Critical thinking needed!

The filter between everybody's ears is increasingly beating out tech filters in importance. "The fastest-growing computer-security problem isn't viruses or other traditional malicious programs, and it can't be entirely defeated by using security software or by buying a Mac. It's called 'social engineering,' and it consists of tactics that try to fool users into giving up sensitive financial data that criminals can use to steal their money and even their identities," writes the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg. He offers three tips to help people avoid social-engineering schemes including those of "phishers." Another version, which has less impact on computers and more impact on people, is social influencing – how people influence each other. It can be both positive and negative. A more negative version is manipulation, the darkest form of which is called by law enforcement people "grooming," what sexual predators do to gain their victims' confidence. Teaching our kids about social influencing and engineering is an increasingly important part of parenting. For more on these, see "How social influencing works" and "How to recognize grooming."