Trend Micro TrendSetter August 2009

Children represent one of the fastest-growing populations of Internet users. While the overall Internet population has risen 10 percent over the past five years, the number of kids surfing the net has shot up 18 percent. And they're spending more time online than they did in 2004—63 percent more time, according to a report by Nielsen Online.

It's no surprise that malware makers have noticed this large (and growing) population of children using the Internet, and have developed ways to take advantage of a group of users who tend to be a lot more trusting—and a lot more impulsive—than your average Net vet.

Take for example the recent scam that preys upon users of Neopets, a popular site for kids that lets them "adopt" cyber pets and play games to earn points they can use to purchase things for their pets. Internet pirates have been sending children emails or posting on Neopets bulletin boards about a secret site that lets them make a "magic paintbrush" to change their pets' colors without having to cash in precious points. But instead of installing and downloading the magic paintbrush, victims of the scam instead download and install malware that can search their computer.

The malware makers' aim, of course, is to get to the parents' banking information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sought-after data that may be saved on the PC that the child is using.

If your children visit sites with any social networking or gaming component, remind them to be careful about who they add as a friend, show them how to set privacy settings to keep private information and photos away from the public, and make sure they know not to click on links or programs sent to them, even by their friends—and certainly not by anonymous posters on bulletin boards.


Trend Micro Consumer Newsletter \| Security Tips, Tricks, and Updates		August 2009
	Hackers Using Kids to Get to Parents' Information Children represent one of the fastest-growing populations of Internet users. While the overall Internet population has risen 10 percent over the past five years, the number of kids surfing the net has shot up 18 percent. And they're spending more time online than they did in 2004—63 percent more time, according to a report by Nielsen Online. It's no surprise that malware makers have noticed this large (and growing) population of children using the Internet, and have developed ways to take advantage of a group of users who tend to be a lot more trusting—and a lot more impulsive—than your average Net vet. Take for example the recent scam that preys upon users of Neopets, a popular site for kids that lets them "adopt" cyber pets and play games to earn points they can use to purchase things for their pets. Internet pirates have been sending children emails or posting on Neopets bulletin boards about a secret site that lets them make a "magic paintbrush" to change their pets' colors without having to cash in precious points. But instead of installing and downloading the magic paintbrush, victims of the scam instead download and install malware that can search their computer. The malware makers' aim, of course, is to get to the parents' banking information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sought-after data that may be saved on the PC that the child is using. If your children visit sites with any social networking or gaming component, remind them to be careful about who they add as a friend, show them how to set privacy settings to keep private information and photos away from the public, and make sure they know not to click on links or programs sent to them, even by their friends—and certainly not by anonymous posters on bulletin boards. < Back to main page
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