There is a lot of offensive garbage that we can encounter while using our computers. Especially if you have children, you are aware of this offensive online content and would like to take steps to protect your children from viewing it or taking part in it in any way. K9 Web Protection is a free internet filter and parental control download by Blue Coat Systems. The software is fast to download and easy to use.
This software requires an administrator password. No one can uninstall it or change settings unless they know this password. With this software you can view internet activity. This page gives you an overview of the internet activity of everyone who uses the computer. With this you are able to see the category summary of what categories have been accessed and what categories have been blocked and why. This page also shows when K9 has been updated and if there has been any failed attempts to login to the system.
On the Setup Page you decide what kind of protection level you desire. Protection levels include high, default, moderate, minimal, monitor, and custom. High protects against all default-level categories plus chat, newsgroups, and un-rated sites. Default protects against all adult content, security threats, illegal activity, sexually-related sites, and online community sites. Moderate protects against all adult content, security threats, and illegal activity. Minimal protects against pornography and security threats. Monitor allows all categories and only logs traffic. Custom is used when you want to select you own set of categories to block. There are numerous categories to choose from and I found the list to be helpful and complete when choosing what to allow on my family computer.
If you prefer your children to not use the internet while you are not home or if you have older kids that will be up after you go to bed, being able to set time restrictions is effective in keeping kids off the computer when you want them off.
Web site exceptions gives you the opportunity to list sites that you always want blocked or sites that you want to always allow. Enabling time out settings when someone repeatedly has tried to access blocked pages denies access to web sites completely for your chosen amount of time. If you know you want certain keywords blocked, you can list and block those as well.
K9 offers instant support. There is a list of frequently asked questions, online “Instant Support”, and a user forum. There is a phone support system but it is not toll-free.
If you feel that something got through that should’ve been blocked, you can check or dispute a category. This allows you to submit the said website for review. It gives you an opportunity to dispute an unblocked site that you feel was inappropriate and why you thought so. K9 will review it and e-mail you with a response if you desire them to do so. K9 welcomes feedback, positive or negative.
I love the filter. It keeps most of the garbage off of my family computer. K9 is currently working on adding chat filters. I look forward to this as I find that some offensive material can come through on MySpace and Yahoo Messenger. As soon as this additional chat filter is offered I intend to use it. Chat can be a serious offender and I look forward to being able to filter out the junk from this source. The best things about this software are that it’s effective and that it’s FREE! Consider trying it on your computer. Keeping kids safe is a #1 priority for parents. Check it out at www.k9webprotection.com.
