{"id":122,"date":"2015-07-21T07:44:07","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T14:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/?p=122"},"modified":"2015-07-21T07:44:07","modified_gmt":"2015-07-21T14:44:07","slug":"protecting-your-family-online-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/?p=122","title":{"rendered":"Protecting your family online (2)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In our first post we mentioned the importance of knowing the threats presented by the internet, and how these reach your family.\u00a0 This is the first step for ‘protecting your family online’.\u00a0\u00a0 Here we want to discuss:<\/p>\n

Step 2: Installing and Configuring Three Essential Tools<\/b><\/p>\n

To help protect yourself online, all members are asked to use three tools.\u00a0 Being tools<\/i>, they are not solutions or to be trusted as perfect.\u00a0 Like any other tool, they can be used improperly.\u00a0 Nor does installing these tools absolve us from our parental responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Tool 1: Internet Filters<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Internet filters are the most common tool for keeping us from accessing inappropriate material.\u00a0 There are many different internet filters on the market, and some of them are much more effective than others.\u00a0 Unfortunately all filters will allow some inappropriate material to pass through, and prevent you from accessing some harmless sites.\u00a0 This is simply due to the nature of internet–there are hundreds of millions of pages of information on the internet, and millions more are added every day.<\/p>\n

Some very important considerations when setting up a filter include the ease with which you can bypass it, override a blocked site, turn it off altogether, or uninstall it.\u00a0 It is also critical that you set it to an appropriate level.\u00a0 A suitable filter can also block out categories (e.g. Social Networking, sports, gambling) and prevent access to internet browsers that allow you to turn off safe search.<\/p>\n

The ideal filter uses dynamic filtering along with URL and keyword filtering.\u00a0 URL filtering blocks sites with domain names that have been identified and categorized as objectionable.\u00a0 Keyword filters use certain words and phrases to block sites.\u00a0 Dynamic filtering uses a much more complex algorithm and evaluates the sites\u2019 content just before it is displayed on your screen.\u00a0 While it is not always easy to determine if your filter is using dynamic filtering, we strongly recommend you use a filter that uses this method in addition to the simpler URL\/keyword blocking.<\/p>\n

Filters can be installed on specific devices (i.e. NetNanny) protecting only that device, or protect your entire network by being proxy or ISP based (i.e. iGateWeb).\u00a0 The benefit of having your filter installed on specific devices is that your laptop or tablet is filtered when connected to a data package or to Wi-Fi provided by your neighbour or a company (e.g. Starbucks).\u00a0 The benefit of a filter that is ISP based, or proxy based via your router, is that any devices connected to your internet in the home are filtered \u2013 including visitors\u2019 devices.\u00a0 There is usually no clear answer of which method is best for you, and we strongly recommend you use two different filters so that you have both forms of protection.<\/p>\n

Two years ago MTAC evaluated a number of different filters and the results showed a very significant range in filtering performance.\u00a0 The results can be found in the resources section of our website www.media-aware.net<\/a>.\u00a0 Many more filters exist than those that were evaluated, and it is difficult to determine the current relevance of these results as small changes to a filtering algorithm can significantly change a filter’s performance.\u00a0 However, based on these evaluations the RCNA still requires members to use either iGateWeb and\/or NetNanny.\u00a0 Since many of our devices are mobile and have their own data connections, and since wireless tethering\/hotspots are easy to implement, we can no longer recommend using only iGateWeb without device specific filters.<\/p>\n

A few other filters: Covenant Eyes www.covenanteyes.com<\/a> is appealing because the company provides many excellent resources and has a Christian basis (cf NetNanny, which is secular).\u00a0 Unfortunately, our evaluation indicates the actual performance of the Covenant Eyes filter is poor and that it cannot be recommended instead of NetNanny or iGateWeb.\u00a0 K9 Web Protection www.k9webprotection.com<\/a> provides a free filter that appears to be popular (mostly because it is free).\u00a0 While MTAC has not evaluated this filter, K9 might be a good option to use in conjunction with iGateWeb.\u00a0 OpenDNS www.opendns.com<\/a> is also a free filter that is set up on your router to provide filtering for everything on your network.\u00a0 Again, MTAC has not evaluated this filter and it appears to only use URL based filtering. \u00a0However, OpenDNS might be a good option to use in combination with NetNanny.<\/p>\n

All internet-capable devices, including mobile devices, owned by you and your family members must have a suitable filter.\u00a0 This implies that for this step in ‘protecting your family online’ you need to research the different options and decide which filters you intend to use.\u00a0 We understand this can be a very confusing exercise, which is one reason we strongly recommend using NetNanny as the primary filter on all devices.\u00a0 (NetNanny provides filtering products for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices).\u00a0 In addition to NetNanny, we strongly recommend using a network wide filter such as iGateWeb or OpenDNS.<\/p>\n

Once you have decided on the filters you plan to use, you need to download and install this software onto each device you identified in the first brochure, and on your network router.\u00a0 The filtering software must also be properly configured for different age levels.\u00a0 We recommend starting with the filter set as strict as possible to minimize underblocking.\u00a0 As you begin using the filter and find that strictest setting is unworkable, the settings can be modified as necessary.\u00a0 Obviously different settings will result for different age groups and users.<\/p>\n

Questions and Comments<\/b><\/p>\n

Do I need a filter if I already have virus and malware protection on my computer?<\/i>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 There is a lot of different “protection” software out there\u2014and they are designed for different purposes and different markets.\u00a0 McAfee, Norton, and Kaspersky provide good tools for keeping viruses from your computer, and allow you to set up parental controls.\u00a0 But they are not designed for filtering out porn and other objectionable material.\u00a0 Filtering software (e.g. NetNanny) may not give much in terms of anti-virus protection.\u00a0 Since such programs are often (but not always) compatible with each other, you are best served using both. \u00a0Put bluntly, antivirus\/ malware software aims to protect your physical and virtual possessions; filters aim to keep you from sin.<\/p>\n

What is a good setting for my filter?\u00a0 <\/i>\u00a0As restrictive as you can work with.\u00a0 Avoid \u201cadult\u201d, \u201cmature\u201d and \u201c18+\u201d settings, as these tend to be far too open.\u00a0 For your younger children you can set it much lower (i.e. when you have multiple user accounts, you can give your younger children the most restrictive settings that block all video and social networking sites), and give older children and yourself less restrictive access.<\/p>\n

Filters are too restrictive and slow.<\/i>\u00a0 This is a myth–most current filters do not significantly delay the time it takes to access a site, and limit over-blocking by dynamically filtering sites rather than by categorically blocking access to them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our first post we mentioned the importance of knowing the threats presented by the internet, and how these reach your family.\u00a0 This is the first step for ‘protecting your family online’.\u00a0\u00a0 Here we want to discuss: Step 2: Installing and Configuring Three Essential Tools To help protect yourself online, all members are asked to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125,"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.media-aware.net\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}