However, often, they are considered to be a big time-wasters and a drain on the productivity by corporates.

They even go as far as blocking the access to these websites through their networks. And they cite various reason for that.

Reasons for Blocking the Access to Social Networking Sites

Sophos, a well known security vendor had conducted a survey of several companies to determine the exact reasons, why they block these sites. There are some interesting facts to find.

63 per cent of system administrators worry that employees share too much personal information via their social networking profiles, putting their corporate infrastructure – and the sensitive data stored on it – at risk

Some of the interestig facts revealed are…

• The primary reason for blocking these websites are: Loss of productivity, Threat of Malware, infections and Loss of Sensitive Data.
• As many as 22 percent of the IT administrators admitted to have themselves come across a phishing attempt or a malware threat of these social networking sites.
• A typical method of attack is for hackers to compromise accounts by stealing usernames and passwords – often using phishing or spyware – and then, use this profile to send spam or malicious links to the victims’ online friends and colleagues. Sophos research reveals that one third of respondents have been spammed on social networking sites, while almost one quarter (21 percent) have been the victim of targeted phishing or malware attacks.

Sophos lists some pieces of advice to help corporates to avoid getting their PC Security jeopardized through the use and access to these social networking sites.

1. Educate your workforce about online risks – make sure all employees are aware of the impact that their actions could have on the corporate network
2. Consider filtering access to certain social networking sites at specific times – this can be easily set by user groups or time periods for example
3. Check the information that your organisation and staff share online – if sensitive business data is being shared, evaluate the situation and act as appropriate
4. Review your Web 2.0 security settings regularly – users should only be sharing work-related information with trusted parties

Further details to the survey are available here at Sophos Website.

There are lots of ways and tools, which can do the job for you, all operating on different algorithms. Some of them are free content filters, while others are paid. Some of them are so feature rich that it is highly complicated to even do their installation and configuration, while others are so simple that even a child can do that.

The choice of the best filter to block porn sites, popups and objectionable material to reach your computer depends upon the target person, his level of skills and the level of protection you want to provide him.

Be-Gone is one of the most basic Internet Filter, which looks at the Title Bar of the website for the objectionable words and phrases. If there is a match, it simply blocks the website.

There are two lists, which you have to create in order to let it work. The black list contains the words and phrases, which you think are objectionable. It searches those words in the Title bar of the Window to decide if the content of the website are objectionable or not. It is a minimalistic approach and is based upon the premise that the Title Bar adequately represents the contents of the page. Although there are exceptions to it in the real world, but, in general, this approach is true.

The other list is a white list, which are allowed to be accesses, even if their Title contains the objectionable words contained in the black list.

B-Gone uses a minimalistic approach to filter content and block porn sites and popups. It is free to download and use. It is simple to install and configure, and as such, it is useful only for some simple purposes, when your kid is not too computer savvy. A computer savvy kid can easily find ways to bypass this filter.

Yet another limitation of B-Gone is that it can work only with Internet Explorer. So, if your computer is having other browsers also there in computer, then you have to think twice before using it.

[Download B-Gone]

If you are looking for a free child protection software for your children, and your are running a Windows system, then this post is not for you.

Here we are talking about a net content filter, which is useful for a system administrator, managing a network on something like linux and wants to protect the computers connected from this network from objectionable content available on Internet.

DansGuardian – Content Filter for Children

DansGuardian is a Open Source website filtering application, which is useful for networks running on a Unix or Linux servers for the purpose of Internet content filtering. Although it runs on a Unix or Linux platform, the security and filtering options provided are available to all computers controlled by the server, whether they are running Windows, Mac or any other platform. Now this facility has also been extended to all servers running on Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Mac OS X, HP-UX, and Solaris.

DansGuardian is highly flexible Internet content filtering utility and provides you lots of options for controlling the content. is designed to be completely flexible and allows you to tailor the filtering to your exact needs. It can be as draconian or as unobstructive as you want. The default settings are geared towards what a primary school might want but DansGuardian puts you in control of what you want to block.

It filters using multiple methods. These methods include URL and domain filtering, content phrase filtering, PICS filtering, MIME filtering, file extension filtering, POST limiting.

The content phrase filtering will check for pages that contain profanities and phrases often associated with pornography and other undesirable content. The POST filtering allows you to block or limit web upload. The URL and domain filtering is able to handle huge lists and is significantly faster than squidGuard.

The filtering has configurable domain, user and source ip exception lists. SSL Tunneling is supported.

The configurable logging produces a log in an easy to read forhttp://thepcsecurity.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpmat which has the option to only log the text-based pages, thus significantly reducing redundant information such as every image on a page.
Pretty much all parts of DansGuardian are configurable thus giving the end administrator user total control over what is filtered and not some third-party company.

DansGuardian is free for all non-commercial uses.

Overall, a nice utility for your PC Security.

[Download DansGuardian]

Besides security, OpenDNS also adds to the speed of your web surfing, by speeding up the DNS looking process when you visit a website. It uses its powerful cache features to remember the DNS address of a website, when the URL of a website is resolved for any user. When a request for the same website is received from another user, OpenDNS uses its cache to serve the DNS value quickly thus providing a marginal speed to the second user.

It is amazing that how such a useful tool is often not used by many computer users. let’s describe its utility in a little details, if you are not too sure about what it can do for you. First a little basics.

What is DNS

DNS is and acronym for Domain Name Server, an important component of the WWW, which is generally located with your ISP and is responsible to convert a URL address into an IP address. DNS servers are like an interpreter, which allow you to convert the difficult-to-remember IP address of different websites and computers into easy-to-remember URL addresses.

What is OpenDNS, and Why should you use it

OpenDNS is an open source DNS server, which anybody can use bypassing their ISP’s DNS server. You just have to make a few changes in the settings of your computer, or your router if you want to make these changes applicable for all computers in a network.

The advantage of using OpenDNS is that it constantly works with reputed security agencies like PhishTank to identify and categorize harmful and malware distributing websites and blocks their IPs. So, if you un-intentionally try to visit any such website, then it will block your access and provide security to your PC.

Getting a little boost in your speed is an added advantage with using OpenDNS.

That is not all. You get a free account also at OpenDNS and you can easily configure the types and categories of websites, you want to filter away.

Which Type of Websites are Filtered by OpenDNS

OpenDNS divides websites in different categories and you can choose which of them to block based upon your preference and requirements. Following categories are available:

1. Adware: Sites that distribute applications which display advertisements without user’s knowledge or choice. Does NOT include sites which serve advertising.
2. Alcohol: Sites about alcohol use, commercial and otherwise.
3. Chat: Sites where you can chat in real-time with groups of people. Includes IRC.
4. Classifieds: Sites for buying and selling (or bartering) goods and services.
5. Dating: Sites for meeting other people.
6. Drugs: Sites about illegal or recreational drug use.
7. File storage: Sites that offer space for hosting, sharing and backup of digital files.
8. Gambling: Sites that offer gambling or information about gambling.
9. Games: Sites that offer game play and information about games (news, tips, cheat codes).
10. Hate/Discrimination: Sites that promote intolerance based on gender, age, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or other group identities.
11. Instant messaging: Sites that offer access or software to communicate in real-time with other individuals.
12. P2P/File sharing: Sites that facilitate the sharing of digital files between individuals, especially via peer-to-peer software, including torrent sites.
13. Social networking: Sites that promote interaction and networking between people.
14. Video sharing: Sites for sharing video content.
15. Visual search engines: Sites for searching for images based on keywords.
16. Weapons: Sites about weapons, commercial and otherwise.
17. Webmail: Sites that offer the ability to send or receive email.
18. Photo sharing: Sites for sharing photographs, as individual images, galleries and albums.
19. Adult Themes: Sites that are adult in nature and are not defined in other rating categories. Note: This category should only be turned on if you want to be very restrictive on your network.
20. Tasteless: Sites that contain information on such subjects as mutilation, torture, horror, or the grotesque.
21. Lingerie/Bikini: Sites displaying or dedicated to lingerie/bikini that could be considered adult-only.
22. Proxy/Anonymizer: Sites providing proxy bypass information or services. Also, sites that allow the user to surf the net anonymously, including sites that allow the user to send anonymous emails.
23. Sexuality: Sites that provide information, images or implications of bondage, sadism, masochism, fetish, beating, body piercing or self-mutilation.
24. Nudity: Sites that provide images or representations of nudity.
25. Pornography: Anything relating to pornography, including mild depiction, soft pornography or hard-core pornography.
26. Forums/Message boards: Sites with discussions, including bulletin boards, message boards and forums.
27. Phishing Protection: By enabling phishing protection, you’ll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.

Why OpenDNS is Free

You might be wondering, if OpenDNS is so useful, why it is Free? Do not they want to make money our of it? Is there any catch?

Actually, they make money with this useful free PC Security Tool, and that is a big money not to mention. Whenever you try to access a website, which is blocked, or is down / unavailable at that moment, you are offered to visit few other sites based upon search results. A few of these sites are sponsored listing and a click on these sites results into revenue generation for OpenDNS. This is their business model.

But it a win-win situation for both OpenDNS and you. You get and excellent free security for your PC and they make the money, when they provide you the security.

How to use OpenDNS

There is a useful YouTube video to give you the details.

[OpenDNS]

Internet is one of the biggest revolutions in the history of humanity. It has changed the way we live, we communicate and we learn the things.

But the darker side of Internet is that it has also opened numerous ways to cheat others, to commit frauds and take advantage of the others’ vulnerabilities. And children are most vulnerable. As a responsible parent, it is in the best interest of you family that you provide adequate measures to your family and kids, which make them safe, secure and keep them at a distance from Internet Content, that may be harmful to them. This includes access to pornographic contents, keeping a watch on the websites they use and visit, guiding them about the potential hazards of in-discriminate use of chat and IM clients and things like that.

There is no denial of the fact that the best way to Internet parenting is counseling; talking to your kids, helping them understand the potential threats lurking on Internet and help them clarify things. But still, use of additional Net Content Filters, which can block and filter websites based upon their content, as an additional layer of defense cannot be downplayed.

An important aspect with the use of these web content filter software is that you should inform your children about the use of these content filters and clarify to them that it is in their larger interests, otherwise they might take it in a negative manner, once they discover that such content blocking filter is installed on their computers.

K9 Web Protection

There are lots of algorithms and mechanisms used to restrict and block the objectionable content reaching your computer. Some of them use black-lists to block harmful websites, some of them use white-lists to allow only the safe websites and many of them use dynamic content scanning to find out which of the content may be safe for your kids to see and browse.

K9 is a popular family content filter for homes,which divides Internet content into 60 distinct categories. These categories are stored in the master Blue Coat database, through which they maintain and update more than 15 million ratings of websites and domains. A Web site will fall into one or more of these categories, based on the content of the site. To meet your particular needs and preferences, you can configure the software to block or allow specific categories.

The administration is done through a web-based control panel, which you can access from anywhere. You still have to download a small piece of code into your computer. You also have to register your computer at their website, which send you a download link to your email address.

How K9 Net Content Filter Actually Operates

The following steps describes best its operation.

1. When a web requests is sent by your browser, K9 says, “Have I asked about this website before?” K9 consults a local cache (sitting on the PC) for a rating for that site. If there’s a match, K9 doesn’t bother to query BCWF.
2. If there is no match in the local cache, K9 sends a query to BCWF: “What’s this URL rated?” BCWF consults its internal database to see if there’s a match. If so, it sends a category back to K9. (NOTE: It’s the URL, NOT the page, that gets examined at this point. Also, BCWF doesn’t know or care whether that particular instance of K9 will block or allow that site).
3. If there is no match in BCWF’s database, BCWF will fetch the page that the URL references, and do an intelligent scan on the page. Very proprietary, very cool (and completely NOT keyword-based). We call this process DRTR (Dynamic Real-Time Rating). IF DRTR can, with high confidence, determine the probable category of the site, it returns that rating.
4. If DRTR cannot with high confidence return a category, the response back to K9 is “unrated”.

Concerns about K9

There are always a few concerns about the privacy and speed of browsing. Many user have a concern about sharing the data related to their online behavior with a third party. K9 has a very clear policy in this regard and they claim that they do not record anything related to your online behavior except to the panel, where you yourself are given the details. And regarding slow speed of browsing with K9 Net content filter installed on your computer, you can be assured that it will make a very little impact of your computer’s performance, to an extent that you will not even be able to notice it.

Following a nice YouTube video, which gives details about how to download and use K9 Web Protection.

[Download K9 Web Protection]

File Sharing Tools like Kazaa, Morpheus, Bearshare, iMesh, LimeWire etc. are fun to use and play around. They provide you instant access to thousands to music files, videos, songs, software and many other things. They are hugely popular among the teens and growing up age children.

One of the most popular file sharing tools are peer-to-peer networks, or P2P networks. Some of the most popular networks are FastTrack, Gnutella, and eDonkey network. With these networks, the user downloads a program to their computer that allows them to connect to the network. Then with this program the user can search the shared media on other users’ computers and download this media from them across the Internet. These networks allow the sharing of any type of digital content, including songs, DVD-quality movies, computer programs and video games.

Risks of File Sharing Tools

The ethical issues come mostly from the concern that practitioners of file sharing may infringe property rights. There is a huge debate going on for long about the legality of sharing copyright protected material through file sharing tools.

But, as a PC Security blog, that is not our concern here.

We are more concerned about the potential harm, that can be caused in the form of malware and other threats, which get freely distributed and installed through these tools. A lot of the files available on peer to peer networks have malware hidden within them or are not the files you were expecting at all.

It is an established fact that more than half of the traffic routing through these file sharing programs is related with porn and is often used by the teen minds. They are generally rash in their online behaviour, often do not care about their Internet Security and as such, are perfect targets for the malware distributors on the prowl.

It is very easy for them to bundle a malicious code into a porn clip and start distributing it freely over such file sharing networks.

How to Avoid or Block File Sharing Software

File Sharing Sentinel is a freeware utility, which allows you to protect against the hazards posed by file sharing utilities. File Sharing Sentinel will provide you blocks the installation of most of the popular File Sharing Software, and if one is already installed on your computer, then it will prevent the operation of P2P Software.

[Download File Sharing Sentinel]