Schools fear the predatory behavior that lurks around social networking sites, where the exchange of personal information can make users sitting ducks for hackers, thieves, cyberbullies, and scammers. So they're caught in what appears to be an all-or-nothing choice: take advantage of the academic opportunities that social networking sites can…

In December, Microsoft announced a major security flaw affecting its Internet Explorer web browser. The flaw allowed hackers to use hidden computer code they had already injected into legitimate websites to steal the passwords of visitors to those sites. Reportedly, more than 10,000 websites were infected with the destructive code by the time…

Acting on information from students who reported seeing a classmate looking at inappropriate material on a school computer, school officials used forensics software to plunge the depths of the PC's hard drive, searching for evidence of improper activity. Images were found in a deleted Internet Explorer cache as well as deleted file space.…

The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires any school or library receiving funding from the federal E-Rate program to deploy web filtering technology to prevent users from viewing objectionable material while they are using the institution's computers. However, opponents of web filtering legislation question whether or not mandated…

With K-12 students seeming to, at all times, have one foot in the real world and one in the virtual, school districts are starting to acknowledge a new collective responsibility: to teach kids what it means to be a good digital citizen and how to go about being one. The movement to address and characterize digital citizenship originated in the UK,…

It used to be that Internet threats were aimed at disabling their targets. The most common payload of yesterday's viruses, worms and other malicious code either caused system instability or, perhaps, deleted certain files. In many cases, these threats announced their arrival by flashing messages on the computer screen or causing some other…

A computer virus is a program--a piece of executable code--that has the unique ability to replicate. Like biological viruses, computer viruses can spread quickly and are often difficult to eradicate. They can attach themselves to just about any type of file, and are spread by replicating and being sent from one individual to another. Simply having…

Emerging technologies are quickly becoming part of daily learning and teaching endeavors in academia. Due to the access to certain high-tech tools educators must learn how to integrate these tools in educational settings. However, many also encounter problems and weaknesses in the same high-tech environment that uses and delivers information…

The problem with traditional, perimeterbased security methods is twofold: First, they can stifle the educational mission that district networks were created to encourage. Firewalls can thwart hackers, but they can also prevent staff and students from accessing online tools or information. Second, these approaches tend to provide inadequate…

Over the last two years, it has become evident that a behavior pattern of misuse and abuse with respect to technology is beginning to emerge in society. This outbreak of technology misuse and abuse is documented in continual news coverage on TV, in newspapers and on the Internet--both inside and outside of schools. The endless list of misuse and…

Through conversations with students across different grade levels, there is clear evidence that two of the things they most desire contradict each other--and they use electronic technology to get both of them. This author had conversations with three groups of students in Seattle about their favorite electronic technologies, and any concerns they…

According to a January 2007 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 55 percent of teens (ages 12 to 17) report having created a personal profile online, and an equal number regularly use social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook. Of those, 91 percent use the sites to stay in touch with friends they see frequently. With all…