Protect your Kids from Net Nasties

I was asked by some friends to help them with a problem relating to the internet. I had previously setup their home for wireless networking, allowing shared internet access for 3 computers via a nice Buffalo access point and an ADSL connection from the ISP Eclipse. The home network was locked down by both encryption and MAC addressing filtering which kept their network private from casual hackers.

Their problem lies in the fact that having multiple accesses to an internet connection allows their young children of 7 & 5 to have their own PC, running Windows XP and Internet explorer. Already their child had searched for 'crazy frog' (the ringtone cartoon character) on google and had been presented with a picture of a naked Frenchman thru one of the links!

Both their kids wanted to research homework, their own interests and of course games and toys, while not being victim to unpleasant content. Could I help?

Although you can set levels in Google to limit the search content and use the content settings in Internet explorer, the parents wanted something that provided rock solid content control that they could administer and have a log of what the children had searched for or tried to access.

I found them a great solution at www.surfsafe.co.uk . The guys at surfsafe keep a ‘black list’ of unsuitable content and thus have a database of all ‘net nasties’.

To use the service you sign up via the website (£3 a month) and download and install the ‘surfsafe’ software. To setup access levels you login to the ‘surfsafe’ web site, select each Windows XP account and setup the access level based on a system similar to rating cinematic films IE U/PG/18. Also, the user, via the website can set individual users access permissions based on categories of content, so for example your child could access the category ‘Search Engines’ but not have access to sexual content they found in a search from the site. It is all very simple to configure and designed for a non technical person.

In practice, the surfsafe software automatically loads and displays an icon in the system tray when a user logs into the computer. The user can browse the net as per usual, however when unsuitable content is requested thru the browser a ‘blocked’ message is displayed, then an entry is written to the online log so the ‘parent’ knows that ‘little jimmy’ tried to access a net nasty….

Surfsafe works very well and as a package is very good value, a hidden benefit is that it seems to block adverts and is a valuable tool in avoiding spyware as most ‘net nasty’ content is riddled with such software. The user can granulise the access rights so children can get suitable access no matter what their age and adult users can still access the content they desire. It’s a cool service and at £3 a month it’s a snap for all parents.

Hope this helps!