McAfee Parental Controls Helps Parents Keep an Eye on Internet Activity

Nov. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- McAfee Security Consumer, a business unit of Network Associates, Inc., comprised of retail and online solutions for consumers, home office users and small and medium businesses, today announced McAfee Parental Controls 1.0, a new product that helps parents protect their children from the unknown dangers of the Internet, such as inappropriate Web sites and subjects, Internet scam artists and online predators. With McAfee Parental Controls, parents now have a powerful set of features, such as identity protection, chat filtering and Internet time limits that allows them to be vigilant about their children's online activities.

According to noted Internet crime expert, author and Chicago-area detective Michael Sullivan, parents play a major role in safeguarding children's Internet safety and privacy. Detective Sullivan says parents should, "Treat their connection to the Internet like the door to their child's bedroom, and watch the traffic accordingly."

With McAfee Parental Controls, parents can easily manage how each child can communicate across the Internet. McAfee Parental Controls includes age- specific settings for Web pages, chat filtering, objectionable word filtering, online time-limits and other tools to regulate the child's online activity. Parents can also customize how McAfee Parental Controls operates by adding words and/or Web sites that they want to prevent their child from seeing when surfing the Internet.

"The dangers of the Internet are concerns for every parent," said Tracy Hulver, director of product management, McAfee Security Consumer division, Network Associates. "With McAfee Parental Controls we give children an added layer of protection while they surf the Internet."

The specific online features offered by McAfee Parental Controls 1.0 include the following:

• Identity protection. McAfee Parental Controls allows parents to secure their family's personal identification and financial information (e.g. name, phone number, address, credit card and bank account numbers), and prevent these and other specified pieces of information from being transmitted over the Internet without a parent's permission. This feature further enhances the family's privacy and helps protect the individual family member's identity.
• Chat filters. McAfee Parental Controls allows parents to monitor their child's chat messages, block inappropriate and offensive content, and prevent the sharing of private information during chat sessions.
• Web site blocking. Allows parents to restrict the content their children are able to view on the Web. Parents are able to create different accounts for each child and vary the filtering level based on the child's age and maturity.
• Internet access time-limits. Parents can restrict the time that their children are allowed to go online. Parents simply enter the days and times that children are allowed to access the Internet and they are blocked from using it at all other times.
• User activity logs. A log only accessible by parents that details the child's online activity, including the total time spent online, Web sites they visited or tried, email addresses of correspondence and attempted correspondence, and files downloaded.

The new McAfee Parental Controls 1.0 is currently available for PCs with Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP operating systems. Users can purchase McAfee Parental Controls for $29.99 (USD) at www.mcafee.com or through leading retailers such as Wal-Mart. For more information McAfee Parental Controls, visit www.mcafee.com.

Make Your Opinion Count - Click Here

Source: McAfee.com