Answer: Paul, I’m a parent myself. And since I know what sort of dangers are lurking on the web, I agree that you have reason to be concerned.
A quick way to check the web sites that a computer has been to in the past several weeks (or more) is to view the history on the computer’s browser. This can be done in either of the two major browsers: Internet Explorer or Firefox.
Here’s how: With the browser open, hold down the Ctrl key and then press the “H” key on the keyboard. This should pull up the browsers history in the left-hand side of the screen. It will be formatted like folders. Click the plus sign beside each date range to see the web sites that were visited on those days.
Unfortunately, once the history gets to be a little older, the pages are sometimes grouped together by month… so if you are looking for something specific, you may be to do some digging.
Sometimes, after giving people that advice, and they come back to me and say “But, there is no history. It only shows where I have been today!” This makes things more complicated, because it may mean that your child has either learned to erase his or her history after each browser session or has changed the history settings in the browser.
First, check to make sure that the browser is set to record browsing history.
In Firefox, you want to go to Tools – /> Options -> Privacy. Make sure that “Remember my browsing history for at least xx days” is checked and the number is 90 days.
In Internet Explorer, you want to go to Tools – /> Internet Options -> General Tab -> Browsing History -> Settings. At the bottom of this little window, ensure that a number greater than 30 is filled in.
Doing this will tell the Internet browser to keep a record of the sites visited.
Unfortunately, there are ways to circumvent these record keeping processes, and some kids (especially teens) are very savvy when it comes to hiding their tracks. You may actually need something a little more robust.
Some computer professionals recommend Net Nanny, but I do not. Net Nanny has no option to be secretive, and will always alert the user that it is installed and watching. Also, I have seen many ways to bypass the Net Nanny’s security and the information to do this is openly posted on the web. Any computer-savvy teen can look up the instructions to disable Net Nanny.
For anonymous viewing of a computer’s user’s activity, I recommend WebWatcher Computer Monitoring Sofware. It’s stealthy and virtually undetectable. The computer user does not know that it is installed. The software keeps a log of web sites, instant messaging conversations, screen-shots, and other information and sends it to your e-mail Inbox on a scheduled basis. It’s what parents use to monitor their children’s browsing habits without them knowing that anyone is looking. It can even be used to monitor employees.
If you need any assistance in setting up a system for monitoring your kids, or if you are a business owner wanting to better monitor your employees, please give us a call.
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