MUMBAI, INDIA: McAfee, Inc., a provider in security service, on Thursday released a new research survey that stated that about two-thirds of mothers of teens in the United States are just as, or more, concerned about their teenagers' online safety.

Most of the moms feel that threatening emails or solicitation by online sexual predators are as grave an issue as drunk driving (62 per cent) and experimenting with drugs (65 per cent).

The fear is supported by the McAfee study, which revealed that 52 per cent of teens have given out personal information to someone online they don't know offline, with 34 per cent of online teen girls having given out a photograph or a physical description about themselves to someone they don't know, said a press release.

"As a father of three I certainly worry about what my kids may do and encounter online," said Dave DeWalt, McAfee president and chief executive officer. "While progress has been made over the past decade to combat online dangers, they remain very real for our kids."

He said education is a key part of the McAfee Initiative to Fight Cybercrime because we the organization knows that informed parents would mean safer kids online.

The research was conducted by Harris Interactive for McAfee that reported that more than 1,000 U.S. moms of online teens aged 13-17 and online teens aged 13-17, offers numerous insights into moms' fears and teenagers' behaviors on the Internet.

The study marks a new education initiative by McAfee to help moms keep up with the latest online dangers, it added.

The research findings: 58 per cent of moms think the government is not doing enough to keep kids safe online, 32 per cent of teens clear the browser history to hide what they do online from their parents and 34 per cent of teen girls have given out photos or physical descriptions of themselves to strangers.

McAfee also announced the appointment of Tracy Mooney, a Chicago mother of three, as the industry's first chief cyber security mom, the release added.

"There are times I've felt overwhelmed trying to keep up with all the new things my kids are doing online," said Mooney.

"There's a lot of information out there, parents just need to know where to go to find it. Kids will always want to break the rules and stretch boundaries and you have to give them their space and privacy," he added.

Do you think the vigil at home would prevent children from net abuse and thus cyber crimes? Do you think the education system is failing to educate children about the sensible use of Internet?