Usually when someone talks about online technology and security, you expect them to be talking about things like firewalls and intrusion detection and things related to the protection of a computer or a network from an attack through the internet. And usually, in my line of work, that's exactly what I'm talking about. But this time, I'm talking about something a little different...

This week, a co-worker told me that his son's high school was on lockdown due to a suspicious man seen on campus, possibly carrying a large knife. This fellow staffer, usually a pretty calm man, was a little concerned about the safety and security of his son. In fact, he was corresponding back and forth with him using text messages in order to know more about what was going on at the school. His son told him that things were pretty much chaotic, with some of the students even ignoring the lockdown and leaving the campus right in the middle of the trouble.

I told him: "online high school kicks butt". My oldest daughter, Nicole, has transferred from her traditional high school to an online program, Penn Foster High School. It was good to know that my daughter was safe at home while other parents certainly had to be concerned about their teenagers who were in the care of school teachers and administrators during the crisis.

In the end, everything worked out fine. I didn't get to find out for sure if there was, indeed, any sort of real threat on the school's campus, but nobody got hurt and soon thereafter the lockdown was lifted.

Yeah, it was scary, at least a little bit. And thankfully, my daughter now benefits from the security of home while earning her diploma -- an added measure of security and peace of mind for me, thanks to internet technology.