If someone you don't know wants to give you candy you tell them NO

Look both ways before crossing the street

Only eat your food at the kitchen table

These basic lessons keep people young and old watching their surroundings.  I've never had someone ask me to get in their car, but it would set off a red flag if it happened :)

This type of training MUST start happening on the web!  We see computers every day that are infected and corrupt - this not only costs money to fix, but is dangerous for your privacy and more.  If your computer is infected with a virus that reports all your passwords to some stranger, typically this same password will get into every website you register at - because people always use the same passwords for everything.. This is BAD.

Here are some basic lessons for the web.

1. If a stranger sends you a link (asks you to get in their car) - DON'T DO IT.
What would motivate someone to send you a link? Just a stranger being friendly? What would motivate someone to pull you into their car?  You might not be able to guess right away, but it's NEVER a good idea.  99 out of 100 times they want to cause you harm.

2. Before you click any link from a search engine or any other source for that matter, you need to use a little critical thinking skills to decide if that click is a good idea.  This will get easier with practice, but start here:
Does the URL(link) contain part of a name I should recognize? Like myspacesite.com - you recognize myspace.com, but having one other letter in the URL means it's probably registered by some random stranger out there hoping to capitalize off the similar name. 

Another concept in a URL is using a subdomain to hide out.  This will happen often in emails, they want you to click to http://secure.paypal.mycom.com - this is a subdomain of 'mycom.com' which means they control it, not paypal.  You MUST be able to spot this instantly or you will not be safe on the internet, EVER.

3. Hidden URLS in links - there are a number of ways to do this really well, but it's still so easy to trick people that they usually don't try too hard to disguise a link.  For example, this link http://allinnetworks.com - on the very surface looks like it goes to our sister company, All In Networks - you put your mouse over the link without clicking you can usually see the destination in the STATUSBAR of your browser.  If you click my link you'll see that you don't end up at All In Networks, you go to some other website - this is a common way that an email link will say one thing, and do another.

 4. Search engine results - the good and the bad in one screen.
Search engines are great, they give you the results you want - you need to be able to weed them out.  The thing that makes the web great is there is no content filtering, you want to know about something you can find it.  This brings the bad right front and center with the good.  I'm going to illustrate a very basic example, with a pretty harmless search result - but this type of thing needs to be understood and practiced with EVERY search.  We are going to search for something rediculous, that many kids out there are probably searching every moment of every day - "jonas brothers" on google.

See our result:

This basic search brought up a bunch of really safe sites, their fan site, their wikipedia page, some news items from the press, and then some paid ads.  This particular set of results is actually a pretty mild example but this was the first thing I tried, and there is a bad result.  The bottom right paid ad that I circled.  This company asks for your cell number and will text you gossip.  It is very easy to signup, and you have no idea what they are going to do with your phone number after that.  Maybe they text you a link and ask you to signup on a webpage, then take your name and number and sell it on the internet - you might be interested in gossip, and even peak at a tabloid at the grocery store - but there is no reason to start giving these people your personal information!

5. Last but not least, the free security scan.
This is the most common threat out there right now.  Here is the scam: Company creates fake/or real security software to look for security issues, they also bundle a feature that makes it bug the heck out of you, they also bundle a feature that lets you pay them to be less annoying, they also bundle a feature to make it impossible to remove the software - PROFIT!

If you are looking for good security software, read a blog post from a trusted source, ask a trusted friend, etc.  Do not click on any free scans.  There is good security software out there that is free, you must use a name you trust.  You wouldn't take a free meal from a stranger on the side of the road (hopefully..) - and hopefully you can live without a million infected free PC scanning tools.

Do NOT click these scanners (okay to view image)