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Thousands of teenagers log on to
MySpace.com every day to share their
thoughts and dreams and experiences with
kids their own age and “friends” they
may never have met.
Bill Kalaf,
a computer forensics specialist, wants
the parents of those teens to understand
that there are very real dangers out
there in cyberspace--dangers that could
invade your wallet or even your home.
The Internet and Web sites like MySpace
are ubiquitous, says Kalaf, 57, a Kyrene
Corridor resident who operates Computer
Forensic Investigators and does
consulting work for Arizona Criminal
Justice Commission.
Unplugging your home computer won’t
protect your children, he says.
Kalaf’s advice, included in the Tempe
Union High School District’s No Parent
Left Behind University program for adult
education, was offered Oct. 18 during a
workshop at Corona del Sol High School.
Kalaf recommends that parents understand
the threats – ranging from sexual
predators to identity theft – of having
children post information about
themselves on sites such as MySpace,
where users can create their own web
pages complete with photos, message
boards and personal profiles.
After viewing his presentation on
children who are seduced, molested or
even murdered by people they met online,
parents’ first reaction often is to
“rush home and turn off the computer,”
he acknowledges.
Rather than forbid children from
visiting MySpace and similar sites,
Kalaf suggests parents form a compact
with their children that the parent will
monitor how the children use MySpace
without interfering.
“Restricting your children from the
Internet because of fear does not work,”
he said. “Kids will go someplace else”
to go online.
Children will use computers at school,
the home of friends or the local library
to keep up their Internet connections,
he said.
One of the scariest aspects of Kalaf’s
presentation is his conclusion that
online predators – whether they are
seeking sex with underage children or
access to parents’ bank accounts – are
well organized and use sophisticated
research techniques to learn about their
possible victims.
It’s called “grooming,” Kalaf said –
building profiles on young people that
predators can use to track them down,
lure them into child pornography or
blackmail them into revealing their
parents’ credit card numbers.
“The idea is to force them into doing
something they don’t want to do,” often
by threatening to contact the youths’
parents and expose the children’s
Internet secrets, he said.
Some online predators build profiles on
hundreds, even thousands, of youths –
and sometimes offer them for sale or
trade to other online predators, Kalaf
said.
“It’s not the electronics you need to
worry about. It’s the information. It’s
building the human case against them
(your children).”
“Most parents don’t realize that this
whole stalker/pedophile program is not
one person and one kid. They have
profiles and they sell information,” he
said.
Many MySpace accounts have restricted
access. The user must accept someone as
a “friend” before that person can access
his or her page.
But predators lie about who they are,
and many young people are indiscreet
about accepting new “friends,” Kalaf
said.
“If you have over 100 ‘friends’ on your
blog, do you really know all those
people?” he asks MySpace users.
Kalaf’s presentation uses examples
pulled from headlines and television
news reports – examples that many people
have already seen but perhaps have not
fully understood.
From high school students who post their
plans online for committing “another
Columbine” to Internet sex predators
meeting young boys and girls in online
chat rooms and quickly turning the
conversation to sex before suggesting a
real-life meeting.
He shows examples of chat room
conversations in which a stranger turns
the talk toward sex within minutes of
meeting someone online and suggests a
rendezvous after about 10 minutes of
online “chat.”
One particularly example focuses on a
man who posted his plan to murder the
young girl next door long before he
actually did.
Kalaf suggests parents routinely Google
their own names and their children’s
names to learn what information is
available online. The mother of the
murdered girl said afterward that she
might have prevented the attack simply
by researching her daughter’s online
information, he noted.
“You should be doing that once a month,
once a quarter, whatever you think is
appropriate,” he said.
Perhaps the best plan is for parents to
work with their children to protect the
Internet experience, he said. Parents
should ask what they, as parents, can do
to help their children use the Internet
safely, and ask what the children want
from the parents to protect the privacy
of their Internet use.
You’ve got to build that bond and be
aware,” he said. |
