If you cant trust your children online , then don't let them online unsupervised .
I could never imagine myself doing that to my daughter

"...the emails provided the necessary information for the hackers (i.e. stupid kids) to infiltrate (log on) germany's federal police (formerly named the gestapo)."

this article makes it seem like the kids had advanced computer cryptology knowledge and are a team of experienced cyber hackers.

most likely her dad left the computer on, the kids checked the emails and found one from his secretary with the new password for the german police servers.

I don't see a problem with leaving kids be on the internet (i mean, kids who are old enough to think and follow the rules).

My parents never spied on me on the internet, i got caught with porn a few times because i didnt clear the history. (haha),
But i mean, teach your kids proper etiquette on the web, and you should not need to spy.

This cracks me up because the dad had legal right to put whatever software on a computer he purchased for whomever residing in his home. Why I laugh is, the boyfriend, depending on his age, may do jail time for illegally hacking into a federal officers computer and then the federal computer servers.

You say hooray for the revenge, I say stupid on the boyfriend's part because it will forever be on his criminal record. And to get the conspiracy minds of ATS working.... it could have been a very well played out plan for the dad if he didn't like her boyfriend.

Oh!! Hello Karma! Nice to see you!
Karmas ability to react faster and faster is growing exponentially.. lol
Do crappy things, Crappy things come to you! Remember it. Cheers

This is what happens when people think that technology is a substitute for humanity, that they use a computer as a mediator for covert passive agressive control games. A police officer using a device to monitor all activity on the computer -- not just his daughter, but he was paranoid about it all, covering his back possibly. That is no substitute to Internet coaching by parents. If you can teach your kids to drive and manage their money, you can teach them responsibility on a computer. No, this one was probably trying to catch her smoking through the webcam or something trivial. Unless he was crooked and was trying to exploit his daughter.

But her boyfriend went overboard. It's really twisted because if he does this with information on a slighted wrong, what is he going to do to the daughter/girlfriend when she decides to have a mind of her own? If she offends him a bit, is he going to trample her life and career, sell her family out to his buddies? He already did it didn't he? That is not a keeper.

The article is a day ago but the facts are a year ago. The Patras breach; I heard about a similar breach of security in the year 2001, if memory serves, or I'm having deja vu. Maybe it is precognition. The girl could go to jail for aiding and abetting a criminal, if she hasn't already. She's busted and grounded.

Arbitrageur is right in my opinion.
The Internet has extremely dark and disturbing corners, even to adults, and you can't leave your children unsupervised.
That is like putting them in a room with tons of porn, snuff, violence and other things children are not able to handle, and say "Go ahead my Dear, the cartoons must be somewhere in between here."
We all know how easy it is to find these things. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a censerored Internet, I just think age restrictions make sense.
About the take down of the Patras-Server, I couldn't care less, in fact I'm smiling.
It's mainly to monitor drug traffickers.
I'm not into this war on drugs thing, I believe in the freedom of choice, if you're of the appropiate age of course.

Originally posted by baphomet420
i would dare to say that you are being negligent if you do not use spyware on your childrens computer...

i am not saying you have to dissect every little thing they do, but you really do need to know what your kids are doing online.

you are still a parent, rather it be real world, or cyber world, the two intersect all the time. bad things come from kids being on the internet for social reasons.
the internet is a powerful tool for EVERYBODY, including people that would get enjoyment from harming children..

i see a problem with the police using spyware...
i see no problem with a parent using it...

keyloggers are GREAT...

It all depends. If the parent bought the electronic equipment then sure, while if the minor bought the electronic equipment through their own labor then the parent should either make restitution, some kind of probation or jail. As it is a violation of a human being inherent rights.

Spying and invading your children's privacy is a one way ticket to being severely hated, which opens up a door to all kinds of rebellious acts. Children will literally hurt themselves in order to hurt you, I don't think its a good thing.

That and I don't subscribe to this "hide your child from the real world" mentality. The world is ugly sometimes, no sense setting them out into it with blinders on and a deep seated hatred and/or fear of authority.

Originally posted by trustnothing

So what do you think? Should you been installing malware of your kids pcs? Stealing their logons? This story made me LOL anyways enjoy.

To some degree I think parents should have some ability to monitor what their kids are up to online.
I don't mean reading their emails or their IM programs or getting into their facebook accounts.
But there are many perverted and evil people out there who use the Internet simply to prey on children.
Your kids don't need to be on facebook or using emails to be preyed upon.
There are many other sites that your kids could go to.

Then there is the issue of pornography.
Should you allow you kids to be viewing material intended for adults?

You could argue that, for example, 'boys will be boys', and using the Internet to look at nude photos of women is no different to the days before the Internet where playboy magazines were the norm for underage boys.

But then you have to consider that the material in playboy is rather softcore compared to what can be seen on the Internet.
On the Internet it goes beyond simply women without their clothes on or women engaged in sex acts.

Every fetish imaginable is basically catered for on the Internet.
Is that something your kids should be viewing?

We can argue that looking at photos of naked women and women having sex, is part of growing up as kids get curious.
But is it normal for kids to be seeing all the bizare and vile crap that is on the Internet?
Should they be viewing for example skatology(not sure if that's what it's called) material?
How about simulated rape material?
Bestiality?

If and when I have kids, I will monitor what they do online, to a degree. As in, I'll log the sites they visit.
But I will also talk to them about what they should and shouldn't be doing on the Internet, things such as the basics like not giving out personal information or posting it online, not posting(or taking) indecent or compromising photographs or videos of them selves.
But also about being wary of predators.

There's nothing more you can really do, without restricting your kids freedom.
And you want your kid to be able to explore and discover things, to make mistakes and learn from them. It's part of growing up.

Just like you would keep an eye out on your kid at the beach or public pool, you need to keep an eye out on your kid while they are on the Internet.
Because instead of the perverts and weirdos being outside, they are now in your home thanks to the Internet.
It's one of the downsides that we have to live with and learn to cope with, because the Internet is a great tool for education and information, among other things like music and movies.
For example many tv networks now post full episodes online shortly after airing live on tv that people can watch freely.
We can order anything from the Internet and have it delivered to our door, from anywhere in the world.
Hell we can even order pizzas online these days, not to mention track our purchases as they are delivered to us.
We can use the Internet to talk face to face with people with programs like Skype.
Two weeks ago my grandfather passed away, and before the church service, we were on Skype and saw him one final time(we couldn't be there because he is on the other side of the world).

Monitor your kids to ensure they are safe from predators...but anything else, let them be, let them explore and discover things make mistakes and learn. They are curious, just like you were.
It's exactly the same as in the real world, except you use a different method to keep them safe.

I dont think kids younger than around 15-16 should have a computer/laptop in their room with an internet connection. period.

All internet activitys in my opinion for children younger, should be in a common use room and only when theres an adult around.

I belive more in limiting activy rather than intrusion of privacy, so dont spy on them block the bad stuff and dont "leave them to it".

Blocking software ironicly does not stop you looking at tech manuals for disabling them lol