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SALTSBURG--Kids and parents should mind their "blogs" and "P2P" networking as a first line of defense against Internet predators.

Adults need to be just as cautious about information which leaves their home in the trash, over the phone or online--it can make them vulnerable to the growing crime of identity theft.

Those are some key bits of caution provided by Saltsburg resident Ray Brannon, president of a computer consulting company and CEO of Choice Technologies, a firm specializing in computerized accounting systems and web sites for businesses.

Before starting a business 30 years ago, Brannon was a middle school teacher for eight years and, in the early 1970s, a media specialist with the Allegheny County intermediate unit.

His duties back then seem quaint today: working with card-fed IBM computers and helping teachers use forerunners of video recorders.

Now, in a return to his educational roots, he is applying his knowledge of computer technology and of the evolving online culture to offer area residents and school groups tips for safeguarding themselves and their kids in America's new information age.

In addition to an identity theft seminar, which he will present Oct. 17 at noon at Clyde's Faith Lutheran Church, Brannon has developed a program on Internet safety for children. With a pun nod to Inspector Gadget, he has dubbed the program "Inspect Your Gadgets--Protecting You and Your Family in a Technologic Age."

Brannon says that one of the main problems in policing the Internet and keeping children safe is that most youngsters know far more about web-based trends and applications than their parents and most of their teachers. School districts have done a very spotty job of training teachers on how to use or even understand the Internet, despite their vaunted spending on computers and Internet access.

"Most of the parents I talk to don't have a clue," Brannon said.

But, with his presentation, which he tailors for children or parents, "I'm trying to level the playing field."

He starts with a vocabulary lesson. For instance, what's a "blog?"

It stands for "biographic web log," and means a sort of online journal any Internet user can post.

Brannon said many teenagers post all sorts of sensitive, confidential information in their blogs, which then can be read by anyone in the world with Internet access--including potential sexual predators.

Such heedless use of blogs, along with unsupervised online instant messaging, is one of the most dangerous practices by kids on the Internet today, according to Brannon.

(Instant messaging was pioneered by America On Line and now is commonplace. Computer users can send messages directly to other screens. Buddy lists let users know who else is currently on-line. It's the norm now for teens to carry on multiple IM conversations at the same time.)

Brannon explained information in blogs can be used by adult predators to target and "groom" potential young victims. Posing as teens themselves, predators may initiate a dialogue and build an online relationship with the goal of meeting the youth in person.

In a nationally publicized case in 2003, a suburban Pittsburgh teenager ran away from home to meet someone who shared her interest in fantasy role-playing.

He turned out to be a Virginia man who imprisoned her in his home. She was rescued only when the predator posted her picture on-line.

"The wolf has a new disguise," Brannon said, indicating much more is needed to warn today's kids than saying don't talk to strangers who approach them in a vehicle.

"One in five kids are sexually solicited on the Internet," he said, citing a figure reported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

So they won't become one of those statistics, Brannon warns kids to refrain from divulging personal information about themselves or their family in blogs.

With six kids of his own and a grandchild, he tells parents it's up to them to make sure such guidelines are followed.

"You have to watch out for your kids," he said. "If they're using the Internet without your supervision, you may as well drop them off in (New York City's) Central Park and say, 'You're on your own.' "

"If my kids are on instant messaging, I want to see their profiles and make sure they are sketchy," Brannon said.

(A profile is an autobiographical sketch that users post on common Internet sites such as America On Line.)

What should profiles include? "I ask them, 'Would you feel comfortable typing this up and letting a perfect stranger read it?' "

Parents should watch for signs that their children may be having unauthorized and dangerous Internet communications. For instance, Brannon said: "If their computer screen goes blank when you walk in the room, or if you start getting strange packages from people you don't know."

It also helps if parents know codes teens use in instant messaging. Brannon has included a list of such codes, compiled by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in a "parent technology survival handbook" he's developed for his "Gadgets" presentation.

Those codes include: A/S/L--age, sex, location; BF--boyfriend; GF--girlfriend; H&K--hug and kiss; IWALU--I will always love you; KOL--kiss on lips; LMIRL--let's meet in real life; MOTOS--member of the opposite sex; PAW--parents are watching; SWAK--sealed with a kiss; TOS--teacher over shoulder.

Additionally, parents should tell their kids to use instant messaging (IM) only for chatting with school and family friends they know in person. A child's IM "buddy list" should be reviewed and approved by the parents.

Parents also should stress that it is not safe for a child to get together with someone they meet online.

Any disturbing incidents may be reported by giving the screen name, e-mail address or any other known information about a suspected online predator to the Internet service provider, local law enforcement and the center's CyberTipline.com.

Another potential web peril for youngsters is "P2P," which stands for person-to-person networking. P2P bypasses a central server, and allows computers to communicate directly with each other.

Parents can outfit their home computers with filters and blocks to help keep youngsters from accessing sexually-oriented sites while surfing the web. Brannon recommends downloading a free copy of Bounce (at www.bouncefilterware.com), an Internet filter with parental controls.

But he noted such devices normally don't stop file sharing--which can be used to download pornographic material.

As a result, he said, "It's almost impossible not to have (porn links) on your computer.

Ironically, he noted, juveniles "can't go into a 7-11 and buy a Playboy magazine." But the same youngsters may unwittingly stumble onto pornography at home.

It was that troubling realization which launched Brannon on his mission to give families tools to make the Internet safer.

He recalled, "As soon as we got Internet access, I discovered that very innocuous searches (for in-stance, using the doll name, Barbie) could yield pornographic sites.

"By following the links, my kids could be just one click away from a hardcore experience."

Brannon opted to take a direct approach with his children, to steer them away from porn sites and other illicit file-sharing. He noted it is among the areas where "I have to be a parent and not a friend."

Brannon decided to "shut down all file-sharing and peer-to-peer programs, and I explained to (his children) why I was doing it."

He impressed upon his offspring the legal problems of downloading copyrighted files and the risks of picking up a computer virus which could damage the family's PC.

With his home computer, Brannon said, "I've had three or four viruses here, and I know it was the result of a download."

He pointed out, "A lot of people get an anti-virus program with their computer, but then they don't update it."

Brannon recommends that computers be placed in a family room, where they can monitor its use, rather than letting children have one in their bedroom

He also suggested making children take a "safe surfing" pledge and steering them to kid-friendly Internet browser--such as yahooligans.com, kidsclick.com or askjeevesforkids.com.

In another form of cyber exploitation, kids often click on "pop-up" ads they see on the Internet. They may be deceived into trading personal data in exchange for a promised gift.

"Kids have become the biggest consumers on the Net," he pointed out.

If all that weren't enough, a new trend having a negative impact on kids is a phenomenon known as "cyber bullying." Brannon explained that kids now harass, threaten and bully one another via cell phones and camera phones.

While Brannon focuses on ways parents can protect kids, he also touches on the responsibility of kids not to deceive their teachers when they obtain information from the web for school papers.

He stressed the importance of properly attributing Internet sour-ces, while noting some web sites encourage dishonesty--letting kids download finished papers or view tips for classroom cheating.

"Teachers are playing a battle of technological software," Brannon said.

Rather than making any judgment about the specific types of Internet activities families should embrace or avoid, Brannon said, "I'm making parents aware" of the potential hazards. "They're going to be the ultimate arbiter of what their kids can and can't do."

While the majority of children who use the Internet don't get into serious trouble, Brannon said care is still needed when accessing this powerful, far-reaching tool.

"Technology is the Jekyll and Hyde of this age," he said. "You have to be able to tell the difference--when you're dealing with Jekyll and when you're dealing with Hyde."

After exploring how to best separate the good potentials of the Internet from the bad in his household, Brannon eventually decided to share what he'd learned with other families and educators.

"When I became part of the Saltsburg High School Community Council, I realized there was more I could do," he said. He joined the panel, a liaison between the school and community, three years ago.

Last year, he made initial presentations of his "Gadgets" program. The program was included in the school's freshman orientation.

Said Brannon, "This grew as a public service I was doing for my community, but I decided I could and should extend it into other areas and districts."

Now, he noted, "I'm booked until the end of the year," including seven presentations in October alone.

"This has sort of developed a life of its own," he said. "This has become a passion for me."

He's also made a presentation to PTA officials at the regional level. Based on the strong reception he got at that event, he'll be repeating his program at the state PTA convention next spring.

"I'd love to find corporate sponsorship" to provide the program on an even broader scale, he said.

He's also toying with the possibility of transforming his presentation into a traditional book, or an e-book, with different levels designed to address kids, adults and teachers.

In addition to his parental handbook, Brannon shows his audiences a computer program meant to introduce them to the many facets and dangers of today's tech-driven society.

Working with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, he incorporated clips from some of that organization's televised public service spots.

Additionally, he's taken on the role of western Pennsylvania representative for the West Coast-based Web Wise Kids, a non-profit organization which has taken on the same mission he has: educating families and children about the dangers of the Internet.

He is helping to promote that company's "Missing" interactive CD-ROM game. While playing the game, students learn some of the methods and warning signs of sexual predators as they take on the roles of detectives assigned to track an abducted youngster.

"They put the clues together to find this kid who went missing," Brannon explained. Meanwhile, "They're learning all about what deception is about."

Turning to a new audience, Brannon this week was scheduled to introduce the game to police cadets in Pennsylvania who are being trained to provide anti-drug programs to school children.

As with his cyber safety talks, Brannon noted his identity theft program also was inspired by his own experience.

Five years ago, he dropped his wallet while leaving an appointment with a computer consulting client in Pittsburgh's Oakland section. "I didn't know about it until the next morning," he said.

Initially, all appeared OK, as someone had placed his wallet in the firm's night deposit box. But, in the process, his credit card account had been hijacked.

According to Brannon, the culprits "not only filled up their gas tank, they drove to every mall in the area," ringing up such purchases as $150 for a pair of shoes.

Before payments were stopped, there were "thousands of dollars" charged to his credit cards, he noted.

Officials "wanted to see my signature, so they could tell that wasn't my signature on all those purchases."

Eventually, he spent several hundred hours getting the matter cleared up and restoring his good name: "And that was when identity theft wasn't such an issue."

Now, as the problem continues to grow, he said, it takes victims an average of more than 600 hours over several years to completely rehabilitate their damaged credit record.

"Identity theft is the fastest-growing white collar crime," Brannon noted. Currently, he said, the odds of becoming a victim of identity theft are one in 26, the same chance most Americans face of having personal property stolen from them.

In 2007, he added, experts anticipate the odds for identity theft will have increased to one in nine.

Brannon, again, has learned from his experience and has decided to share his new insight with others.

For one thing, he said, "I now carry the minimum I have to carry" in his wallet.

Similarly, he asks others to consider, "What would I find inside if I found your wallet?"

He recommends the following steps to help reduce vulnerability to identity theft:

When possible, leave any cards or documents at home which may display one's social security number.

Photocopy the documents you do carry in your wallet and store the copy in a safe place.

When disposing of paper documents with sensitive information, first run them through a cross-cut shredder, which reduces them to confetti-like bits. Brannon noted a shredder which only cuts in one direction creates a series of long strips, which may be pieced together and read.

Drawing upon material published by Murrary Associates, Brannon lists the following as examples of items criminals can make use of if they are not properly disposed of (i.e. shredded or completely burned): address labels from junk mail or magazines; bank statements; canceled and voided checks; credit and charge card bills;

Also, documents containing a woman's maiden name; documents containing names, addresses, phone numbers or e-mail address es; driver's licenses or items with a driver's license number; employee pay stubs; expired passports and visas;

Additionally, unlaminated identification cards; items with a signature, such as a lease, contract or correspondence; luggage tags; medical and dental records; pre-approved credit card applications; report cards; resumes; tax forms; used airline tickets; utility bills.

OLD COMPUTERS

Brannon added that consumers also need to take care when they dispose of their old computers.

He pointed out, "Fifty percent of trashed hard drives contain financial information.

"You never can erase things off hard drives."

ACT QUICKLY

"When you think there's fraud, act quickly," Brannon further advised.

He explained, if you report theft of a debit card within two days, you should not have to pay more than $50 toward the unauthorized charges.

LIABILITY INCREASE

If there is a longer delay in reporting the theft, the account owner's liability may increase to as much as $500.

Brannon concluded, "After 60 days, you are on the hook for the entire amount."

BETTER RESULT

But, he pointed out, those guidelines still offer a better result than if one's checkbook is stolen and then used to make illicit purchases.

Citing figures from the American Banking Association, Brannon noted annual debit card fraud currently totals about $50 million, while check fraud amounts to approximately $14 billion.

SEVERAL HANDLERS

He pointed out, at minimum, 17 people handle a check during the clearing process.

When relying on personal checks, don't carry blank checks with you, Brannon said.

FIRST INITIAL ONLY

Also, Brannon suggested having checks printed with only one's first initial instead of one's entire given name.

Then, if someone steals the check, "They won't know how to sign it."

Finally, Brannon said, when making purchases online, look for sites whose address begins with "https," with the extra "s" standing for secure.

SPAM IS A SCAM

Another general piece of advice for Internet use: "If anything is being pushed to you, through e-mail or spam (the online equivalent of junk mail), do not give out any information about yourself...If it's spam, it's a scam."

But, he said, "If you're the one making the inquiry, that's something else."

"Prevention is up to you," Brannon noted.

OCT. 15 DEADLINE

Oct. 15 is the deadline to reserve seats for Brannon's identity theft seminar in Clyde, by calling 724-387-1230.

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