Trend Micro has unveiled its Online Guardian for Families, the company’s first product designed for parents concerned about their kids’ social networking activities. 

With comprehensive parental controls, social network monitoring, and Internet filtering, Trend Micro Online Guardian gives parents the tools they need to keep up with their children’s Internet and social networking activities and take action to keep them safe while they are using their cell phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops, a statement said.

“Keeping our kids safe online is critical.  As busy parents who may or may not have the technical know-how, it’s hard to keep up with our kids online,” said Carol Carpenter, executive general manager for the consumer and small business units at Trend Micro and also a mother of two digitally-savvy kids. 

“Our vision with Trend Micro Online Guardian is to provide the tools and information for parents to become aware of their kids’ online activities, to generate healthy family dialogue, and to prevent problems before they happen.”

Over 90 percent of kids aged 12 to 17 are on the Internet and over 70 percent of teens have a social networking profile. To fully attain the social networking sites’ benefits, these sites require users to provide personal information. While social networks are heavily used by millions to keep relatives up-to-date, find lost friends, or make new ones, they can also be popular places for people who have bad intentions.

Risks such as unwanted contact, scams or identity theft, computer security issues, cyberbullying, and harming one’s reputation are things parents need to watch out for.

“There are times in kids' development when a little up-front Internet monitoring can be helpful to kids as well as the parents. One of those times is when kids are heading into middle school and engaging in social networking, another is when a child seems extra vulnerable,” said Anne Collier, co-director of ConnectSafely.org. “Then it's great when parents use tech tools for talking points in the kind of calm, ongoing family discussion that really protects kids online and offline.”

With Trend Micro Online Guardian, parents have the tools they need to spot a problem before their child gets into trouble.

Trend Micro Online Guardian allows parents to:
• Monitor Internet activities 24/7 on websites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr.
• View browsing history, wall postings, messages, photos and videos (shared and viewed), and chat logs to help prevent damage to their reputation.
• Stop access to adult and other inappropriate content.
• Limit Internet time and set daily access schedules.
• Block sharing of personal information to shield kids from online predators, identity thieves and cybercriminals.
• Install on as many computers as needed and monitor up to five children. - TradeArabia News Service