Looking for Parental Control Software that will help protect your loved ones from the dangers web? Perhaps you have a child at home that you let surf the net but worry about what she might see? There are three great solutions two which you download and one which you simply use.
I’ve found that K9 (k9webprotection.com) is the perfect web filter for my home and an excellent program that you can download and install right now. It allows your to customize the allowed sites list or simply go with the defaults which by themselves do a great job.
Another great parental control software for the kids is Kids Rocket (KidRocket.org), a kidsafe browser and internet filter in one. Rather than a program that runs in the backgound, this is actually a browser the children use to visit websites.
Both K9 and KidsRocket require you to download software, but if you don’t want to install anything at all and are willing to deal with a few ads, OpenDNS has a great soltuion that is quick and easy.
By simply changing your DNS settings to the OpenDNS servers, all your requests will be filtered through their system BEFORE they go through the internet. If a site is inappropriate, it get’s blocked. For details on how to configure this right now, look at our internet monitoring software section and look at the image.
As I learn about additional parental control software, I’ll post more reviews and should you come across software that is free, please leave a comment and I’ll check it out.
For work, you don’t have a lot of options – there is OpenDNS which does not require you to install any software whatsoever, but will trow up ads if you use their ‘free’ service. What you do is change the DNS settings on the user’s computer to point to OpenDNS servers.
I’ll explain DNS in detail in a bit, but for now, you’re basically sending any requests for stuff off the internet to OpenDNS and they fetch it for you (provided it’s safe).
OpenDNS also offers a paid service without ads that is tiered. For example, 0-100 users, 100-200 users, etc. For basic web filtering, it will run you about $5 per user and for the Enterprise web filter, it starts at $2,000 year.
Google also has a program that I’m looking into called Postini (was $36 per person, but I’m checking on that for an update).
Currently, I’m using WebSense to filter all employees and paying almost $5,000 per year, so OpenDNS looks great to me! I’m testing it out now and will report back with more details as to how OpenDNS compares to WebSense and Google’s Postini.
Thoughts: I have a server dedicated to Websense right now and if OpenDNS or Postini can filter content like I’m doing now without having to maintain a server and licensing, then that additional savings!
As for home internet filtering for the children, I use K9 which works wonders. It is a dangerous place out there on the net, and you need something to protect not only yourself, but your kids from bad content, malware and more!
I’ll be adding more when testing is completed…
Blocks any websites you want – easily used to block facebook and twitter for a student who can’t concentrate. Barking noise makes me get back to work, but can get annoying. t’s a good idea, and it’s even better that this program is free, but it’s seriously glitchy and needs to get those sorted out before you can properly use it.
Dan Almonte