball, right? [blank stare from prole]"
* I personally use a trackball religiously
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Okay, so kindergarden is about five years old, right? So that means three and four year olds in "pre-school" (whatever that exactly is). Why, exactly, is a three or four year old using a computer?
There are excellent educational applications and websites for children to use. My pre-schooler uses a site called Starfall that has done an awful lot in teacher her to read, count and do basic math. She absolutely loves it. It also increases in difficulty as she goes on.
My daughter uses Linux exclusively and her account is quite restricted. Installed are the usual Tux apps, TuxPaint, TuxTyping and TuxMath, as well as the GCompris and ChildsPlay. Everything is fairly locked down and I can always increase or decrease availability as time goes on. For example, it will be no big deal to install an email program for her to email Grandma.
All of this is running on my PC and I have not taught her how to log as herself so she can't use the system without me being there. However, it won't be long before I give her own PC with extremely limited access for her to use as she pleases. Again, with Linux, I'm not worried too much about viruses or other malware, and I can configure the system exactly how I want it to be.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
It is cold here in the winter time so kids cannot go out much.
If you can't understand the flaw in your logic, and you don't find issue with what you're saying, humanity is definitely doomed - especially if people like you are the majority.
When the high for the week is -5 Fahrenheit, children probably should not be playing outside much.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
All the kids are doing it.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
Important documentary link.
Matthew @ Bytemark Hosting
I'd like to think our kids are smart enough in this day and age not to download any free piece of software they see but if they aren't I have a good hunch this only affects Windows based computers which leads back to the parents making a bad platform choice :-).
DIDN'T, WON'T and CAN'T are very different things, my friend.
For the same reason that they use any other tools like crayons, pencils, light switches, books, etc.....
I realize that we live in an age of aggressive ignorance, but usually people at least pretend that they are not doing it on purpose.
I used to just change my shell to Litestep and my keyboard to Dvorak then laugh as people fumbled. It's also was a kick to watch an "I'll install it myself"-type tech scratch his head when C:\Program Files and C:\Documents and Settings had both been moved to dedicated partitions, and C:\ was 1 GB in capacity.
Your nice to your kids. About week after my son's 2rd birthday I formatted his hard drive and gave him a CD with Ubuntu on it. This is a big reason why I call people who claim Linux is 'Hard to install' aggressively ignorant. If a 2 year old can install it, even before they can read, any adult without mental handicaps should have no problem.
i started gaming hard when i was 5 years old. i've heard of 3 year olds capable of using a kindle fire to play 'angry birds' so um yeah whats the worst that could happen?
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
To learn. My son is 3.5yo and can use an iPad better than most new adult users. I got him a Core2Duo iMac for a steal on Craigslist that he uses for PBSKids.org and other learning sites. If you don't have kids you'd be AMAZED at how fast they pick this stuff up. There isn't something magical about books that makes them the best learning tool. They can easily be supplemented with interactive learning from iPads and computers. My goal isn't to make him an IT geek. I don't give a damn what he does later as long as he is happy..it's to make technology extremely comfortable for him to use. When he gets older kids won't carry books..they'll have eBooks on a tablet. I want that to be as comfortable for him as it is now for me.
And pre-school is just school for younger kids. My son is in a Montessori pre-school with 3, 4, and 5 (kindergartners) year olds. He learns a lot. Now, some pre-schools are really just daycares so they aren't all equal so YMMV.