Good Parental Control Software

Hey AO,

As I was finishing up a job last night, a customer asked me how they could control what their daughter did on the computer I had just put online... I didn't really know what to say - I told them that I would do some research and find out for them.

The kid is about 8 or 9 I would guess. I think they basically just want to keep her screened from porn sites, etc. I could probably set up something that would only allow her to access certain sites using the hosts file, but meh - I know there is software out there that can do a better job than that.

So what do you guys think? Any experience using filtering software? I'd like to stay under $50, and cetainly not go over $100. Something that is user-friendly too - these people are not expert computer users.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hey Buddy,

Content advisor in IE could work for you. There are some parent control products that you can use. We have one built in with our AV software , I can find out the company. Basically it locks into the user profile and then filter on category (pron , educational etc) and whitelist / blacklist.

Alternatively you can go a proxy / web filterting story but for the home user its not viable.

Best thing is content advisor then.

Some ISPs offer safe filtering....

Also you can set Google safe search.

The best monitoring is a parent present ....because they could go to a friends ...where there is absolutely no monitoring or filter....

Teach your children well

MLF

Thanks for the quick replies guys!

Cider - well, I guess I could look into IE Content Advisor... Although I have Firefox set up on it right now... complete with the tabs, bookmarks and a cool Persona that the little girl loves... :(

I'd much rather just have them buy some software that I can just slap on - maybe something that kind of blacklists everything except for "known-to-be-kid-safe" sites with a simple interface to add other sites w/ a password (in case she needs to log on to one for school or something) and that can be disabled via a password too...

morganlefay - yeah, Google safe-search is well and good, but doesn't stop her from clicking on links - you know how fast an inexperienced user can pull up a malicious or "dirty" site by just getting a little "clicker-happy"

As far as the parents, they're very good about keeping an eye on her, but they'd like for her to be able to use the computer without them having to look over her shoulder the entire time.

I found this after a little Googling and reading: Online Family Norton. It's free (for now). The downside? Well, it's made by Norton *shudders*

I tried to install it to test it out myself, but it "encountered an error" during the last phase of the installation, and I was advised to "try again later" (real shocker there... :rolleyes:)

Might be just what I'm looking for - and the price is right. If I can get it to actually work, I might just have them go with this...

I was kind of hoping someone who actually uses a similar program to safeguard their youngsters might pop in...

Well, thanks again guys... I'll keep searching, and please, keep the replies coming! Thanks!

Looks like its built into Windows 7

http://www.microsoft.com/canada/home...-controls.aspx

MLF

Use the Winpcap library. Just drop any site with forms. This way if we can't protect a child... we can atleast save the rest of the internet from having to read pre-teen drivel, blogs, ect.

If they have static ip, you could give http://www.opendns.com/ a try. They have a load of filters by category. I have used it on a web cafe that i administrate with alot of success.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by instronics

If they have static ip, you could give http://www.opendns.com/ a try.

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I use OpenDNS more often than anything. I simply create a new user
acc't for the client, then program their DNS servers into the router as
well as installing the client app on the parents' PC, and you've got decent
filtering on the whole network. Once you've created an account, OpenDNS
gives you quite a few filtering options.

A caveat; I've seen it defeated by smart kids who manually edit their
DNS settings, but they got the message. Any technology comes with
caveats though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The-Spec

Use the Winpcap library. Just drop any site with forms. This way if we can't protect a child... we can atleast save the rest of the internet from having to read pre-teen drivel, blogs, ect.

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LOL

On another not , check out this website for steps with the built in Parental control in Windows 7. Im running Enterprise and I cant find it on my system, going to have to dig abit.

http://www.techtalkz.com/windows-7/5...ndows-7-a.html

EDIT: Prob because im on a domain, dont know yet. Will check it out at home and let you know.

However I presume its very limited.

Well, it's a Windows XP machine, so no built-in filtering system. The problem with OpenDNS is that the little girl's computer is on a network with her parents' computers - and I don't want to restrict their access.

I really think what I need is a software solution on the local machine. I've heard of NetNanny and others, but I'm not sure how helpful they are - and I don't want something that is going to give a ton of false-positives - I want her to be able to have as much access as possible without coming across porn and the like...

I'll research through the weekend and post back what I decide to go with. More suggestions are welcome of course.

well any software will have some wrongly catergorised pages.

IN any event as MLF said, you cannot unleaash your kid on the interwebz and expect smooth sailing, can you? Send her to a libary :P she will inevitably and up on failbook so there goes your filtering.

My kids got past the school filters by using

www.www.blockedsite.com :rolleyes:

My kids have been using the internet since they were very young...and I warned them and taught them about the various sites out there....and of the dangers of giving out too much information, how people can pretend to be someone they are not...and how website can be something other then what you thought

and how I could find out the history...and if they abused the privilege I would take it away...which I only had to do once...

Also I told them how they could get infected through various methods, the use of passwords, how to pick a good one and that deleted isnt.....I put google safe search on and removed their accounts from the administrator group.

I have never had an issue with MY kids...their friends etc are another story altogether

MLF

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wiskic10_4

The problem with OpenDNS is that the little girl's computer is on a network with her parents' computers - and I don't want to restrict their access.

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The workaround, which I hinted at in my earlier post, is to manually enter the ISP's DNS addresses in the parents' computer so it won't pull the DNS addresses from the router. It's an easy workaround.

I used NetNanny on PC's too, the problem being an additional startup that slows any older systems, which I quite often find in SOHO's.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by morganlefay

My kids got past the school filters by using

www.www.blockedsite.com :rolleyes:

My kids have been using the internet since they were very young...and I warned them and taught them about the various sites out there....and of the dangers of giving out too much information, how people can pretend to be someone they are not...and how website can be something other then what you thought

and how I could find out the history...and if they abused the privilege I would take it away...which I only had to do once...

Also I told them how they could get infected through various methods, the use of passwords, how to pick a good one and that deleted isnt.....I put google safe search on and removed their accounts from the administrator group.

I have never had an issue with MY kids...their friends etc are another story altogether

MLF

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Tried the site with only www and www.www but no go :P Whats teh deal

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brokencrow

The workaround, which I hinted at in my earlier post, is to manually enter the ISP's DNS addresses in the parents' computer so it won't pull the DNS addresses from the router. It's an easy workaround.

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That, my friend, is an excellent idea. That solves my problem. Thanks!

[edit]
Couldn't I do the reverse of that and just aim the child's computer at OpenDNS?

Gotta make sure the parents can still get to their porn right? :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by westin

Gotta make sure the parents can still get to their porn right?

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Ha!

I don't know about that. But they asked me what they could do to control the child's browsing, not theirs, so that's all I aim to do. :thumbsup:

wiskic10_4, you do need to register with OpenDNS to do any effective
filtering via their system. You'll also need their client software installed
on a local PC (the parents' preferably) for updating ip addresses. The
small client app uses the created user name and password.

Cider....it works for facebook....havent tried any other sites...

MLF

SANS has a ton of securing home PC's stuff this month. Check out http://isc.sans.edu/tag.html?tag=2010 cyber security awareness month

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how they could control what their daughter did on the computer

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They really don't understand do they?

A 9 year old girl is not going surfing pr0n............ so it is not controlling what their daughter does on the net, it is more a case of what the net might do to their daughter. There is one hell of a difference there!!!!

The first thing IMO is family trust...........warn her of the dangers of "clicky, clicky", the nine year old is a 45 year old pervert and so on.

You really ought to be looking at defence mechanisms rather than restrictive ones IMO

Quote:

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the nine year old is a 45 year old pervert and so on.

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You, Christina, and Brad are much more adamant about it actually. I hung my head in shame while being pushed into the van. But I still held hopes that there was candy!!

♥ :D ♥ ;) ♥

I just wanted to say thanks again brokencrow - OpenDNS worked like a charm! I just pointed the little girl's computer at OpenDNS and set the filter to moderate - suddenly, I can't access any of my favorite sites!!! ;) :p :D The Stats feature is really cool too...

Can't believe I've never heard of it before. I guess probably because I spent all of my time trying to subvert web-filtering rather than implement it... :lildevil:

Anyway, thanks again - and for anyone else that needs a simple free web-filtering solution, OpenDNS is the way to go!!! :thumbsup:

well jsut got my netgear and seems to have this for parental controls.

http://powershift.netgear.com/lpc