![](bg2.png)
addresses the issue of the protection and support of
victims of these types of cybercrime not only
through the establishment of clear guidelines and
recommendations, but also with the establishment of
an online cybercrime victim "hot-line".
2 CYBERCRIME PREVENTION
In addition to its various benefits, the internet also
contributes to increased exposure to different forms
of crime. Today, the Internet enables certain
offenses, which were unimaginable in the past. The
level of privacy has substantially decreased as the
general public willingly publishes personal
information, which, of course, once published can
never be erased – the fact that the general public,
children and teenagers in particular, seem to easily
forget. Furthermore, fraud and scams are
successfully abusing the virtual environment in
which boundaries and time are irrelevant.
Young internet users should be aware of the
threats to their identity and wealth, as well as
potential future impact of their actions. Furthermore,
the core rules of etiquette in the virtual environment
should be communicated to all users. Through
raising the level of awareness of our children, we
will be moving toward the creation of an
information security culture in the long run.
2.1 Information Security Issues
Information security is a very wide area. It
encompasses both technical security, as well as the
threats posed by the users themselves, whether that
is due to the lack of knowledge or naivety when
exposed to social engineering. In relation to the
assurance of technical security, IT professionals can
install firewalls, antivirus software and enable
regular updates of the operation system and antivirus
software. However, there is no software to protect
the system from its weakest link – the human. As the
success of a social engineer is the result of
greediness, trustfulness, naivety and, especially in
younger people, inexperience, protection against
social engineering can be implemented only with the
users’ personal knowledge, attention and care.
Parents can select appropriate software to
improve the security on the child's computer or
mobile phone. However, unfortunately many parents
do not have sufficient knowledge in order to ensure
child’s safe participation in the virtual environment.
When it comes to information security, we
primarily consider PCs and often forget the mobile
devices, especially smartphones and tablets.
According to Gartner Inc. (Gartner Inc., 2013) the
proliferation of lower-priced tablets and their
growing capability is accelerating the shift from PCs
to tablets. The number of smart phones is also
growing rapidly. In January 2013 Center for Safer
Internet Safe.si (Safe.si, 2013) published the results
of the research among internet users, which suggests
that parents consider the appropriate age when a
child gets a mobile phone to be 11 years. Almost
every teenager has a smartphone. The number of
applications for mobile devices cannot be counted.
Each user has installed many of them. However, in
these devices, we do not pay enough attention to the
issue of information security.
Regardless of the platform, the main sources of
threats are the interactive functionalities of the
modern World Wide Web, especially in relation to
social networks. Creating a profile is a prerequisite
for joining the social networks. The profile includes
information about the user along with pictorial
material. When a user creates a profile, he/she can
search for other users, different links, and can collect
and share contacts list. The use of social network
systems is increasingly popular. Interest groups
attempt to realize their interests by using such a
medium. The common tendency that an individual
collects a multitude of “friends” is not derived from
the human need for companionship, but from the
need for status. For many users it could be said that
the whole point of these networks is in the
accumulation of as many friends as possible (Rosen,
2007).
In addition to the positive characteristics and
trends, such as integration of users with common
interests and keeping in touch with real friends
worldwide, the users can be quickly exposed to
abuse, inconvenience, and invasion of privacy. After
creating his/her own profile, the user often forgets
that the web is like a "bulletin board" and that the
information published on the internet stays there
forever. It is practically impossible to trust all online
friends as much as friends in the real world, though
via online social networks the users often behave in
the same way. The consequence of this is the fact
that the increased use of online social networks
excessively reduces the level of self-protection,
while at the same time also decreasing the level of
attention, thereby unduly increasing the level of trust
(Gregoric, 2010).
Users of the internet should be aware of the risks
and pitfalls, as they can ensure their own safety with
caution and taking appropriate action. The set of
traps and risks may include: poor passwords, spam,
CSEDU2014-6thInternationalConferenceonComputerSupportedEducation
126