How do we keep our home computer free from inappropriate or malicious content?

At Mulgrave and outside of the school, ’Children and the Internet’ frequently becomes a topic of discussion.  Undoubtedly, we all want to find ways of protecting our children from visible and unseen threats while accessing the World Wide Web.

At Mulgrave, Information Systems has in place a multilayered response to areas of concern.  Content filtering, SPAM, anti-virus, malware, intrusion detection, phishing and software behaviour are all managed using proven self-maintaining technologies, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Even with all these systems in place, experience has taught us to review continually our network activity by running an independent set of security tools at various times.  No technology is perfect and many are seeking to test network infrastructure.

What is a parent to do?

For home use, parents can put in place technologies that work well to limit known threats.  I take the following approach:

Anti-virus

There are many good providers of anti-virus software.  Many times, an anti-virus programme is included with the purchase of your personal computer (pc). Should you use the software that comes with your pc, be reminded it is more than likely “trial ware” which will expire and stop working after a trial period unless you pay to continue using it.  Anti-virus software is only effective when the “known virus files” are updated frequently; i.e. at least once a week.  Fortunately this can be set to occur automatically. Be aware, if you shut down your pc each time after using it and you have your anti-virus programme updating at 3:00 am, more than likely it is not being updated.

Intrusion prevention

Installing a firewall is an effective way to limit unwelcome visitors and to avoid unseen spyware/malware being installed onto your pc. You can purchase what is described as an “all-in-one” security solution.  Many times these “all-in-one” packages are described as “bloatware” as they invade your pc and are hard to remove.  A better solution allows for independently installing the anti-virus and firewall security software.  Again, you must make sure automatic updating is correctly configured.

Behaviour-based software

A recent entry into the pc security arena is the product, ThreatFire. This product has a free version, monitors the activity on your pc and stop threats according to their behaviour.

Internet content filtering

There are multiple software choices available for filtering web content.  The one I highly recommend to all parents is a ’free for home use’ product called, K9 Web Protection.  This software is easily installed and provides you with a family-safe internet experience, where you, the parent, have control of the internet content that enters your home.  Parents are the administrator of the programme and must enter their password to access the highly configurable control panel.  Content filtering is based on an automatically-updated site list built into the programme, and the product’s “Dynamic Real-Time Rating” technology.

SPAM

Most internet service providers now have built in SPAM filtering which generally works well.  Additionally, web-based email services provide configurable SPAM control.  If you are receiving excessive unsolicited email messages, there are software products available.

Mr. Murray Miller
Manager Information Systems