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CyberPatrol Book Available Today – Information for Parents to Protect Kids from Online Predators, Cyber-Bullying and SextingSurfing Among the Cyber Sharks Now Available on CyberPatrol Website or for Free with Purchase of CyberPatrol Parental Control SoftwareHARRISBURG, Pa. – July 21, 2009 – CyberPatrol® LLC, a leading provider of tools to protect people online, today announced that its book, Surfing Among the Cyber Sharks, is now available in hardcopy on the CyberPatrol website or for free with purchase of CyberPatrol Parental Controls software. The book, written by security veterans Vincent Schiavone and Bob Kessinger with contributions from John Sancin and Barb Rose, provides guidance on Internet safety through real-life examples of the risks and consequences faced by kids online. “Protecting kids from cyber sharks can no longer be handled by keeping the computer in a high traffic area of the house,” said Bob Kessinger, book author and CyberPatrol vice president. “Kids have access to the Internet everywhere, whether it be at school, the library, the coffee shop or on their mobile devices. They face cyber-bullying and sexting exposure or pressure. Parents, educators, librarians or anyone responsible for the welfare of children and teens needs to understand the dangers and needs to know how to talk about them to kids. We wrote this book to provide this guidance to anyone who has kids or who works with kids. This is the book your kids won‟t want you to read.” The book addresses the common belief that kids will avoid problems if they stay away from pornography, gambling or other risky websites. “Kids don‟t even have to be visiting bad places in order to be threatened,” said Vince Schiavone, book author and CyberPatrol board member. “Cyber Sharks come to them in web chat rooms or social media sites, gathering information that helps them gain the trust of your child. Cyber sharks can also come in the form of peers who use Cyber bullying tactics. To many parents and educators, it seems impossible to protect kids from these dangers. We wrote this book to show them how to protect their kids from these new types of predators.” A recent study was released by PointSmart.ClickSafe, which is an initiative introduced by the cable television industry, to educate consumers and parents about online safety and the appropriate use of the Internet by children. The study concluded that there is no single „silver-bullet' solution to child safety concerns. Instead, a holistic approach based on education, empowerment, and sensible industry self-regulation is needed. The best practices outlined in this report will set a new benchmark for online operators going forward to ensure that they have policies in place to keep kids and parents educated and informed about how to stay safe online. To date, even the companies with the largest web presence have done nothing to help kids stay safe online. Google searches easily bring back whatever content a kid might be looking for. Websites delivering adult content do nothing to verify the age of the person-they simply ask „what year were you born‟, and social networking sites allow kids to upload whatever content and images they want to without verifying either who they are or what age they are. Parents need to fully understand all of the risks. CyberPatrol is offering a Cyber Sharks Educational Kit to schools, libraries, camps, community programs, law enforcement and any other groups who support kids. The kits include a ready-to-use educational presentation, eBooks and other free tools that can be downloaded at http://www.cyberpatrol.com/programs.asp “These communities who serve and protect children are key to helping parents and kids understand the risks of online activity,” said John Sancin, president and CEO of CyberPatrol. “Surfing Among the Cyber Sharks provides the tools they need to help kids defend themselves in a world of pervasive Internet access. We decided to offer both hardcopy and e-book versions,” added Sancin. “In educational environments, it is often more effective to hand out hardcopy books to the audience. This information is so important, we wanted to make it accessible.” To further help in educating these groups, CyberPatrol has produced two videos that can be found on YouTube. One features the self-proclaimed Cyber Granny, a technically-savvy grandmother who is frustrated by her granddaughter‟s risky Internet surfing habits, found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UblzVEQ5m4Y. In the other video, book author Bob Kessinger gives an overview of the risks kids face when they go online, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk4MjPL0UZE Availability for Surfing Among the Cyber Sharks. Educational groups may obtain the Cyber Sharks Education Starter Kit at the CyberPatrol website for free at http://www.cyberpatrol.com/programs.asp. Members of the press may download images of the book in the press area of CyberPatrol‟s website at http://www.cyberpatrol.com/media.asp. About CyberPatrol, LLC CyberPatrol is recommended regularly as the product of choice for online safety by many parent and computer publications. Its award-winning software is relied upon and trusted by parents, schools, libraries and businesses around the world to monitor and manage their users‟ Internet access. Learn more about CyberPatrol at www.cyberpatrol.com |
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