A survey by Trend Micro suggests that British teens might be tempted by illegal online methods to make money. One in three teens (aged 12 – 18) admitted they would consider hacking or spying on people online if it meant they could make some fast cash. The survey exposes lack of "e-morals" at a time where kids are spending a significant amount of their time online.

The survey, which polled 1,000 teens and parents across the UK, revealed that kids don’t appear to have any sense of netiquette when it comes to their online behavior. It found:

• Over one in 10 teens thought it was ‘cool’ or ‘funny’ to pretend to be someone else online
• One in seven 12 to 13 year olds have actually done this
• Over four out of ten teens have hacked into another person’s profile to read emails or looked at bank account details or logged onto another persons social networking profile
• One in three teens have admitted to being tempted to try hacking or spying on the internet to make money
• Boys it would seem, were almost twice as likely as girls to log into someone's social networking site
• Girls were up to three times more likely than boys to enter into someone’s online shop or bank accounts without the owner knowing.

Tips for protecting your kids online

• Keep all computers in common areas.
• Agree to time limits for using the Internet and all social devices.
• Keep software security up-to-date.
• Talk with your kids about entering personal information online.
• Run a manual scan with your software security and check browser history.
• Set profiles on social networking sites to private.
• Encourage children to be respectful of others.
• Teach children to have multiple passwords that are NOT associated with names, nicknames or commonly found information over the net.
• Most importantly, keep informed about the latest outbreaks and dangers on the Internet.