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LESSON 2 :
RULES OF NETIQUETTE
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TOPICS:
 ONLINE SECURITY, SAFETY, AND
ETHICS
 INTERNET THREATS
 PROTECTING REPUTATIONS ONLINE
 COPYRIGHT
 CONTEXTUALIZED ONLINE SEARCH
AND RESEARCH SKILLS
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LESSON OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lessons, the students should be able to:

1. Consider one’s and others’ safety when sharing

information using the internet;
2. Consider one’s and other’s reputation when using
Internet;
3. Determine and avoid the dangers of the Internet;
4. Be responsible in the use of social networking sites; and
5. Browse the Internet efficiently and the properly through
proper referencing.
LESSON MOTIVATION 4

Most of us used the Internet everyday. Sometimes, you do not pay

attention on how much information we share online. Bellow is a
questionnaire about how much information you have shared so far.
Put a check (√) under Shared or Not Shared.
HOW SAFE ARE YOU?
TYPES OF INFORMATION SHARED NOT SHARED
1. First name
2. Last name
3. Middle name
4. Current and previous school(s)
5. Your cellphone number
6. The name of your mother and father
7. The name of your siblings
8. Your address
9. Your home phone number
10. Your birthday
 ONLINE SAFETY AND SECURITY
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The Internet, truly, is a power tool. It can be

used to promote your business, gain new
friends, and stay in touch with the old ones. It
is also a source of entertainment through
games, online communities, and everything in
between. But like most things in this world,
there is always the “other side of the coin.”
The Internet is one of the most dangerous
places, especially if you do not know what
you are doing with it.
 Let us go back to the “How Safe Are You?” test. Let us visit each item
and see how risky it is to share them. 6

TYPE OF RISKS
INFORMATION
1. First name There is a risk in sharing your first name. Chances
are, a hacker may already know plenty of stuff about
you even if you only give out your first name. Likewise,
you cannot just walk in a room and start introducing
yourself to everyone. You do not know whom you can
come across with.
2. Last name If sharing your first name is a small risk, having both
your first and last is more risky. You will be vulnerable
to being searched for using search engines, include
image search. Matching a name with a paste is a
modus to several cybercrimes like identity thief.
3. Middle Sharing your middle name alone is probably not the
name most risky of this shared information, but sharing your
full name would be.
 TYPES OF RISKS 7
INFORMATION
Cont…
4. Current and Most people who steal identities study their subject.
previous They can use this information for verification
school(s) purposes.

5. Your cellphone Your cellphone number should never be posted over

number the Internet. The Internet is a public place. It is the
same as posting your number on a billboard. You
would not want strangers to text or call you, or worst,
pretend that they are someone else.

6. The name of Risky, yet not as risky as posting their full names,
your mother and especially your mother’s maiden name. In fact, you
father may have already encountered many websites that
require your mother’s maiden name as an answer to
a secret question whenever you lose your password.
 TYPES OF RISKS
INFORMATION 8

Cont…
7. Name of your Disclosing this is a huge risk. Strangers may pretend
siblings or use their identity to dupe you.

8. Your address Hopefully, you answered “no” to this one. Giving the
internet your number is one thing; giving them your
address is a whole other level. It would be much
easier for criminals to find you.

9. Your home phone This shared information is more risky than sharing
number your personal phone number. Scams usually use
this information to deceive you, one of which is when
a stranger pretends to know your parents or
pretends to be you.
10. Your birthday Letting people know your birthday is probably a must
if you want to get as many gifts as possible. But
having it in your profile makes you vulnerable to
identity theft.
 9
The Internet is defined as information
superhighway. This means that anyone has
access to this highway, can place information,
and can grab that information. Any information,
even things that you have set privately, can be
accessed one way or another. This is why
social networking sites like Facebook continue
to improve their security features. The threat of
cybercrimes is very real. While you may not
experience the threat now, whatever
information we share today could affect our
future.
 Tips to Stay Safe Online 10

The internet is a public place and it is up

to you to protect yourself. Here are some
tips to help you stay safe when using the
internet.

1. Be mindful of what you share online

and what site you share to.
2. Do not just accept terms and condition;
read it.
Tips to Stay Safe Online
Check out the privacy policy page of a
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3.
websites to learn how the websites handles the
information you share.
4. Know the security features of the social
networking site you use. By keeping your
profile private, search engines will not be able
to scan your profile.
5. Do not share your password with anyone.
6. Avoid logging in to public network\Wi-Fi.
Browsing in “incognito(or private) mode”, a
feature of the browser, will not protect you from
the hacker
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7. Do not talk to strangers whether online or

face to face.
8. Never post anything about a future
vacation. It is similar to posting, “Rob my
house at this date.”
9. Add friends you know in real life.
10. Avoid visiting untrusted websites.
11. Install and update an antivirus software on
your computer. Use only one antivirus
software to avoid conflict
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12. If you have a Wi-Fi at home, make it private

network by adding a password.
13. Avoid downloading anything from untrusted
websites. You are most vulnerable in peer- to
peer downloads (torrents) as the download is
most likely not monitored by the site owner.
14. Buy the software; do not use pirated ones.
15. Do not reply or click links from suspicious
emails.
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Most people would dispute that there is no

such thing as private over the internet and
they may be right. There are hacker who can
find a backdoor even if your profile is already
set to private. You have no control of
whoever is looking at your friend’s screen
whenever they open your profile or chat with
you. You have no control over people getting
access to your friend’s account and seeing
your private stuff.
 Internet Threats 15

Here are some of the threats you should be aware of

when using the internet:

1. MALWARE- stands for malicious software

a. Virus - a malicious program designed to replicate
itself and transfer from one computer to another either
through the internet and local networks or data storage
like flash drives and CDs
b. Worm - a malicious program that transfers from one
computer to another by any types of means. Often, it uses
a computer network to spread itself. For example, the
ILOVEYOU worm (Love Bug Worm) created by a Filipino.
Internet Threats 16

c. Trojan - a malicious program that is

disguised as a useful program but once
downloaded or installed, leaves your PC
unprotected and allows hacker to get your
information.
*Rogue security software- tricks the
user into posing that it is a security
software. It ask the user to pay to improve
his\her security but in reality, they are not
protected at all.
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d. Spyware - a programs that runs in the

background without you knowing it (thus called
“spy”). It has the ability to monitor what you
currently doing and typing though keylogging.
* Keyloggers - used to record the keystroke
done by the users. This is done to steal their
password or any other sensitive information. It can
record email, message, or any information you type
using your keyboard.
e. Adware- a program designed to send you
advertisements, mostly as pop-ups
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2. SPAM – unwanted email mostly from bots or

advertisers. It can be used to send malware.

3. PHISHING - Its goal is acquire sensitive personal

information like passwords and credit card details.
This is done by sending you an email that will
direct the user to visit a website and be asked to
update his/her username, password, credit card,
or personal information.
* Pharming – a more complicated way of
phishing where it exploits the DNS (Domain Name
Service) system.
 PROTECTING REPUTATIONS 19

ONLINE
 In the past, doing something embarrassing was
not much of big deal. It happened; people would
laugh at it, and they would move on.
 Nowadays, embarrassing moments are captured
using any device you could imagine. What is worse is
that people can easily upload it to the Internet, where
it can be stored forever.
 This could impact not only your reputation but
also the people around you.
 What is worse is that people tend to ignore this
fact, and suffer from it later in their life.
PROTECTING REPUTATIONS ONLINE 20

Once you post something over the

Internet, search engines keep them in
their archives for search results. This
makes anything you post to last forever
even if you delete it in your page.
Something you and your friends find it
funny today may be something that could
harm someone’s reputation later. has
been discarded.
PROTECTING REPUTATIONS ONLINE 21

Before hiring, companies do a

background check on the applicant, and
the easiest way to check your
background is to visit pages that are
related to you. Thus, if they find
disreputable information about you, it
may harm your reputation even if this
information has been discarded.
 THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK 22

Here are things you might want to

consider before posting something over the
Internet:

1. Before you post something on the web, ask

these questions to yourself : Would you
want your parents or grandparents to see
it? Would you want your future boss to see
it? Once you post something on the web,
you have no control of who sees your
posts.
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2. Your friends depend on you to

protect their reputation online. Talk
to your friends about this serious
responsibility.

3. Set your post to “private.” In this

way, search engines will not be able
to scan that post.
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4. Avoid using names. Names are

easy for search engines to scan.

5. If you feel that a post can affect

you or other’s reputation, ask the
one who posted it to pull it down or
report it as inappropriate.
 COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
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If you create something ----- an idea, an invention, a

form of literary work, or a research, you have the right
as to how it should be used by others.
This is called intellectual property. In other words,
the copyright law includes your rights over your work,
and anyone who uses it without your consent is
punishable by law.
> Try grabbing any book the browse its first few
page and you ill find a page with a disclaimer with the
words: “No part of this book may be copied,
reproduced…” That is copyright page.
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT… 26

As a responsible user of the Internet, you

have to consider that not everything out there is
free for you to use. Just like your own, contents
that you see from websites have there
respective copyrights. There are several
instances where employees are business
owners face copyrights infringement and are
sentenced to a huge fine due to reckless
copying of materials.
 Here are some tips that could help you
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avoid copyright infringement:

1. UNDERSTAND – copyright protects

literary works, photographs, paintings,
drawings, films, music (and lyrics),
choreography, and sculpture, but It
generally does NOT protect underlying
ideas and facts. This means that you can
express something using your own
words, but you should give credit to the
source.
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2. BE RESPONSIBLE – Even if a material

does not say that it is copyrighted, it is not a
valid defense against copyright. Be
responsible enough to know if something as
a copyright.
3. BE CREATIVE – Ask yourself whether
what you are making is something that
came from you or something made from
somebody else’s creativity. It is important to
add your own creative genius in everything
that will be credited to you.
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4. KNOW THE LAW –

There are some limitations to copyright laws.
For instance in the Philippines, copyrights only
last a lifetime(of the author) plus 50 years.
There also provisions for “fair use” which mean
that an intellectual property maybe use without
a consent as long as it is used in commentaries,
criticisms, search engines, parodies, news
reports, research, library archiving, teaching,
and education. If you have doubts that what you
are doing does not fall under the policy of fair
use, seek permission first.
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Figure 1. Fair Use Logo

Another misconception is that fan-fiction is

not copyright infringement. In reality, it is and
some copyright holders ignore them but they
can opt to use their rights.
ONLINE RESEARCH 31

Have you ever searched the Internet for certain

information where the search engine returned a
different result?
For example, if you were to search for “The
Madonna” as the representation of Mary in the form
of an art, you would probably use the keyword,
“Madonna” to search for it on the net. But if you use
the same keyword nowadays, you are more likely to
stumble upon “Madonna,” the music artist instead.
And if you used “The Madonna” to search for “The
Madonna” in the first place, you will be directed in
the right place.
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Figure 2. Google search results when you use “Madonna” as your

keyword
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Figure 3. Google Search results hen using “The Madonna” as

your keyword
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 The information the we need is more

likely already in the internet. It is just a matter
of how to look for it and how to use
information for the most credible source.
Here are some tips in conducting online
research:

1. HAVE A QUESTION IN MIND.

Focus on a question you want answered. If it is a
series of questions, with start with one. Never search
everything on one go.
2. NARROW IT DOWN. 35

Search engines like google, bing, or yahoo

use several filters to determine the most
appropriate result for you. This search engines
use your previous search history and your
geographical location, and send you the result
which is the most related to you.
Try to search “Weather” and most search
engines would return the weather conditions of
where you are. But if all of this filters fail, you
should remember to narrow down what you are
searching for.
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2. NARROW IT DOWN.

For example, if you were to look for

Tom Sawyer, the animation series, you
would better use the keywords “Tom
Sawyer animation” rather than just “Tom
Sawyer.”
Another example is if you were to look
for science research experiments, it
would be better to include what branch of
science it is or what type of study it is.
3. ADVANCED SEARCH. 37

The best way to filter information you get from

search engines is by using the advanced search.
This will allow you to filter out information you do
not need.
In Google, simply search a word like you would
normally do, then click the advanced search option on
the option button located on the upper right corner of
the page.

Figure 4. Google’s Advanced

Search Option
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Figure 5. Screenshot of Google’s Advanced Search

 In Microsoft search engine, Bing, you can use certain39
keywords and symbols for your advanced search:
SYMBOL FUNCTION

+ Finds web page that contain all the terms that are
preceded by the + symbol; allows you to include
terms that are usually ignored

“” Finds the exacts words in a phrase

() Finds or excludes web page that contain a group
of words
AND or & Finds web page that contain all the terms or
phrases
NOT or - Excludes web page that contain a term or phrase
OR or | Finds web page that contain either of the terms or
phrases
 By default, all searches are AND searches. 40

 You must capitalized the NOT and OR functions. Otherwise,

Bing will ignore them as stop words, which are commonly
occurring words and numbers that are omitted to speed a
full-text search.

 Stop words and all punctuation marks, except for the

symbols noted in this topic, are ignored unless they are
surrounded by quotation mark or preceded by the + symbol.

 Only the first 10 terms are used to get search results.

 Similar to the MDAS, whenever you solve an arithmetic 41

problem (where multiplication is computed first over

division, addition, and subtraction), term grouping and
boolean functions are supported in the following
preferred order:
1. parentheses ( )
2. quotation marks “ ”
3. NOT + -
4. AND &
5. OR |

 Because OR is the function with the lowest precedence,

enclose OR terms in parentheses when combined with
the other operators in a search.
4. LOOK FOR A CREDIBLE SOURCE. Some wikis, 42

though filled with updated information, are not a credible

source. This is due to the fact that anyone can edit its
content. When using wikis, check out the link of the
cited text (indicated by superscript number) to be
navigated to the footnote where the list of sources is
located. Click the source of the information and see if it
is credible.

Figure 6. References found at the bottom of every Wikipedia page contain

links to the entry’s sources of information.
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 The more credible are scientific journals,44

established news and magazine websites, online

encyclopedias, and scholarly databases.
You can also check the URL of a website if it
ends with a .org, .gov, and .edu. A website that
ends with .com is intended to be a commercial
websites and may be slanted to promoting a
product or services. You should consider the
intent of the of the information on the web page.
In most cases, .edu websites are best for
research as a government and organization
websites may have a tendency to make
information favorable to them.
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Unfortunately, not all websites follow the

standards in domain name conventions. Some
sites use the suffixes like .com loosely; some
sites are not credible even though use a .edu
suffix.
Another tip to validate if the information is
correct is to have multiple sources of
information. Having two or more websites will
tell you whether the information is reliable or
not.
5. GIVE CREDIT.
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If you are going to use the information from a source
for educational purposes, give credit to the original author
of the page or information. To properly cite a reference,
you may use the format below:

Name of the person or organization (the author of the information). Title

of the home page in italics (title is shown in title bar but is sometimes
missing or unrelated). URL. Date last seen
EXAMPLES:

Lapiz, Adrian Harold L. “Oleander’s Fun Facts about Bananas.”

http://oleander.penz.com/random/bananalove.htm. Viewed on September 7,
2015

“Accounting: What you should know.” Jargon Online Network.

http://www.jargononline.com/accounting101.html. Viewed on April 13,
2015
 KEY TERMS 47

 CYBERCRIME – a crime committed or assisted through the

use of the internet

 PRIVACY POLICY – tells the user how the website will handle
its data

 MALWARES – stands for MALicious softWARE

 VIRUS – a malicious program designed to replicate itself and

transfer from one computer to another.

 WORM – a malicious program that transfers from one

computer to another by any type of means
 TROJAN – a malicious program that is disguised as a useful
48

program but once downloaded or installed, leaves your PC

unprotected and allows hackers to get your information

 SPYWARE – a program that runs in the background without

you knowing it. It has the ability to monitor what you are
currently doing and typing through keylogging.

 ADWARE – a program designed to send you

advertisements, mostly pop-ups

 SPAM – unwanted email mostly from bots or advertisers

 PHISHING – acquires sensitive personal information like

passwords and credit card details
 PHARMING – a more complicated way of phishing49

where it exploits the DNS (Domain Name Service)

system

 COPYRIGHT – a part of the law, wherein you have

the rights to your work, and anyone who uses it
without your consent is punishable by law.

 FAIR USE – means that an intellectual property

may be used without consent as long as it is used
in commentaries, criticisms, search engines,
parodies, news reports, research, library archiving,
teaching, and education.