How to keep children virtually safe this Xmas

Parents who are buying computers for Christmas need to get up to speed with parental control software to help protect their children from online dangers, including cyber bullying and online predators, says the Which? Complete Guide to Protect Your PC.

An Ofcom report earlier this year found that many parents believe their children are safer online than they actually are and should do more to monitor their children's use of social networking sites. Only 30% of parents knew that their children's profiles were open to view by anyone online.

The major social networking sites, such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook, are designed for those aged 13 and above, but because there are no formal security controls, younger children can sign up to them if they simply lie about their age. But while youngsters may be confident with the technology, they may not be aware of the dangers and importance of protecting private details such as phone numbers.

The most important thing that parents can do is to educate their children about online dangers. But the Which? Complete Guide to Protect Your PC says that parental control software can give an extra line of defence that can make a big difference.

There's a huge range of such packages on the market, many of them free. The Which? Complete Guide to Protect Your PC shows how to install and use K9's free Web Protection software. Another popular package is Sentry Parental Controls, which has web-based monitoring tools that let parents see what their children are doing on the home computer by logging in from any web browser.

Matt Bath, Editor, Which? Complete Guide to Protect Your PC, says: "Children are often streets ahead of adults when it comes to using the internet and parents need to wise up fast. If you're buying your kids a computer this Christmas, make sure you know how to keep them safe online. Parental control software can make all the difference."