Own Your Space Teen Book All Chapters - Preface

Preface
Preface
Linda McCarthy was inspired to write the first edition of Own Your Space when
the two teenagers in her house managed to destroy what she thought was a pretty
darn secure home computer network. Linda was more inspired when she realized
that Douglas and Eric weren’t looking to break things or even trying to impress her
when they brought down her home network. They were just using the Internet the
way normal teenagers do.
Since then, this book has become a collaborative project to provide free security
learning to teens and families online. Contributors to the 2010 edition include
Denise Weldon-Siviy, a mother of four, teacher, and writer. Other experts we are
adding to the team include specialists in firewalls, networking, and wireless sys-
tems, as well as advanced Mac and Firefox users. Our design specialists and anime
artists tie these concepts together in teen friendly form. We also have several teens
on the project and are adding new teens continually to keep the project current and
fresh. Without that teen involvement, this book and project would not exist.
For now, and for later. Like malware, that changes every day, we plan to update
this online version as needed to keep protecting our readers. Computer security is a
moving target. The eBook format allows us to run along side.
It was very important to us that this book be made available to ALL teens and
families in need of security learning. For that reason, this book is made available
for free online under the Creative Commons Licensing (creativecommons.org).
This project is made available through corporate sponsors and would not be pos-
sible without their support.
viii
Own Your Space
Who This Book Is For
This is a book for every teen and an essential resource for every parent and teacher.
Especially though, this is a book for the computer savvy, keyboard-comfy teens
who use the Net every day and want to know how to secure their systems, preserve
their Net lifestyles, and protect their data. This book provides important details

to keep those teens, their privacy, their identities, and their reputations safe in
cyberspace.
In short, this book is for normal teenagers—like you. We realize that you under-
stand quite a bit about computers, probably a lot more than your parents. We also
know from our own teens where the gaps in your computer knowledge tend to fall.
We wrote this book to address those gaps.
Because we know your time is limited, we’ve kept this short and tried to focus
on the important aspects of security. We also kept it interesting by including real
examples and case studies from real teenagers just like you.
Even if you are a power user, this book is still for you! Sure, you’ll know a num-
ber of the details we cover. Still, we are willing to bet that you’ll find a number
of details you weren’t aware of before. And you’ll certainly find a lot of detailed
information you can share with a less enlightened friend, sibling, or parent.
Who This Book Is Still For, Just Not Quite 100% For
While this is a book full of details, it isn’t a book full of numbered instructions. We
wanted to write a book you’d want to sit down and read, not another 400-page
technical manual. To any Mac users, we apologize for including only screenshots
based on Windows 7. Much as we wanted to include all variations, that just wasn’t
practical for this edition. We will, however, be adding an appendix just for Mac
users soon. Still, most of this book applies every bit as much to Mac users as
everyone else.
Preface
ix
What You’ll Learn
This book is designed for any teen who is
 • In fear of drive-by downloads of nasty adware, spyware, and viruses
 • Anxious about scareware and ransomware
 • Trying to stay safe on social networking sites
 • Concerned about online predators and identity thieves
 • Scattering secrets to the wind in favorite hot spots

 • Shopping online without protection
 • Unsure of the risks about webcams and sexting
 • Dealing with cyberbullies at home or in school
 • Blogging alone and in the dark
Got a thought? We’ve love to hear your feedback on this book. Just send it to

Help save a forest and educate everyone in your school at the same time. Let your
friends, family, and classmates know that this book is available for free on many
corporate sponsor sites, as well as on MySpace (myspace.com/ownyourspace),
Facebook (facebook.com/ownyourspace.net), and at Own Your Space
(ownyourspace.net).