Ask Parry - Is sexting a real problem or over-hyped?

Parry: I received a call from my child's school. They said a student had been involved in sexting and wanted to talk to the parents. My son is 12. Is this for real?
Shocked parent

Dear Shocked: Sexting is when young people take, share and keep sexual or nude/sexually provocative images and videos with others. No one really knows how often it happens, but school administrators reach out to us daily looking fo help. Sexual precocious behavor or teens and older preteens isn't new, but their ability to share it with the world is. Conservative kids, wild kids, sexually-active and sexually-inexperienced alike are finding it easy to take and share a sexual or nude image or video with others. Often they do it on a whim, on a dare or to get the attention of someone they like, or the entire football team. Most frequently is is take for or at the request of someone they like or are dating. And sometimes they are pressured into taking a sext to avoid having to do more. Learn more about sexting, the law and what is really going on at WiredSafety.org's sexting and sextortion pages.

Ask Parry: How worried do I need to be about the Sony PlayStation data breach?

"Worried" is too strong a word. I prefer "concerned." The Sony data breach is the largest ofrecord, to my knowledge. More than 100 million users had their data compromised. The levelof concern depends on what data they had about you. Email addresses? Not too worried. Most spammers have those. As long as you don't fall for any scams directed at you by email that also include your name, account number, etc. that the hackers may also have obtained, you sould be okay.
If you lost your security questions, again, not a huge problem if you use different ones on each site or change the other sites' security questions right away.
If you are among the unluckier group, your financial data may have been compromied. YOur credit card or other financial account info may now be in the hackers' hands.
We created a section fo the WiredSafety site to address questions about the Sony breach. Contact the reporting agencies, learn from our site and the FTV.gov ID theft pages, watch your accounts, notify your credit card companies and change you account info on other sites.
But more than anything else, do not panic.