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 ＿| ⊃／(＿＿_ 

／ └-(＿＿＿_／

The history of the Internet begins with the development of electronic computers in the 1950s. Initial concepts of packet networkingoriginated in several computer science laboratories in the United States, United Kingdom, and France.[1] The US Department of Defense awarded contracts as early as the 1960s for packet network systems, including the development of the ARPANET (which would become the first network to use theInternet Protocol). The first message was sent over the ARPANET from computer science Professor Leonard Kleinrock's laboratory at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to the second network node at Stanford Research Institute (SRI).

Packet switching networks such as ARPANET,NPL network, CYCLADES, Merit Network,Tymnet, and Telenet, were developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s using a variety ofcommunications protocols.[2] Donald Davieswas the first to put theory into practice by designing a packet-switched network at theNational Physics Laboratory in the UK, the first of its kind in the world and the cornerstone for UK research for almost two decades.[3][4] Following, ARPANET further led to the development of protocols forinternetworking, in which multiple separate networks could be joined into a network of networks.

Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation(NSF) funded the Computer Science Network(CSNET). In 1982, the Internet protocol suite(TCP/IP) was introduced as the standard networking protocol on the ARPANET. In the early 1980s the NSF funded the establishment for national supercomputing centers at several universities, and provided interconnectivity in 1986 with the NSFNETproject, which also created network access to the supercomputer sites in the United States from research and education organizations. Commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) began to emerge in the very late 1980s. The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990. Limited private connections to parts of the Internet by officially commercial entities emerged in several American cities by late 1989 and 1990,[5] and the NSFNET was decommissioned in 1995, removing the last restrictions on the use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic.

In the 1980s, the work of British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee on the World Wide Web theorised protocols linking hypertext documents into a working system, marking the beginning of the modern Internet.[6] Since the mid-1990s, the Internet has had a revolutionary impact on culture and commerce, including the rise of near-instant communication by electronic mail, instant messaging, voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) telephone calls, two-way interactive video calls, and the World Wide Web with itsdiscussion forums, blogs, social networking, and online shopping sites. The research and education community continues to develop and use advanced networks such as NSF'svery high speed Backbone Network Service(vBNS), Internet2, and National LambdaRail. Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1-Gbit/s, 10-Gbit/s, or more. The Internet's takeover of the global communication landscape was almost instant in historical terms: it only communicated 1% of the information flowing through two-waytelecommunications networks in the year 1993, already 51% by 2000, and more than 97% of the telecommunicated information by 2007.[7] Today the Internet continues to grow, driven by ever greater amounts of online information, commerce, entertainment, andsocial networking.

- Fatin Group 1, T2

Wael Tawfik is a marketing manager for a Dubai-based leading executive search company.

By Vibhuti Arora, Staff Writer

00:00 April 27, 2006

Easy tool to communicate....
.... with friends, family, and business partners around the world very promptly and (almost) free of charge. You can also create folders and save all the communication for future reference (very beneficial in business).

Personal identity
For being able to have my own identity online (domain name, e-mail, and web space). I have reserved my own domain name, my family's domain name and many others.

Control
You are in a position to choose what you want to see, where, when and for how long.

Entertainment
I like reading those funny e-mails from friends. Now you can make all your friends around the world laugh. Even if you are not good at cracking jokes, you can simply download them from 
the internet and forward them to your friends.

Informed purchasing decisions
You can find information on almost any product and service. You can read reviews, see ratings and read actual consumer feedback and make informed decisions.

Always get the latest information
For being able to read latest news and gain knowledge about the latest products within minutes of
their release.

Business support
For being able to find up-to-date information and know-how on any topic. For example, when I wanted to select a PR company, the American PR Association had articles on how to select the best PR company for your business. And it worked perfectly.

Saving money
I used some award-winning designers from Chile, USA and Romania for a project for a fraction of the cost of using an overpriced regional design firm (which had also bid for the project).

Saves time and effort 
Using e-banking and e-government saves considerable time and effort which gives you more time for you and your family to pursue hobbies.

Getting access to some of the best websites
I have some favourite websites which I often refer to for work or leisure. These come in handy when looking for something on the web.

Although there are many advantages, researchers argue some disadvantages of an internet based society. Most of these drawbacks are a result of decreased face-to-face communication and the ability to escape identity.

Although there are conflicting research findings on this topic, an article published by Science Daily reported that time spent on the Internet was associated with later declines in within house family communication and a decrease in the number of friends and acquaintances with which they kept ties.

The same article suggests that communication on the web is taking away necessary human conflict. For example, if an Internet conversation starts getting heated or if someone gets angry, it is too easy to just sign off and not deal with the issue. Resolving conflict is a part of life that shouldn’t be avoided and is usually psychologically helpful.

Another proposed disadvantage is that a couple of studies have found strong correlations between frequency of Internet use and loneliness. People that use the Internet often are more likely to become lonely and depressed than those that don’t. One proposal as to why this is the case is because of a potential reduced social support system as a result of the Internet.

There is some controversy over whether it is possible to actually be addicted to the Internet or not. Some researchers, like John M. Grohol, claim that it is simply people trying to escape their problems in an online world and cannot be classified as an addiction. He demonstrates his theory with this model and states that what some people call an addiction is just someone that is caught in stage one.

Other psychologists, including Jennifer R. Ferris, believe that Internet addiction is a true psychological disorder with definable symptoms. The symptoms are comparable to any addiction, withdrawal, loss of relationships or job and significant time consumption.

If an actual addiction exists or doesn’t exist, the underlying themes that support the addiction theory are still an issue. Whether people are trying to escape problems and reality or they will go through withdrawal if they aren’t surfing the net or chatting, it is still psychologically unhealth

(Aiman17)

The Internet Protocol Suite, TCP/IP, is a suite of protocols used for communication over the internet. The TCP/IP model was created after the OSI 7 layer model for two major reasons. First, the foundation of the Internet was built using the TCP/IP suite and through the spread of the World Wide Web and Internet, TCP/IP has been preferred. Second, a project researched by the Department of Defense (DOD) consisted of creating the TCP/IP protocols. The DOD’s goal was to bring international standards which could not be met by the OSI model. Since the DOD was the largest software consumer and they preferred the TCP/IP suite, most vendors used this model rather then the OSI.

The next level of ISPs are tier 2. They are smaller, mostly regionally based, and they tend to provide ISP links between larger organizations. Tier 2 providers have peering agreements with the larger, tier 1 providers, but generally don't peer with each other. Examples of tier 2 providers include Level3, Sprint, and XO Communications.

The smallest level of ISPs are tier 3 providers. These providers generally supply Internet connectivity for homes and small businesses. They are regionally based and often peer with larger tier 2 and tier 1 providers to allow global Internet connectivity. Examples of tier 3 providers are Time Warner Cable, Verizon Fios, Google Fiber and Cablevision Optimum.

Transport layer acts as the delivery service used by the application layer. Again the two protocols used are TCP and UDP. The choice is made based on the application’s transmission reliability requirements. The transport layer also handles all error detection and recovery. It uses checksums, acknowledgements, and timeouts to control transmissions and end to end verification. Unlike the OSI model, TCP/IP treats reliability as an end-to-end problem.

Internet layer is responsible for routing and delivery of data and is the key component of this architecture. It allows communication across networks of the same and different types and carries out translations to deal with dissimilar data addressing schemes. It inject packets into any network and deliver them to the destination independently to one another. Because the path through the network is not predetermined, the packets may be received out of order. The upper layers are responsible for the reordering of the data. This layer can be compared to the network layer of the OSI model. IP and ARP6 are the major protocols used at this layer.

Network access layer is a combination of the Data Link and Physical layers of the OSI model which consists of the actual hardware. This includes wires, network interface cards, etc. Other related details within this layer are connectors, signal strength, and wavelength along with various others. It will use the required LAN operating algorithms, such as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect (CMSA/CD)7 or IBM Token Passing8 etc. and is responsible for placing the data within a frame. The frame format is dependent on the system being used, for example Ethernet LAN, Frame relay9, etc. The frame is the package that holds the data, in the same way as an envelope holds a letter. The frame holds the hardware address of the host and checking algorithms for data integrity. This layer has actually not been specified in details because it depends on which technology is being used such as Ethernet. So freedom is given to this layer as far as implementation is concerned.

Before electronic means of gathering information, students or researchers need to pay a visit to libraries to access materials relevant to their research topics. Nowadays, it will take just a subscription to a journal online or just browsing online to search for literature required to develop one’s conceptual framework. Preparing the review of literature is easier and faster. Thus, more research gets published and knowledge generation is greatly facilitated.

2. Communication with family, friends and relatives is faster

Gone are the homesick days because a son or daughter can now easily contact their parents online. Services such as that of Skype and Gmail enable a loved one to communicate with another in almost any part of the globe where internet services are available.

3. There is a great possibility to earn while working from home

It is now possible to earn online through writing, filling up forms, or even just clicking away on advertisements in the internet. Information is a valuable thing that people are willing to pay. Through advertisements posted online, manufacturers and sellers are able to increase the possibility of having their products purchased.

History of the Internet

The history of the Internet begins with the development of electronic computers in the 1950s. Initial concepts of packet networking originated in several computer science laboratories in the United States, United Kingdom, and France.[1] The US Department of Defense awarded contracts as early as the 1960s for packet network systems, including the development of theARPANET (which would become the first network to use the Internet Protocol). The first message was sent over the ARPANET from computer science Professor Leonard Kleinrock's laboratory at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to the second network node at Stanford Research Institute (SRI).

Packet switching networks such as ARPANET, NPL network, CYCLADES,Merit Network, Tymnet, and Telenet, were developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s using a variety ofcommunications protocols.[2] Donald Davies was the first to put theory into practice by designing a packet-switched network at the National Physics Laboratory in the UK, the first of its kind in the world and the cornerstone for UK research for almost two decades.[3][4]Following, ARPANET further led to the development of protocols forinternetworking, in which multiple separate networks could be joined into a network of networks.

Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the Computer Science Network (CSNET). In 1982, theInternet protocol suite (TCP/IP) was introduced as the standard networking protocol on the ARPANET. In the early 1980s the NSF funded the establishment for national supercomputing centers at several universities, and provided interconnectivity in 1986 with theNSFNET project, which also created network access to the supercomputersites in the United States from research and education organizations. Commercial Internet service providers(ISPs) began to emerge in the very late 1980s. The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990. Limited private connections to parts of the Internet by officially commercial entities emerged in several American cities by late 1989 and 1990,[5] and the NSFNET was decommissioned in 1995, removing the last restrictions on the use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic.

In the 1980s, the work of British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee on the World Wide Web theorised protocols linking hypertext documents into a working system, marking the beginning of the modern Internet.[6] Since the mid-1990s, the Internet has had a revolutionary impact on culture and commerce, including the rise of near-instant communication by electronic mail, instant messaging, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone calls,two-way interactive video calls, and theWorld Wide Web with its discussion forums, blogs, social networking, andonline shopping sites. The research and education community continues to develop and use advanced networks such as NSF's very high speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS),Internet2, and National LambdaRail. Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1-Gbit/s, 10-Gbit/s, or more. The Internet's takeover of the global communication landscape was almost instant in historical terms: it only communicated 1% of the information flowing through two-way telecommunications networks in the year 1993, already 51% by 2000, and more than 97% of the telecommunicated information by 2007.[7] Today the Internet continues to grow, driven by ever greater amounts of online information, commerce, entertainment, and social networking.

Internet history timeline
Early research and development:1966: Merit Network founded1966: ARPANET planning starts1969: ARPANET carries its first packets1970: Mark I network at NPL (UK)1970: Network Information Center(NIC)1971: Merit Network's packet-switched network operational1971: Tymnet packet-switched network1972: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) established1973: CYCLADES network demonstrated1974: Telenet packet-switched network1976: X.25 protocol approved1978: Minitel introduced1979: Internet Activities Board (IAB)1980: USENET news using UUCP1980: Ethernet standard introduced1981: BITNET establishedMerging the networks and creating the Internet:1981: Computer Science Network(CSNET)1982: TCP/IP protocol suite formalized1982: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP)1983: Domain Name System (DNS)1983: MILNET split off fromARPANET1985: First .COM domain name registered1986: NSFNET with 56 kbit/s links1986: Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)1987: UUNET founded1988: NSFNET upgraded to 1.5 Mbit/s (T1)1988: OSI Reference Model released1988: Morris worm1989: Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)1989: PSINet founded, allows commercial traffic1989: Federal Internet Exchanges(FIXes)1990: GOSIP (without TCP/IP)1990: ARPANET decommissioned1990: Advanced Network and Services (ANS)1990: UUNET/Alternet allows commercial traffic1990: Archie search engine1991: Wide area information server(WAIS)1991: Gopher1991: Commercial Internet eXchange(CIX)1991: ANS CO+RE allows commercial traffic1991: World Wide Web (WWW)1992: NSFNET upgraded to 45 Mbit/s (T3)1992: Internet Society (ISOC) established1993: Classless Inter-Domain Routing(CIDR)1993: InterNIC established1993: Mosaic web browser released1994: Full text web search engines1994: North American Network Operators' Group (NANOG) establishedCommercialization, privatization, broader access leads to the modern Internet:1995: New Internet architecture with commercial ISPs connected at NAPs1995: NSFNET decommissioned1995: GOSIP updated to allow TCP/IP1995: very high-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS)1995: IPv6 proposed1998: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)1999: IEEE 802.11b wireless networking1999: Internet2/Abilene Network1999: vBNS+ allows broader access2000: Dot-com bubble bursts2001: New top-level domain names activated2001: Code Red I, Code Red II, andNimda worms2003: UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) phase I2003: National LambdaRail founded2004: UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)2005: UN WSIS phase II2006: First meeting of the Internet Governance Forum2010: First internationalized country code top-level domains registered2012: ICANN begins accepting applications for new generic top-level domain names2013: Montevideo Statement on the Future of Internet Cooperation2014: NetMundial international Internet governance proposalExamples of popular Internet services:1990: IMDb Internet movie database1995: Amazon.com online retailer1995: eBay online auction and shopping1995: Craigslist classified advertisements1996: Hotmail free web-based e-mail1997: Babel Fish automatic translation1998: Google Search1998: Yahoo! Clubs (now Yahoo! Groups)1998: PayPal Internet payment system1999: Napster peer-to-peer file sharing2001: BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing2001: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia2003: LinkedIn business networking2003: Myspace social networking site2003: Skype Internet voice calls2003: iTunes Store2003: 4Chan Anonymous image-based bulletin board2003: The Pirate Bay, torrent file host2004: Facebook social networking site2004: Podcast media file series2004: Flickr image hosting2005: YouTube video sharing2005: Reddit link voting2005: Google Earth virtual globe2006: Twitter microblogging2007: WikiLeaks anonymous news and information leaks2007: Google Street View2007: Kindle, e-reader and virtual bookshop2008: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud(EC2)2008: Dropbox cloud-based file hosting2008: Encyclopedia of Life, a collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all living species2008: Spotify, a DRM-based music streaming service2009: Bing search engine2009: Google Docs, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, form, and data storage service2009: Kickstarter, a threshold pledge system2009: Bitcoin, a digital currency2010: Instagram, photo sharing andsocial networking2011: Google+, social networking2011: Snapchat, photo sharing2012: Coursera, massive open online coursesFurther information: Timeline of popular Internet services

General history

Internet governance

Politicization of the Internet

Use and culture

History of web technologies

Historiography

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Last edited 7 days ago by Tom.Reding

Structure of the Internet

Home › Structure of the Internet

The Structure of the Internet is a collection of many computer networks and individual computer units interconnected via routers. Each fragment of a computer network is able to act independently.
The structure of the Internet allows to substitute dead connection with another, which does not disable the network from the Internet. If, one of our routers is damaged or turned off, his duties will assume immediately another.
The entire network will work without a router that has failed (figure below). This rule has been adopted since the beginning of the history of the Internet.
Among the network of computers, there are two known types: servers and clients. A server is a computer that provides its resources with other computers on the network. The client is a computer that uses the resources located on servers.

The Structure of the Internet is based on a set of protocols, that allows a hit in its original form data from one network to another. Internet protocol, depending on its structure is responsible for such activities as:
- validation of sending data,
- traffic control information.

The Internet Protocol Suite, TCP/IP, is a suite of protocols used for communication over the internet. The TCP/IP model was created after the OSI 7 layer model for two major reasons. First, the foundation of the Internet was built using the TCP/IP suite and through the spread of the World Wide Web and Internet, TCP/IP has been preferred. Second, a project researched by the Department of Defense (DOD) consisted of creating the TCP/IP protocols. The DOD’s goal was to bring international standards which could not be met by the OSI model. Since the DOD was the largest software consumer and they preferred the TCP/IP suite, most vendors used this model rather then the OSI.

The TCP/IP model, similar to the OSI model, is comprised of layers. The OSI has seven layers and the TCP/IP model has four or five layers depending on different preferences. Some people use the Application, Transport, Internet and Network Access layers. Others split the Network Access layer into the Physical and Data Link components.

Application layer is comparable to the application, presentation, and session layers of the OSI model all combined into one. It provides a way for applications to have access to networked services. This layer also contains the high level protocols. The main issue with this layer is the ability to use both TCP1 and UDP2 protocols. For example TFTP3 uses UDP because usually on a LAN4 the physical links are short enough to ensure quick and reliable packet delivery without many errors. SMTP5 instead uses TCP because of the error checking capabilities. Since we consider our email important information we would like to ensure a safe delivery.

Transport layer acts as the delivery service used by the application layer. Again the two protocols used are TCP and UDP. The choice is made based on the application’s transmission reliability requirements. The transport layer also handles all error detection and recovery. It uses checksums, acknowledgements, and timeouts to control transmissions and end to end verification. Unlike the OSI model, TCP/IP treats reliability as an end-to-end problem.

Internet layer is responsible for routing and delivery of data and is the key component of this architecture. It allows communication across networks of the same and different types and carries out translations to deal with dissimilar data addressing schemes. It inject packets into any network and deliver them to the destination independently to one another. Because the path through the network is not predetermined, the packets may be received out of order. The upper layers are responsible for the reordering of the data. This layer can be compared to the network layer of the OSI model. IP and ARP6 are the major protocols used at this layer.

Network access layer is a combination of the Data Link and Physical layers of the OSI model which consists of the actual hardware. This includes wires, network interface cards, etc. Other related details within this layer are connectors, signal strength, and wavelength along with various others. It will use the required LAN operating algorithms, such as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect (CMSA/CD)7 or IBM Token Passing8 etc. and is responsible for placing the data within a frame. The frame format is dependent on the system being used, for example Ethernet LAN, Frame relay9, etc. The frame is the package that holds the data, in the same way as an envelope holds a letter. The frame holds the hardware address of the host and checking algorithms for data integrity. This layer has actually not been specified in details because it depends on which technology is being used such as Ethernet. So freedom is given to this layer as far as implementation is concerned.

IP (Internet Protocol) is a network protocol for transmitting data corresponding to different networks of computers. The IP number is presented as the number of units individuals assigned to a single computer or individuals to a network of computers, used to identify the unit. IP address is not assigned to a physical computer, and can be changed at every entrance to the Internet.
The current standard “IPV4″ is usually separated into 4 tuples or bytes, such as 171.154.188.76, as a “dotted decimal”. What this means is that if we are to navigate the Internet to this IP address for some reason, then our network ard will send out “packets” with that number in them, and a process called “routing” will send those packets to that Internet address.

IPv6 is the second version of the Internet Protocol to be used generally across the virtual world. One of the main upgrades in IPv6 is in the number of addresses available for networked devices. For example, each mobile phone or other kind of electronic device can have its own address. IPv6 allows 3.4×1038 addresses. This is mainly due to the number of bits in each protocol. IPv4 addresses have 32 bits in them and so allow a maximum of four billion addresses. Version 6 addresses have 128 bits.

However, IPv4 is still the protocol of choice for most of the Internet. The transition will be a steady one, and IPv6 is the future of Internet addressing, mainly because industry experts believe that they are close to running out of available addresses altogether.

The most important part of the Internet is routing. The device which is responsible for routing is a router. We can also use a desktop equipped with the appropriate software for the routing.
If we accept a model, that the Internet is collection of smaller networks linked together in many different places, then the process of routing, or sending Internet packets around the Internet is quite simple.

A host/device, can only send messages within its own network. The Internet and the networks grow in same time, but we must remember that in the past we were using only modems to communication and they acted as gateways. Even today if you are on, for example, the Telus network, then you must go through one of the Telus Internet gateways to see the rest of the Internet. Even to get out of your home network, you must go through your router to get out of your house. This process of Internet datagram movement is called routing.

Each datagram has a source IP address, and a destination IP address in the IP header information. As a datagram is passed to the gateway (each host knows who its gateway is), it follows rules as to where it should go. Simply put, the router, or gateway looks at the packet and says “is this destination IP address in my network, or should I send it off to my gateway?”. Obviously there is much more to it, but at the simplest level, that is really what happens in a “static routing table”. There are, of course extremely complex rules automatically set by protocols such as border gate protocol (BDP) by higher level upstream providers (Telus, Sprint, etc.) since your destination IP address may not just be upstream, but may also be downstream somewhere too.

All this talk about numbers is great for computers, but for us humans… not really.
It is much easier for us to remember a name like mallowcollege.ie than 81.17.250.47.
Names are also usefull incase we do something like change all the numbers on the Internet and make them really hard to remember as will be the as IPV6 is slowly introduced. IP addresses change, but names are supposed to be more static changing only when there is a human reason for it.

When it all began, in 1970, all of the computers on the network aware of its existence, and so on, through a text file named HOSTS.TXT.
This was maintained by one Network Information Centre (NIC). Changes were emailed to NIC when a new host was added, or one was deleted, and clients ftped the file to their own host to get the latest version. When ARPAnet moved to TCP/IP, the population of the Internet exploded, and this scheme no longer worked.


To solve this problem a database was created called the Domain Name System. The idea was simple. Computer has a number, and the DNS system lets you look up that number to find another device on the Internet.
The stucture of the hierarchy is that there is one “root” point, and several nodes coming off of that root point called “top level domains”. The root point is not a single computer, but several core networks possibly separately corporately owned, but it is simpler to imagine it as a single point.

The next level of ISPs are tier 2. They are smaller, mostly regionally based, and they tend to provide ISP links between larger organizations. Tier 2 providers have peering agreements with the larger, tier 1 providers, but generally don't peer with each other. Examples of tier 2 providers include Level3, Sprint, and XO Communications.

The smallest level of ISPs are tier 3 providers. These providers generally supply Internet connectivity for homes and small businesses. They are regionally based and often peer with larger tier 2 and tier 1 providers to allow global Internet connectivity. Examples of tier 3 providers are Time Warner Cable, Verizon Fios, Google Fiber and Cablevision Optimum.

1. Pornography–Warping the minds of youth

Repeatedly viewing pornography, especially from a young age, can radically shape one’s sexual attitudes and beliefs. Frequent exposures to sexually explicit material is closely linked to more permissive attitudes about sex, such as having multiple sexual partners, “one night stands,” cynicism about the need for affection between sexual partners, casual sexual relations with friends, and even mimicking behaviors seen in pornography.

2. Sexting–The unsafe ‘safe sex’

Sexting is sending or receiving nude or partially nude photos or videos through the Internet or cell phones. When teens engage in this risky behavior, many things can go wrong. These images are easy to forward on to others. At times, these images can be considered “child pornography,” and some teens have already been given felony charges.

3. Cyberbullying–The mean way kids treat each other online

Bullying happens on both the playground and in the digital world. Hurtful words are exchanged. Rumors start easily and spread quickly. Profiles and e-mails are hacked. And these types of activities are common today:

4. Predators–Those seeking to ensnare our children

The Internet is a perfect forum to meet new people, but some with malicious intent can use it to “befriend” your child. Internet predators are expert manipulators, able to foster a relationship of dependence with a teenager. Most prey on a teen’s desire to be liked, their desire for romance, or their sexual curiosity. Often a predator “grooms” a child through flattery, sympathy, and by investing time in their online relationship. These can then turn into offline relationships or, in extreme cases, opportunities for kidnapping or abduction.

5. Gaming–More risks of exposure to sexual media and interactions

While online and console games can be very fun, educational, and interactive, there are also hidden dangers. Much of the content of some games include sexual content, violence, and crude language. Plus, Internet-connected games enable kids to interact with strangers, some of which can be bad influences or mean your kids harm.

6. Social Networks–Redefining privacy

Social networks like Facebook are very popular online activities. But parents should be aware of the image their teens are projecting as well as the influences they are absorbing online.

7. YouTube–’Broadcast yourself’ culture means anything goes

YouTube is the world’s largest video sharing website. But because anyone can upload anything to YouTube, often videos can break the Community Guidelines for YouTube, and even those that do not can still be full of sexual innuendo, provocative content, and foul language.