Filtering Features

Filter Updates

The Internet is quite mutable and sites, ephemeral. The list of blocked web sites must be updated regularly as new ones go up. All of the companies whose products we tested provide such updates. CyberPatrol, CyberSitter, and SurfWatch include one year of updates, after which time a subscription must be made. NetNanny offers free unlimited updates.

Update Frequency

The more frequently blocked-site lists are updated, the lower the chance that a child may be allowed to a newly put-up site. cyebrSitter and SurfWatch update the lists daily for maximum protection. CyberPatrol offers quick updates daily and full updates weekly. NetNanny only updates about once a month.

Ease of Update

All programs except for NetNanny allow the parent or administrator to update the filters with a single button. The programs automatically connect to their sites, download the newest filters, and install them. NetNanny's process is more complicated. It requires the user to go to the site via the World Wide Web, to download the files manually, to copy them to the NetNanny directory, and then to manually install the filters. Some users may find this a small price to pay for free updates. Others may gladly pay the monthly subscription fees for a simple filter-downloading process and more up-to-date lists.

Filter Library

The filters were arranged in libaries by category. (See categories below)

Custom Sites

The programs allowed the parent to add or remove specific sites from the allowed and not-allowed site lists.

Custom Patterns

The programs allowed parents to specify certain words or patterns that would trigger the software if a web page contained them.

Customizability

Since there is often more than one child who uses the computer, some programs allow different profiles to be set up for different people. CyberPatrol allowed for up to nine different configurations to be saved. NetNanny did not specify a limit on the number of different users allowed. CyberSitter and SurfWatch, however, only allowed for one profile.

Filtering Techniques

Web site/URL

Sites are blocked according to their URL. (The URL is the address of the Internet resource; for example, WWW sites begin with http://).

Hostname/IP

Sites are blocked completely, instead of only certain pages as above, according to the site name. An IP number is the numeric code that corresponds to the site. The child cannot get around the system by typing in the IP instead of the hostname.

Keyword/Phrases

Pages are blocked according to certain words or phrases that appear. This allows new sites or sites that are not on the blocked lists to be filtered based on their content.

Search Engine

Searches for certain keywords are blocked even before the results are displayed. The three programs that support this use pattern matching. The filtring programs either give a message that states that the search is blocked or return with a page that states that no sites were found.

Chat Applications

Applications and web sites that allow users to chat in real-time with other people are blocked.

Filtering Areas

Blocks Games

CyberPatrol and NetNanny allow the parent to block, monitor, and/or limit programs used and games played on the computer aside from filtering the Internet.

Protects Files/Disks from Deletion/Formatting

CyberPatrol and NetNanny also keep vital operating system files from being deleted or changed. They also protect against formatting the hard drives.

Filters Outgoing Information

The same two programs allows parents to specify information they don't want given out by their children. For example, a parent can block the child from giving out their phone number or credit card number.

Categories

The categories listed are the ones that the company that produced the programs provided. A larger number of categories simply means that the filters were divided into smaller lists. It does not necessarily mean that there are more filters or more blocked sites. A greater number of categories, though, allows the parent to be more specific in choosing to what the child should not have access.