Keeping Kids
Safe Online
The article below originally appeared in the New
Zealand NetGuide magazine, issue 53. It is reproduced with
the kind permission of NZ NetGuide Ltd.
It's not difficult to teach your children
to use the Internet safely, especially with today's best filtering
software. But as Jeong Kim reports, it's not the technology
that makes a difference, it's how you use it.
Whether we like it or not, the Internet is just like the
world we live in; there is good and bad everywhere. However, parents
looking to take a more active role in deciding what content is
suitable for their children will welcome the chance to vet the
material that's displayed on their home computer. Being able to
show the same level of concern and action for your children online
as you do in the real world is possible through the technological
wonders of filtering software.
How filtering software works
Filtering software is designed to screen offensive content from
users. This is achieved through four basic methods of exclusion
and inclusion:
- Blocking by address to create what's called a "blacklist"
or "stoplist".
- Blocking by keywords and phrases.
- Blocking everything except what's called a "whitelist"
or "allow list".
- Blocking entire categories, such as chat rooms and newsgroups.
1. Blocking by address (exclusion)
The preferred method of Internet filtering is to use "stoplists"
or "blacklists" of pre-selected sites. In address blocking,
a team of employees from the software's manufacturer scours the
Internet looking for offensive sites. Sites are selected and placed
in one or more categories, depending on the filter, such as "Full
Nudity", "Profanity", "Drug Use", "Sex
Acts", etc. Typically, an editor reviews the selections before
placing them in the stoplists. This method is accurate, but mistakes
occur. Most public libraries use blocking by address as their main
method of censorship. All stoplists have been known to contain
mistakes, but they tend to be insignificant.
What Do New Zealand ISPs Do To
Protect Children Using The Internet
Protection of children on the Net remains
a voluntary matter in New Zealand. The Internet Society (www.isocnz.org.nz)
has developed a code of practice which some of the bigger
ISPs, such as Clear and Actrix, have signed. In doing so,
they undertake to inform commercial and public clients of
their responsibility towards content management. Clients
should also undertake to ensure that adequate warnings are
posted on adult sites, or that access is restricted. The
Department of Internal Affairs (www.dia.govt.nz)
Web site also has useful information in its Censorship section.
Family Net and Watchdog (www.family.net.nz)
provide safe surfing information and a filtering service,
as well as Net connections for schools. Attica Communications
(www.attica.co.nz)
offers Internet Sheriff, a classifications and removal system,
for $20 a month per 64k of access speed. Provider ihug has
a filtered service at www.ihug.co.nz/ispy/familyfilter/ The
Internet Safety Group is at www.netsafe.org.nz |
2. Blocking by word (exclusion)
Word blocking stops Internet pages from loading when the filter
encounters a word on its list of banned words. This was the method
most early filters relied on, and was responsible for much of
the poor reputation filters have today. Word blocking of sites
cannot be implemented without blocking non-pornographic speech.
Words like
"breast" will block out breast cancer sites, and "sex"
will block out articles about "sextuplets". It is for
this reason that word blocking is not used in most libraries.
3. Blocking everything except a "whitelist"
or "allow list" (inclusion)
This method relies on a preselected list of approved sites. While
it has the advantage of being close to 100% effective at blocking
pornography, it leaves out many useful sites because the selectors
haven't discovered them yet. There are literally millions of sites
on the Web. While the future holds great potential for this approach,
for now it is only recommended for situations where 100% effectiveness
in blocking pornography is needed.
4. Blocking entire categories such
as chat rooms (exclusion)
Most filters allow the blocking of whole portions of the Internet,
such as access to newsgroups, chat rooms, email, and games. Libraries
often exercise this option, and it is usually more of a resource
allocation decision than a decision about content. Many librarians
feel that talking to remote pen pals and chatting
with strangers is not an appropriate use of library resources,
so these categories are often blocked.
The best filtering software will make use of a combination of
all these techniques and allow you to make manual changes to the
inclusion and exclusion lists. But even with the high-tech filtering
techniques that are available, by far the best deterrent is low-tech
parental supervision and activity logging.
If you've got filtering software that can keep logs of who saw
what, you've got a tool that can deter through fear of getting
caught – which is almost as sound as parental supervision.
But remember, no filtering system is foolproof. Parents will always
need to remain involved in their child's online life, and children
will always need to know what their family's rules are and how
to stay safe.
The Software Reviewed
BAIR Filtering System 
- Web site: www.thebair.com
- Platform: Windows
- Cost: Subscription based. $US4.95 per month or
$US49.95 a year
At a glance, the BAIR is a great Web site filter. The exclusion
list can't be viewed but I had to assume it was comprehensive enough.
In addition to the exclusion list, the BAIR system uses an intelligent
text filter and an image analyser.
However, in an attempt to prevent technically savvy children from
bypassing the filter, the BAIR also blocks all applications that
could possibly be used to alter system settings. This includes
your browser ’s preferences, the Windows Control Panel, the
MS-DOS Prompt, Windows Explorer (this includes blocking access
to MyComputer), and the list goes on.
As a result, you won't be able to browse the contents of your
CD-ROM drive without the administrator password (since you need
to evoke Windows Explorer to do this) – a setting that I feel
is far too restrictive. In any case, even when you do have the
password, trying to access the Windows Control Panel or MyComputer
results in a blank window with no icons being displayed. With the
BAIR, the computer quickly became a frustrating beast to use.
CyberPatrol
Right from go, CyberPatrol is clearly more than a basic browser-based
filter. After first checking for vulnerabilities in your Internet
connection, it allows you to tinker with a comprehensive list
of abilities.
Web sites, newsgroups,chat rooms (including non browser-based
IRC clients) and user-defined applications can be filtered. You
can even set time limits on Internet usage based on a user profile
and the day of the week.
In addition to blocking sites and offensive words, it can also
be used to prevent sensitive information being given out over the
Internet. Details such as email addresses,phone numbers and names,
or anything else deemed sensitive can be added to a Chatguard filter.
When the user attempts to type a prohibited word, phrase or number,
CyberPatrol replaces the text with a string of dots.
CyberPatrol's exclusion list is grouped into content categories.
By doing this, CyberPatrol gives you more control over what "unsuitable"really
means by letting you selectively allow or deny individual categories
of content. If you feel that coarse language is OK but drug use,
illegal activities and hate sites are not, then you can adjust
your settings accordingly with a couple of clicks of the mouse.
Eyeguard
Eyeguard is unique as it is the only filtering system reviewed
that operates independently of the Internet. It's also the only
filtering system that concerns itself just with images. Being so
dedicated to the visual form, it is the only software reviewed
that can also filter movie files.
Because Eyeguard operates by analysing images that are displayed,
it can successfully filter content both online and on CD-ROMs,
email, pictures embedded in documents and so on.
The pornography detection in Eyeguard is a fine example of triumph
over adversity. This kind of thing was seen as impossible to achieve
when talk of censoring the Internet first arose, and Eyeguard does
it surprisingly well. You do need to tinker with some meaningless
settings to get it working accurately, but following the manufacturer's
suggestions saved me time and worked well enough.
The power of Eyeguard is in its logging facility. The software
can be set to record a text-based entry of an image that set off
the pornography trigger as well as the corresponding screenshot.
This can be done overtly by displaying a warning whenever the trigger
goes off, or covertly by keeping everything quiet until you go
and check the log of events. Again, the power of the log comes
into play and the chance of getting caught does more to deter misuse
of the computer than the high-tech image detection algorithm.
While Eyeguard's technology would be at home as part of a more
comprehensive content filtering package, its concentration on nudity
severely limits its usefulness as an all-round content filtering
package for the home. If naughty pictures are the only concern
though, Eyeguard is the best you'll find.
Cyber Sentinel ½
Cyber Sentinel is to text what Eyeguard is to images. It scans
any text in any document from any source for offensive material,
and can warn and then close the window or quietly log the activity
in "stealth" mode.
This method works well and is more accurate than image detection.
Although it only works for text, it's safe to assume that most
objectionable images will appear near objectionable text.
Like Eyeguard, when a violation occurs, the software can take
a screenshot of the desktop at the time of the violation and log
the event. This can be done while viewing a Web page, a document,
browsing newsgroups or in a chat room.
If you're iffy about a particular section on the Internet, you
can block it entirely. Cyber Sentinel can be set to block Web,
e-commerce (secure Web sites), IRC, FTP or newsgroup access entirely.
When compared to some other products, Cyber Sentinel reminds you
that you shouldn't always try to kill a mosquito with a cannon.
While it lacks any image detection facilities, where there is fire,
there is smoke – in this case, objectionable content of any
form is usually surrounded by objectionable words. In most cases
this philosophy is a sound one.
Net Nanny
Like CyberPatrol, Net Nanny is designed as a comprehensive filter
targeting content in the browser and beyond. It specifically has
the concerns of the parent in mind.
Net Nanny can also allow you to control when the Internet can
be accessed as well as the content that is on it. The feature list
is almost identical to that of CyberPatrol, but it has a couple
of notable differences.
Where CyberPatrol excels in its ability to customise the categories
of blocked content, Net Nanny excels in its superb logging facility.
In addition to logging requests to blocked sites, Net Nanny can
be set to log entire chat room conversations. This setting can
be customised to only start recording after a blocked key-word
is used in a chat room, to save disk space.
Net Nanny can be made aware of any personal information that you
do not wish to disclose over the Internet. Attempts to disclose
such information via any Internet application, including chat and
email, is covertly thwarted. Unlike CyberPatrol, this information
is protected at the network level as opposed to the screen level.
To the untrained eye, the information is sent intact, however,
Net Nanny scans outgoing data packets for personal info and alters
them before sending. Even though it appears you sent the information,
the person at the other end sees only "######" characters.
With a set of features that match CyberPatrol's so closely, it's
hard to pick between the two. While Net Nanny lacks the ability
to edit the excluded list of sites by category, it does have better
logging facilities and the benefit of a one-off fee and unlimited
free updates to the list of excluded sites.
Keeping Kids Safe Online – 10 Tips
For Parents
1. No personal information
Explain to your children – firmly and repeatedly – that
they should never give out the following information online to
any stranger under any circumstances: Name, address, phone number,
year of birth, name of school, email address, credit card details,
name of your suburb or town. If such information exchange is essential,
children need your permission first.
2. No real-world meetings
Your children should never arrange to meet a stranger face to face
without getting your permission or having you join them. Internet
users are just as likely as real-world people to be friendly
and nice. That means most people are fine, but not all. Unfortunately,
the ones who want to meet children – online or in person –
are more likely to be of the suspect variety. Explain this to your
children.
3. Open lines of communication
Make your children promise to tell you if they are ever exposed
to anything threatening, explicit, or upsetting online. Again,
emphasise that this material is not in any way their fault. Encourage
them to discuss such things with you, just as you would any other
upsetting incident. If you or your child receives a harassing
or inappropriate message, you can forward a copy to your ISP
and request assistance in locating and dealing with the offender.
Also, don't assume your children found a particular site with
prior knowledge of its content. Give them the benefit of the
doubt.
4. Make it easy to watch
The computer your children use should not face a wall or be in
a place that offers too much privacy. A family room is appropriate,
with the screen facing the middle of the room. Monitor their
surfing from time to time. Let them show you the sites they like
best. You may learn a thing or two about the Internet and your
children.
5. Keep the keys
Maintain the master password for your ISP yourself. Many ISPs will
allow varying levels of access to different users on the same
account. Don't use obvious names, like the name of the family
pet, for your password; children can figure those out pretty
easily. Use your imagination.
6. Work together
Write a child-parent agreement together and stick it near your
family's computer. Your agreement should specify time and surfing
boundaries; which hours of the day and areas of the Internet
your child is allowed. You should also agree to the
number of hours your child is allowed to surf the Net in a week
and adhere to that limit.
7. Use filtering software
Although they are no substitute for parental involvement, filters
and time limitation tools are available to help limit both the
amount of time spent on the Internet and which sites your children
can access (see above).
8. Keep your eyes open
Check your phone bills for unfamiliar numbers, such as 0900 numbers
or those for adult services. If your child has a mobile phone
or pager, look out for unfamiliar numbers or text messages such
as 1-2-3, which is street code for "I love you".
9. Dig a little
It is possible for children to get secret email accounts or to
post to newsgroups without your knowledge. The New York Times
suggests visiting the email search pages of Yahoo People Search
(people.yahoo.com)
or Lycos Search (www.lycos.com)
to look for secret email accounts under your child's name.
10. Look out for others
If you or your child stumbles on child pornography, notify the
Internal Affairs Department.
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