Internet Safety and Security

When you are trying to keep your family and children safe on the internet, one of the best resources you can have is a good internet filter. Now, you may have an internet blocker already installed on your computer, but how truly effective is your internet blocking software? Honestly, what is the point of having the software if there are loopholes in internet blockers?

 There are a couple of key differences in internet filters and internet blockers, and one of these differences is the mere fact that loopholes and bypasses exist in most internet blocking programs. Internet blocking programs generally tend to focus on keywords and vague guidelines, like site content ratings that are similar to television and film ratings.

 However, many websites and end users have found ways to slip through the structure set up by internet blockers. For example, sites can now mask their keywords, and the majority of websites – particularly those that contain sexual or violent content – simply are not rated. In addition, many computer-savvy web surfers are now using what is called a “proxy,” which is basically a website that acts as a server for blocked sites, to bypass internet blockers. Because the internet blocker reads the proxy as a reliable and safe page, it doesn’t realize that illicit content is being accessed through that portal.

Other loopholes in internet blockers can be found in the software itself. Unfortunately, many of these programs can be uninstalled very easily, and many of them use passwords to manage the account. Most web development professionals will tell you that passwords are an increasingly unreliable means of security – they are easily guessed, can be changed by someone who only has minimal personal knowledge of you, and oftentimes can be bypassed altogether. Additionally, most internet blockers that use passwords do so because they allow the administrator to set various levels of access for different users. There is a huge loophole inherent in this system – blocked users simply log off of the blocked account, and log on as a different user.

Internet filters work in slightly different ways. While these kind of programs also scan pages for keywords and content ratings, they use many different filtering techniques, and their guidelines are often more strict about what is acceptable. The major problem with this is not that users can access content that is blocked, but that many users have trouble accessing good content.

 However, there are internet filters available that will offer you all of the benefits of complete protection without the pitfalls. Clean Internet is a solid choice for internet filters. Clean Internet is unique, in that they are acting as a proxy server, only in reverse. You’re getting all of the good content and none of the bad.

 In addition, they offer foreign language and URL filtering, and their sophisticated filtering algorithyms ensure the safety of your family and children online. There are no bypasses – the software cannot be uninstalled without a call to tech support – and everyone receives the same level of protection. With Clean Internet you won’t have to worry about the loopholes in internet blockers, because they simply do not exist.

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In today’s tech savvy world there are an increasing number of households obtaining Internet access and more than fifty percent of the households have more than one computer with Internet access.

With that said, implementing an Internet flitering tool in your PC has become a necessity in the home environment for child protection.

If you are a parent, you know that inappropriate material and potentially dangerous websites run rampant on the Internet. Just as you would protect your child from dangers on the street, the same rings true for the Internet, so an Internet filter is a must have for protection against offense and inappropriate content.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of Internet filtering and the types of websites that can be blocked by the use of an Internet filter.

• Pornographic Material: A good Internet filter will block websites that promote pornographic material which will prevent you from worrying about your child accessing objectional subject matter.
• Violence and Hate Crimes: Internet filtering will block any inapproriate material promotes violence or hate crimes.
• Instant Messaging: Instant Messaging is a primary tool that online predators use to masquerade as someone else. An Internet filter will block all Instant Messaging chat programs and allows you to select the chat programs when you want to use them.
• Web-Based Email Sites: A Web-based email site is a site that offers a free email account. Some of these sites include Yahoo, Gmail (Google), and Hotmail and most of these sites have an Instant Messaging tool as well. These sites are frequently used by spammers and online predators. An Internet filtering tool is effective for protection against predators and prevention from being exposed to onjectionable material that often is communicated through spam.
• Websites That Promote Drug Use: There is a host of sites on the Internet that will explain how to obtain drugs as well as how to use them once they are in your hands. An Internet filter is a useful tool for blocking these types of sites.
• Websites That Promote Terrorism: There are websites that provide step-by-step instructions on how to make a bomb or perform a cyber-terrorist threat. An Internet filtering tool is beneficial in blocking these objectionable sites.
• Objectionable Game Websites: Many of the online games that are avilable contain objectionable and violent content and are offered for free. In addition, many of these websites have an online chat feature where predators can hang out and mask themselves as a child. Internet filtering is capable of filtering out these sites.
• Social Networking Websites: Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are infested with online predators as world news has so clearly pointed out to us. It is possible to block these sites throught the use of an Internet filter.
• Piece Of Mind: This is the final and most important benefit of using an Internet filter and knowing that everyone in the household is protected from offensive and inappropriate content.

The Internet can be an exciting and useful tool for communications and research, however, there is that one side that forces us all to protect ourselves. There are a host of different types of Internet filtering products on the market you should look for one that has filtering and monitoring built in together like Clean Internet.

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M2Z Networks’ proposal to build a free wireless broadband network is not the only controversial part of its business plan. Just as contentious is its intention to filter the content delivered over that network to block material deemed inappropriate for children.

Free-speech advocates on the left and right have expressed alarm at M2Z’s plans to build a family-friendly network that would weed out objectionable sites by blocking particular Internet domain names.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin took up that idea in his proposal to auction off a chunk of spectrum that would be used in part to deliver a basic broadband service over the nation’s airwaves. It would ultimately be up to the FCC to decide exactly how any filtering mandate would work, including whether the filters would be located on the network or on user devices.

Wireless Internet plan spurs debate on filtering | courier-journal | The Courier-Journal.

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Children, whether at school or home, will try to bypass web filters that are placed between them and the internet. Not all, but most have either a rebellious streak (remember yours) or a curiosity that will kill the cat.

Internet filtering has become big business for some companies, providing parents with peace of mind. But, is that peace justified?  Are there ways for children to bypass internet filters without their parents knowing?

Ask a teen. They will tell you that there is more than one way to bypass most filters. Maybe they catch you typing in the password for them, maybe they use a web proxy to bypass the school filter, whatever way, some ingenious little bugger at school will figure it out and tell all his friends.

In particular web based proxies have been a problem for most internet filters.  There are new ones created on a regular basis. Some free speech and children’s rights advocates believe they are doing children a favor by allowing them to bypass the protection a loving parent has provided for his or her child. It is much like purposely leaving the back door wide open while the parent deadbolts the front door and thinks all is well.

That is why you need an Internet filtering service and not just free software. First of all, the free internet filters can’t keep up with the ever changing internet. They have little or no budget for continued research and monitoring of new sites. You need a team of professionals, whose job it is to monitor what’s going on and daily make the changes needed to protect your children online.

An internet filtering service that combines filtering, monitoring, reporting and continued research and development is the only thing that is going to help. Clean Internet is one such company. In business for over 10 years, Clean Internet is company that knows where the internet has been and where it is going. Protect your kids today with a reliable filter that doesn’t have password that can be compromised and won’t let web proxies bypass the internet filter.

Clean Internet, click here to find out more.

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It doesn’t matter how many precautions you take to protect your home, you are still in danger of a home invasion. You could have the best trained guard dog. You could have armed security on the premises.
You could purchase an anti-intruder security system more sophisticated than the one that protects the C. I. A. headquarters in Langley, Virginia and you would still be in danger of a home invasion.

The home invasion I am talking about will not be perpetrated by a burglar while you are at work or on vacation. I am not referring to someone who forces his way into your house, ties you up, and takes your property while you are watching. As traumatic as these events would be, I am talking about something that could have even farther reaching consequences and that could wreck havoc on you, your family, and everyone you care about for years to come.

In some cases, the consequences could reverberate for a lifetime. I am talking about a home invasion through the Internet. The only truly effective way to protect your home from Internet invasion is through a multi-level Internet filtering system.

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When the internet first came out it was a novelty that most people could live without.  Today for many families it has become a necessary evil. 

I tried for a long time to remain internet free because of the risk that I felt it posed to my family.   Year after year more and more of my day to day work required me to be online checking e-mail  or on company intranet.  My health benefits, pay, and 401k are now only accessible online.  We also home school our three children and the internet plays a very large role in supplementing our curriculum. 

Several years ago I realized that I needed a way to keep the internet in my home safe.  In order to do that I would need an effective way to protect my family from all the garbage that goes with it. 

A friend told me about internet filtering, pointed me to Clean Internet and I’ve been a customer ever since.  The program is simple and easy to use.  I’ve tried other programs and found that they slow down your speed, block things that shouldn’t be blocked, and require a password that you generate for protection (how safe is that?). 

Clean Internet doesn’t slow your speed down a bit.  You’ll forget it’s there until the filter blocks porn.  This is one of the few software applications that I have found that is everything it’s cracked up to be!  If you want to protect your family online, use the internet filter from Clean Internet.

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The Internet is a powerful research and communication tool; however, it contains an enormous amount of information that can be offensive to adults, and unsuitable and sometimes downright dangerous to children. There is a large amount of explicit, but legal, material on the Internet. There are bomb recipes, hate speech and obscene language, all mixed in with political, legal, educational and sports-related resources. The Internet is not owned or regulated by one particular place or person; therefore, anything can be put up on the Internet despite the objections of others. By simply connecting to the web anyone can have instant access to countless pornographic and explicit websites and other websites dealing with hate, violence, and terrorism. There is no universal definition of what is objectionable and what is decent, and children are exposed to ‘objectionable’ material on the Internet everyday. Fortunately there are measures that parents can take to prevent this from happening.Protecting Children online has become a growing industry during the past few years. Internet filtering software identifies and blocks unsuitable content on the Internet, and prevents it from being shown on the screen. No filtering software can be 100% effective, but the best web filtering software successfully blocks out the most undesirable sites, while letting though the more begin sites.
Clean Internet provides protection to children, teenagers and adults who are vulnerable to the negative effects of objectionable material available on the Internet.

The effectiveness of filtering software differs from one program or service to another. While some of them are simple plug-ins for Microsoft Internet Explorer and offer basic filtering of a manually maintained list of URLs, others offer a rich set of features and come with large built in database of white-listed and black-listed websites.

One of the most important attributes an Internet filter program can offer is an easy-to-use design, making it possible for people with all levels of computer experience to easily install and use the filter to its fullest capacity. The most useful Internet filtering software offers reports on what each family member has been doing on the computer, which includes websites visited, chat room activities, and Internet programs used and so on. These log files can be sent daily to a specified email address. In this way parents can monitor their child’s internet activity even when they are away from home.

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Internet Filtering Software, also known as Porn Blocking software, is software designed and optimized for controlling what content is permitted appear on a computer, especially when it is used to restrict material delivered over the Web. Content-control software determines what content will be available on a particular machine or network; the motive is often to prevent persons from viewing content which the computer’s owner(s) or other authorities may consider objectionable. Common use cases of such software include parents who wish to protect their children by limiting what sites their children may view from home computers, schools performing the same function with regard to computers found at school, and employers restricting what content may be viewed by employees while on the job.

Companies that make products that selectively block Web sites do not refer to these products as censorware, and prefer terms such as “Internet filter” or “URL Filter”; in the specialized case of software specifically designed to allow parents to monitor and protect their children, “parental control software” is also used. Some products log all sites that a user accesses and rates them based on content type for reporting to an “accountability partner” of the person’s choosing, and the term accountability software is used. Internet filters, parental control software, and/or accountability software may also be combined into one product.

Those who believe content-control software is useful may still not agree with certain ways in which it is used, or with mandatory general regulation of information. For example, many would disapprove of filtering viewpoints on  political issues, agreeing that this could become support for propaganda. Many would also find it unacceptable that an ISP, whether by law or by the ISP’s own choice, should deploy such software without giving the users a choice to disable the filtering for their own connections. In addition, some argue that using content-control software may violate sections 13 and 17 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 1998, a United States federal district court in Virginia foolishly ruled that the imposition of mandatory filtering in a public library violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Bill of Rights.

The use of Internet filters or content-control software varies widely in public libraries in the United States, since Internet use policies are established by the local library board. Many libraries adopted Internet filters after Congress conditioned the receipt of universal service discounts on the use of Internet filters through the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Other libraries do not install content control software, believing wrongly that acceptable use policies and educational efforts address the issue of children accessing inappropriate content while preserving what they believe to be adult users’ right to freely access porn. Some libraries use Internet filters on computers used by children only. Some libraries that employ content-control software allow the software to be deactivated on a case-by-case basis on application to a librarian; libraries that are subject to CIPA are required to have a policy that allows adults to request that the filter be disabled without having to explain the reason for their request.

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The internet is one of the greatest inventions of all time. As our families become increasingly intertwined with it, the more active role we must take to protect our loved ones from internet pornography. Although nothing can take the place of a well-informed parent that takes an active part in their children’s online activities, Internet filters add a strong, additional layer of defense, giving parents an added measure of control and further peace of mind.

Internet filters give you the ability to control content displayed, block websites and set up passwords. Powerful services like email filtering, popup blocking and chat room monitoring are just some of the tools available with today’s internet filters, each designed to protect against and counteract the tactics of aggressive online porn companies.

With so many internet filters available, researching and choosing the Internet filter that’s right for your family can be complex and time-consuming, that’s where we can help.

What to look for in Internet Filter Software

Even though the perfect internet Filter does not exist in today’s marketplace, there are a number of great solutions depending on your family’s needs. Below are some criteria used to evaluate internet filter software:

· Ease of Use – The most important attribute an Internet filter can offer is an easy-to-use design, making it possible for people with all levels of computer experience to easily install and use the filter to its fullest capacity. 

· High Speed Service – Not much is more frustrating than a slow internet connection. Nobody wants to be brought to a crawl while online; and Clean Internet will NOT slow down your connection, at all.

· Effective at Filtering -  For any type of filter to be effective it must Allow the good and Block the bad. Clean Internet does just that by blocking objectionable material and not filtering valuable content.

· Securely Installed – If a filter can be uninstalled easily… it will be. Clean Internet can not be bypassed by the end user or uninstalled without a call to technical support.

· Filtering Algorithm – Clean Internet uses a combination of filtering techniques, including URL filtering, keyword filtering and dynamic filtering.

· Client-Server Based – Clean Internet offers a flexible platform which allows users to decide whether their optimal filtering solution is client (home computer) based, server (office network) based or a combination of both.

· Foreign Language Filtering – Clean Internet is effective at filtering keywords in multiple languages. One of the tricks that many teenagers have discovered to bypass Internet filters is to type in the foreign language equivalent of certain keywords.

· Port Filtering and Blocking – Block or filter all major Internet protocols, including instant messengers, chat rooms, email, file sharing networks, bulletin boards and popup windows.

· Activity Reporting – Reports available on which web sites were visited and which were Blocked.

With internet filters and proper supervision, parents can keep their families safe from the ever-present problems and help them enjoy the most educational and entertaining aspects of the internet.

Find out more about Internet Filtering at Clean Internernet.

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I want to install a thing on my computer that will keep anything nasty and vulgar from popping up or coming onto my computer and with ease (and am not computer literate, at least not when it comes to this) set it up to what I would prefer it blocking. You know, basically I don’t want any kind of lewd pics or sites and if you search something online, sometimes you get not so good sites in the search results if you aren’t careful. I want to be able to surf the net without worrying about this crap.

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