Local ISP Tiscali World Online has contracted IT network security solutions provider Securedata, an ERP.com company, to develop a customised content filtering and scanning solution that automatically blocks websites with harmful or inappropriate content. The solution, the most comprehensive of its kind and aimed at household users, is available to the ISP`s subscriber base which currently numbers over 150 000 customers.
Tiscali World Online account holders will have the ability to add, edit and remove user profiles, pre-define content, and scan for viruses. The solution called World WebScan will be made available for download on the anti-virus page of the www.worldonline.co.za portal. Built on Trend Micro technology, it includes Content Manager, Content Web Filter, Content URL Filter, and Content Scan options.
"Tiscali World Online was the first ISP to provide antivirus solutions for its subscribers, and we continue to lead the way," says Michelle Branco, B2C product and marketing manager at Tiscali World Online. "The solution will enable primary users, such as parents, to decide which types of websites other users should be allowed to view and will give them the ability to block access to objectionable content according to category. Some of the categories to choose from include violence, nudity, sexual acts, gross depictions, Satanism, drugs, gambling and alcohol."
The solution provides each Tiscali World Online home account owner with nine possible user profiles, all password-protected. Account owners or primary users can edit and remove the other eight user profiles at any time, and change their settings and permissions. The solution enables subscribers to restrict incoming content via the HTTP protocol, with the HTTP filtering database maintained by Securedata. The solution also provides URL filtering powered by a database with some 550 000 URL`s of offensive websites) and blocking and virus scanning of FTP downloads. The primary or administrative user profile has three components: user, category of website, and self-defined sites. Access to the Web is determined based on the combination of these components.
Branco says the ISP chose to work with Securedata because the company is the premier content security specialist in Africa. "Securedata has established itself as a market leader in content security. Its Internet gateway and anti-virus solutions are based on Trend Micro technology, which itself has a significant worldwide marketshare."
"In developing the solution, we focused on comprehensiveness and reliability," says Mervyn Coopen, operations director at Securedata. "By controlling website browsing, parents and other primary users can ensure that the Web is a safe place for minors. They have the peace of mind of knowing that they will not be exposed to undesirable or inappropriate content such as pornography and violence, and that they are protected from online threat." Coopen adds that the solution also protects primary users from exorbitant telephone bills by blocking access to certain sites. "The Web can be a very unsafe place," he adds. "The more ISPs strive to protect younger users from undesirable content, the less parents will have to concern themselves with content. This kind of solution also works in favour of ISPs because it make the Net a more pleasant place, rather than something that parents deny their children access to."
"More than anything else, our subscribers want peace of mind when connecting to the Internet," Branco concludes. "It is every ISP`s responsibility ensure this requirement is met."
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