If you’re looking for a safe browser for Internet commerce, PayPal says you should stay away from Apple’s Safari.

In an interview with Michael Barrett, PayPal’s chief information security officer, the focus was on two specific features: phishing filters and EV-SSL support. Both Firefox and IE7 have phishing filters built in and turned on by default. IE7 has support built in for Extended Validation (EV-SSL), which shows a green address bar for authenticated sites; Firefox and Opera will in upcoming versions.

Safari has no phishing filter and Apple does not participate in the CA/Browser Forum, the group that developed EV-SSL.

“Apple, unfortunately, is lagging behind what they need to do, to protect their customers,” Barrett said. “Our recommendation at this point, to our customers, is use Internet Explorer 7 or 8 when it comes out, or Firefox 2 or Firefox 3, or indeed Opera.”

Barrett went further, echoing the thrust of VeriSign’s No More Abandoned Carts campaign, that the green bar instills confidence in users, claiming that IE7 users are noticeably less likely to abandon the login process. Confidence isn’t the same thing as security, but it’s not nothing. VeriSign says that similar effects have been observed by Overstock.com, DebtHelp.com, and now Scribendi.

When the kids were little you installed safety outlets, put a lock on the knife drawer, and padded sharp-edged furniture. Now that they’re older you can get rid of those old gadgets–and install a whole new round of safety tools on the computer. Parental control software lets you steer kids away from bad Web sites and bad choices.

There are plenty of different products for different parenting styles. You can lock the kids out of adult Web sites, control when they can use the computer, and limit their instant messaging to parentally-approved pals. Or you can eschew limits but log their every activity silently. Many of the products can send violation notifications while you’re away from home and even let you tweak parental control settings remotely. Which one’s right for you? Check out PC Magazine’s roundup of 12 Tools to Keep Kids Safe Online.

You have probably heard all about it in the news and in magazines: Hundreds of crimes are occurring on a daily basis because predators are taking advantage of children using the Internet. Children tend to be easily fooled because they are so trusting, which allows them to become vulnerable to criminals. Here are some basic rules that you and your children should follow as a means of promoting safety when using the Internet. Everyone is capable of falling prey to these crimes, so everyone can take advantage of these rules no matter the age.

1. Communicate:

If anything should ever happen to make your child feel uneasy, he or she should let someone know immediately no matter where they are. This could be a teacher, a principle, a librarian, a guardian or a parent.

2. Have Your Child Ask Permission:

Train your children to ask your permission before disclosing any personal information online. Teach them about how extremely dangerous it is for them to give their personal information out to anyone online without your knowledge and approval. Children should never give their information out without your permission, not to a website, not to an online friend. No matter how innocent it seems, your child should absolutely approach you first.

3. Be Involved:

Children need to understand that they should never accept a meeting with anyone that they met online no matter how innocent it might seem. If you think the situation might be okay, you should definitely talk to the parent of the stranger, and you absolutely MUST accompany your child at the time of the meeting and NEVER leave your child alone. The more involved you are in your child’s activities the safer they will be.

4. Set Ground Rules:

Children should always ask an adult before they do anything that is significant online. For example, before opening an odd e-mail or downloading or installing a piece of software. These things can be dangerous, because there is no telling whether or not they will compromise your child’s personal information without closer inspection. Your children need to learn that they must always ask an adult before they do anything online. If you have to block Internet access when you are not at home in order to enforce this, by all means do so. Teachers should following the same idea at school, making the Internet inaccessible when students should not be using it.

5. Enforce Your Restrictions:

Most importantly, teach your child the importance and seriousness of the restrictions you create. If your child is not taking all of your rules seriously, he or she may already be putting himself or herself in danger. These rules cannot be among the ones that your children decide to ignore, because breaking an Internet safety rule can be dangerous, or even fatal! Reinforcement through repetition of these rules is important so that our children will come to understand them thoroughly. Otherwise, there is no telling what dark things are lurking online just waiting for the right child to come along. You are your child’s best protector, so act responsibly now and do whatever it takes to make sure your child stays safe on the Internet.