• Read Ohio Attorney General’s web page at www.ag.state.oh.us/citizen/isafety/index.asp.
• Utilize Parental Controls provided by your Internet Service Provider. Check with your provider directly to determine availability and usage.
• Educate yourself about Internet safety for both children and adults at any of the many online sites such as:
  • http://www.staysafe.org/ Information for kids, teens, parents, 50+ and more.
  • http://www.isafe.org/ i-SAFE is a non-profit foundation whose mission is to educate and empower youth to make their Internet experiences safe and responsible.
  • http://www.safekids.com/
  • http://www.safeteens.com/
  • http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm FBI's "A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety"
  • http://www.wiredkids.org/wiredkids_org.html Information for children of all ages, parents, educators, etc.
  • http://www.missingkids.com/ Good resource for Internet safety as well as child molestation prevention, etc.
  • http://www.netsmartz.org/ Provided by National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
• Be constantly wary of online scams, identity theft, personal information scams known as "phishing," spyware, and hoaxes*. Trustworthy sites such as those below provide a wealth of information:
  • http://onguardonline.gov/index.html Provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information. Especially relevant are their Stop-Think-Click tips.
  • http://www.scambusters.org/index.html Scams, phishing, identity theft, and much more.
  • http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/ U.S. Dept. of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) provides hoax information.
  • www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html Hoax information.
  • http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft information.

*Hoaxes may appear relatively harmless but the cost and risk associated is multiplied by millions of individuals propagating hoax e-mail. Costs involve wasted time and e-mail server processing resources, which may slow down to a crawl or crash under the heavy load. Spammers (bulk mailers of unsolicited mail) harvest e-mail addresses from hoaxes and chain letters.