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Ask Slashdot: Good Low Cost Free Software For Protecting Kids Online?
An anonymous reader writes "I have two kids, 7 and 8. I would love to allow them internet access on a regular basis. The problem is what's out there: I really don't want them to deal with porn ads and such, but making either a blacklist or a whitelist myself would take months. So I figured I would ask you: what free software would you use with preferably prebuilt lists to protect your kids online? What is out there with fairly easy configuration ability (to allow for game servers — they love Minecraft), but secure enough they can't just bypass it using a Google search?"
I've used it for the past 2 years. My boy just turned 9.
1 computer $40/year.
Are you really so worried about FREE or are you worried about YOUR CHILDREN?!?!?
Put the computer in the living room and smack 'em in the head when you catch them going where they shouldn't
DansGuardian, maybe.
If you're looking for software to take care of your children for you, you've already failed as a parent.
The internet is all about communication, be it with other individuals, corporations, etc.
Would you let a 7 or 8 year old talk to random people from around the world without supervision? No?
Then you may want to consider just making sure that there's a human with your children while they're using the thing, until they're at an age where you choose to trust them on their own for a bit. You'll be there to explain the odd random thing that happens.
"You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help" -- Calvin
I'm not aware of any Free software in this space, for free software you've got MS Live Family Safety (works with most browsers on Windows and some applications) and OpenDNS content filtering. I use the Live family safety on their laptops and OpenDNS on their tablets.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Ad blocker hosts file is a good free start.. doesn't stop them browsing porn though...
Educate your kids on the "bad" parts of the internet. Most of us went on the bad parts of the internet when we were growing up. You're not going to stop them from finding it. However what you can do is be a GOOD parent and educate them. You should be educating them on sex as well, since kids these days are hitting puberty earlier and finding out from their peers early on. After working in healthcare for so long, I've learned many females around age 12 had sexual encounters for reasons of peer pressure, this is inescapable as a parent. I recommend you also talk to people at family planning which can cover sexual health and prevention.
If you're a dimwitted abstinence only, then I feel sorry for your kids.
It's free for personal use.
Random Porn Ads - What kinds of sites do you visit????
On a serious note - kids wouldn't stumble on those pages - I think they would be specifically clicking on them. Set some guidelines and check the browsing history...
OpenDNS has it's limitations, but overall it's really good.
Try OpenDNS. It's got good granularity for filtering criteria and you can either filter at your router, or on a per-computer basis.
Plus, their founder has a /. UID of 17.
You'd better do something! If they see that, they'll turn into evil rapists!
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
Unless your kids are computer savvy (then nothing can stop them), that should block most everything that's of questionable content.
My father uses this software, BSecure Whole Home Filtering. Its great, you can customize the filters to your hearts content. Plus you can cover all the computers in your network by changing DNS servers on your router.
Link: http://www.bsecure.com/
& everyone I met that didn't figure out how to was a fucking creepy sexually-fustrated 20-year-old virgin that begs people to send them porn files. Don't be a dick, just give your kids the talk, maybe keep the computer in a public space, & warn them about 4chan. Or maybe use the threat of a keylogger running as a service.
I installed Symantec Norton antivirus and use Norton Family (no extra cost). I've used it very successfully for my two daughters' computers for everything except YouTube for the past 3 years. Because I don't want to block youtube entirely, they can only watch it while being supervised. Also, their computers are in the family room, not their bedrooms. As they get older, I gradually lighten the restrictions. Many activities can be monitored when not restriced and regular reports are emailed of questionable website visits, etc.
127.0.0.1 block.this.com (there are tons of blacklists, pick one or several and add an entry for each,... You should only need wget, sed and other basics) Puppy linux has an example, but could use a better selection of lists.
Sorry but software is useless at protecting children. If something slips through they need to know how to handle it. Putting them on the Internet doesn't mean letting them browse any site they like but it does mean learning to deal with popups, and advertising including the most unsavoury kinds. As with all security, obscurity is not the answer. As others have pointed out you'll need to sit there and supervise. That doesn't mean watching every click, but it does mean being in the same room and looking at the screen from time to time at the very least.
You might consider BlueCoat K9 web filtering. Free for home users.
I've used K9 Web Protection for years. http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ It's free and does a pretty good job. I also setup my wireless router to use OpenDNS as an added layer of protection for any of my kids friends who may bring something over and connect to our wireless network. It's not foolproof, but you can setup a filter level and it does a decent job of stopping "accidental" clicks.
There is free software right now, and the marvelous thing is that it's already installed on the best computer in the world.
It's called the human brain and maternal instinct.
You really need to give us more details.
What OS are you using?
If you have a Mac you can use the Parental Controls tab in the System Tools to lock them down, restrict apps, restrict access to adult sites and even the time of day and length of time they can use the computer.
Works great and is included for free.
But I think you meant censor them, didn't you?.
Just because they are kids doesn't mean they aren't human, and it doesn't mean they don't have the same rights as everyone else. I never understood this censor the kids bullshit. Putting a veil on "the things that are out there" won't make them go away, and your kids will still have to deal with all of that real soon. Think hiding it from them for a few years will help them when they find "what is out there" in a dark alley? Or are you going to keep them forever in their little pink rooms?
Censoring access to information to kids is the worst kind of parenting you can do. Guide them, that's quite different. Be there for them as they discover the world, don't try to hide it from them because it won't work.
If you find them watching porn, tell them they'll have plenty of time to do that when they are older. When I was a kid the internet wasn't around yet, but that didn't prevent me from checking out the plumbing on my female cousin, and letting her explore mine. It didn't prevent me from checking out some boobs on my moms medical magazines, or from getting up in the middle of the night to watch 9 1/2 weeks. And I was barely your kids age, and I'm sure you did the same things. And that didn't screw us up, or destroyed our minds, or any other crap that the media will have you believe. Would you censor your kids access to your library? Hell no. Then why would you censor their internet access?
Sure, they might find some porn, but they'll also find wikipedia. Just be there to help them sort it out.
WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
K9 webprotect from blue coat is free and better than the paid alternatives
http://dansguardian.org/
Firefox, AdBlockPro, Noscript, and the computer in the living room.
If they are old enough that they will specifically use google to get their way around a block, maybe they will be old enough to find what they want to find.
I can say that if I was on the web at that age and I couldn't see something, I assumed I couldn't get it. If somehow I really wanted to see something and I knew it was out there, I would get it. And while I can never be sure how my life would have turned out if I wasn't able to find some of the things I did find, I don't think it hurt me much to find what I wanted to find.
Face it, you only need something to stop them from accidentally going somewhere online, not from trying to get there. If they can't see something they want to see and know exists, maybe you should talk to your children and tell them why you don't want them to do x.
Do you really think a parent hovers around their kid 24/7?
DansGuardian doing transparent proxying on a Linux router, combined with ClamAV and some freely available blacklists, updated via cron. We even had it setup to display random related LOLcats as a cute 'block' page to when going to a spam/malware/phish/porn site... 'censor kitty does not approve of these shananigans' and such.
I use the "public terminal in the living room" method of child internet control for my 9 and 13 year olds.
I do not use this, but I reviewed it and found it to be sound. Friends have used it for their problem children...or parenting skills...
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
Blue coat is a well respected company in security.
You know what parenting is all about? Its about getting your kids prepared for the real world, and not have it hit them like a brick at 18, or whenever you choose to let them off the leash. Its about teaching them respect. allowing them to make their own decisions, but being their to support them when (because of lack of experience), they make make the wrong ones.
If you ban them from the internet unless you're there watching their every move and making sure they're not looking at bad stuff, then they're gonna end up hating you with a passion. Using the internet in secret around their mates house, loosing any kind of respect for you.
... free as in "free lunch"?
You know, there's a difference...
Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
One possibility is http://dansguardian.org/
It is filtering based and there are community maintained blacklists and whitelists for it for different audiences.
Good luck and as much involvement as you can have in their internet use to teach sensible web use will be beneficial as well.
Wax on, wax off baby!
That is, do the things you would normally do to secure your own machine from malware, intrusive advertising, and vulnerabilities.
Use the hosts file to block certain domains from being accessible.
Install ad-blocking extensions for your web browser.
Install NoScript or some other JavaScript blocking extension.
Don't give the kids account administrative privileges.
If possible, run an operating system that doesn't permit them to install their own software.
Turn on whatever parental controls are available in the OS.
Keep it patched and up-to-date.
Beyond that, the question is really a matter of sitting down and having an honest discussion with your kids. You can supervise them if you want to come across as overbearing, but really, the single best thing you can do is to be someone they feel they can trust and share whatever questions they may have. The reality is that the world is full of weird and disturbing and dangerous shit. It's not possible, or even desirable, to try to protect them from being exposed to such things forever. Rather, teach them how to judge for themselves, and encourage them to come to you for advice. If you cannot build trust and respect, you have already lost. They will simply learn to hide things from you.
Finally, there's something to be said for simply not giving them unsupervised network access. When I was that age, I didn't play online video games. I didn't have the luxury of playing Minecraft or whatnot. And I was happy to have what I did. The more quality time you spend with your kids, the less they will feel a need for things like television, mobile phones, iPads, and the internet. It means bringing them up to read paper books. Going outside and getting exercise. Getting them interested in crafts or other creative pursuits that build fine motor control and dexterity. Teaching them how to use their imaginations and developing their critical thinking skills. Could you do these things with computers and modern technology? Sure. Is it easier? Not necessarily.
It's free (mostly) and it's really good. Easy to administer and they will find it very, very hard to work around.
Blocks protocols, porn, bittorrent, msn, etc and you can chose what to block by protocol, by type, filter email, view logs of what people are doing, the works.
So any kids that are allowed to read Slashdot, here's what you do:
1. Get all your friends around the world to install Psiphon on Windows or Android.
2. Connect to each other as proxies
3. PROFIT!
You can use OpenDNS "Family Shield" for free: http://blog.opendns.com/2010/06/23/introducing-familyshield-parental-controls/
All you need is to change your DNS settings.
{{.sig}}
... like the poster said .... by just having the computer in a location where the parent can check the kid easily is enough, along with usage control (ie: can't use it unless there is an adult in the room). They don't have to "hover around 24/7".
Lazy/irresponsible parents always think that taking care of their kids is impossible without a "nanny".
A few years ago when my kids were that age, Club Penguin, Webkins, Disney Channel and just a few others were all the rage. I fail to see how it takes months to come up with a white list. Dozens if sites would take all of a few minutes to type up. I also created email addresses for them on a domain I registered for our family and whitelisted all inbound email in an "OK List" for their accounts. Any email that was sent to them who's sender wasn't in that list got a bounce that stated "I'm sorry, I don't know you yet. Tell $childs_name to give your email address to her dad so she can get your mail". Otherwise, K9 Web Protection is free and works well for the www stuff. It's at least a good starting point.
When I was a working for a school I ran DansGuardian with Squid. You could look at OpenDNS also.
I discuss internet safety on twitter for a living and family related internet safety because one can't help but get involved. I don't have any specific recommendation for blocking software as I don't use such myself. My child just uses the internet under our supervision and hasn't run into any porn yet. However, what I think you really want for your child is a place where they can safely go and will learn to be a responsible net citizen. For that I recommend checking out Yoursphere. It is a social site designed to be safe for childern. The link in the subject is their intro for parents. I'd also check out "ilookbothways.com" as a place to start educating yourself.
Do you really think a parent hovers around their kid 24/7?
Do you really think a kid should surf the net 24/7?
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Helicopter parenting FTW!
Or not... i've seen kids who's parents watch carefully over their shoulders all their childhood. They don't make good adults.
Good that you know this. Too bad there's an entire generation out there that's been raised by government, and are now happily bricking out at the age of 18. Enjoy!
Om, nomnomnom...
If they are able to get online then they are old enough to explain the birds and the bees.
Do your job and stop worrying about censoring them. There is NO WAY you are going to protect them against all things you feel are dangerous or nasty. If the kids don't see it online in your home they'll see it at a friends house.
...price: free. You need also to tell your router/firewall not to accept http/https/ftp from other sources than the squid server.
However... you can't protect your kids from free content of the net, you don't know what they do outside your home.
They will have more use of guidance than blocking.
I have kids of my own
I love them
I like to think of ways to protect them
But I also know that I simply can't protect them 24/7
Instead, I teach them ways to protect themselves
I teach them how to discern the good from the bad, the right from the wrong, and why something are "Right", and others are "Wrong"
Services like "Net Nanny" (and others) can only give an illusion of "protection" - and parents all over, always like the feeling of instant gratification, that "My Kids Are Protected"
Sure, I am worry about the safety of my kids, but I prefer to let them learn, from the real world, rather than creating an artificial green-house so that my kids are insulated from the real world out there
Perhaps my approach is wrong
Perhaps I am a bad dad
But that's what I did, and that's what I do, and what I will do, for my children, whom I adore !!
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
It's been mentioned before on here, but I had to chime in. Windows Live Family Safety is an exceptional product; free, and very complete. I have three kids (15, 14, and 7) and it allows me to setup each kids access individually. You are limited to Windows, but my kids are probably in a similar situation to most where they're using Windows at school already, so it wasn't a teaching experience to tell my 7-year old she has to hit Ctrl+Alt+Del before she puts in her username and password :). Good luck, and good for you trying to protect your kids. There are too many parents that are either ignorant (the literal definition, not an insult), naive (that is a small insult), or too lazy (blatant insult) to protect their kids.
There is probably a decent list of domains out there that you can put in your hosts file so that lookups for these fail. I assume you're more concerned about accidental adverts and such, which is a fair concern considering how many sites have em.
I went through this last year when I gave my old netbook to my 6-year-old grand-niece, and settled on Kiddix http://kiddix-computing.com/, a specialised Gentoo distribution for kids. It's good, lightweight, and well-maintained. Basically plug-and-play for non-tech parents (like my niece and nephew-in-law). The grand-niece loves it, and I don't get bothered with tech questions. :)
kidzui. It is a browser you install for kids. They can only access approved content. You get reports and can see where they go. It has a ton of kids focused sites/videos/games just for kids.
I have worked with parents who use ProCon. You can use whitelists and/or filter by keywords. Occasionally it gets a little aggressive. I remember it blocking a site due to this phrase: "Over 21 New Pokemon".
Bluecoat has a free (for home use) product that uses the same filters as their enterprise products. I've installed it on my own home computers and those of friends and family. Might be what you are looking for. http://www1.k9webprotection.com/get-k9-web-protection-free
I highly recommend using the Privoxy content filtering proxy server. Since using it I can't recall ever "accidentally" having come across a porn site and the ad-free experience makes browsing the internet much more tolerable. You can also add your own filters based on host names, partial URIs and even funky things like image dimensions (to block out banner ads from specific providers) and it has the ability to strip GIF animations down to their first frame (no annoying blinky/flashy adverts). You can also define exceptions so that ad-supported web sites you approve of can still display their non-invasive ads and/or certain banking sites aren't fucked-up by having their Javascript blocked (why aren't they on SSL anyway?).
All of my desktop computers and mobile devices use it - it's particularly amusing to see how insistent some mobile apps are trying to get their advertising - especially Angry Birds, which tries about 8 different FQDNs and IP addresses before giving up and letting you play anyway.
Even with Privoxy, though, you cannot replace supervising your children's online time. I also recommend *not* allowing computers and connected mobile devices to wander off into bedrooms, etc. - make sure your kids are in the lounge/kitchen area where you can keep an eye on them.
http://www.currentware.com/browsecontrol/ It's a free trial but it is $80 for a license.
Control Internet Access
URL White List
URL Black List
Block social networking
Restrict downloading of video and audio files
Block Chats, Games or Offensive Applications
I've two kids of my own and, amazingly enough, I was a kid once as well.
Monitoring and Filtering software is rubbish. All it does is create an artificial wall that your kids will see as a "forbidden" area. You are a /. user which means, most likely, you are a smart guy. That means your kids are probably smart too. Putting up a program like this - your kids will see a challenge and go out of their way to break/circumvent it. It's what I would have done as a kid...
Communicate with your kids. Educate them. Explain to them about the internet and life in general. There are things and places that are not good for them now and it's best if they don't go there. But do it in a way that doesn't insult their intelligence. Amazingly enough, education and communication work. Will they maybe end up with a nasty pop-up on screen? Maybe. But that might happen even with NetNanny installed.
Treat your kids like people, tell them of the dangers, explain WHY those things are dangers, and give them alternatives.
PS: No - I am not some, "Think of the children", bleeding heart freak. My kids have been spanked on occasion, they've been grounded, and done plenty wrong. They are kids. Shit happens. But by treating them like people and not pets, the shit that has happened has been minor and far less than most of my "Time-out" peers.
There is a home-use version of the Astaro firewall you can run on a box at home. We use an Astaro for filtering/blocking sites for a school division, with special hardware, but when the time comes, this has been high on my list to try. I understand that the home-use edition is free, yet still allows you to set different filtering levels (ex. block porn, allow social networking), and has automatically updating blacklists.
Hmm... Looks like it is not called the Sophos UTM Home Edition. http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-utm-home-edition.aspx
I have been using it for a while. It is generally fairly easy to set most home routers to get their DNS from OpenDNS. Once it's set up, all you computers on your home network get their DNS from there. It's fairly easy to choose from some pre-built blacklists. If the pre-built lists don't work quite right for you, it's pretty easy to whitelist and blacklist individual sites as needed.
Have you looked at K9 web protection? I find it very useful.
But if you do run Windows try the parental controls? If you update to Windows Live 2011 if your system has an older version it has additional settings. It works fairly well and if your kid needs to view a website he or she can email you to grant permission for custom white lists.
If I really want to be modded down I would suggest to go to IE add-ons for white lists for flash to get rid of porn ads and protect yourself. They may exist for Firefox too or Chrome with some add ons refering to the same lists but I have not tried it on those browsers. IE 9 if it is the only one that can do that is a good browser in this day and age as it is not 6 and integrates well with Parental control and Windows Live family Safety.
I believe Apple has a similar program but I have never tried it out.
http://saveie6.com/
I love how everyone on here is acting as if they never looked at porn when they were young. We're all nerds here, I'm sure we can all agree that getting any in real life was difficult enough.
Every bit as important as protecting your children from learning The Way Of A Man With A Woman is to protect their privacy so that those who would take advantage of their naïveté don't serve them targeted web ads.
If you think it's a drag for your toddler to demand Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs Because Breakfast Is The Most Marketable Meal Of The Day, just wait until Google Analytics is able to determine beyond a shadow of a doubt that for eight year old wants to be a Nuclear Weapons Designer someday.
To determine the hostnames of all the one pixel transparent GIF and one byte JavaScript file servers, install Apple's Safari browser. It's bundled on Mac OS X but is a free as in beer download if You Have Been Assimilated. I don't know whether Safari works under Wine on Linux but I expect it would if you tried.
From the Window Menu select Activity, then visit a popular commercial site. The Activity Window lists the file size as well as the full URL of each individual file that goes into a page.
Watch out particularly for 43 byte documents whose URLs are chock full of query parameters. Those are one pixel GIFs, more commonly known as web bugs.
Be skeptical of all content of any sort that is not hosted at the very same second and top level domains as the page you are visiting. Damn near every such external resource is some form of spyware. Adobe Systems and Goigle are the very worst offenders.
Map all of the ad and Analytics servers you can find to 127.0.0.1 in your /etc/hosts if you use UNIX. Windows has a hosts file as well but I don't recall it's path. Alternatively you could block them with your nameservers or firewall their IPs.
127.0.0.1 stats.adbrite.com
127.0.0.1 metrics.cnn.com
127.0.0.1 googleads.a.double-click.net
127.0.0.1 www.google-analytics.com
The very worst offenders are political candidates and the larger nonprofit organizations.
I have hundreds of the Web Bug servers in my own /etc/hosts. Real Soon Now I'll post the lot of it at
http://www.dulcineatech.com/tips/privacy/
I expect I can do that tonight.
I'll be maintaining the original at http://svn.dulcineatech.com/
Michael David Crawford, Process Architect
Dulcinea Technologies Corporation
http://www.dulcineatech.com/mdc/
mike@dulcineatech.com
That's easy. If you have the current Windows operating system installed, it has a built in feature for this. It's called Parental Controls. Found in Control Panel.
APK, can you recommend a way to filter out everything APK has ever written? Links welcome.
..and IT guy and linux guy. Kids ( 13 & 11 ) run windows ( WoW and Minecraft.. and ipods and itunes giftcards from the grandparents.. sue me. ) So while yes, I could whip up a linux solution with one of the copious free bits of kit I have hanging around and yes, I'd enjoy fiddling with it for hours on end, I opted for K9 Web Protection. Free, 5 minutes to set up on each pc and damn if it doesn't really work great.
What I like is the levels of granularity- block entire categories but add exceptions as the kids come across a page that I deem acceptable- they have to come to me and make the case for allowing a particular website. Plus the time restrictions work as expected- it severs their connection at bedtime. Bonus - it blocks web ads.
I recommend it to my clients all the time when asked the same question.
You could try the software at kidoff.com.
SafeSquid is an excellent place to start: Complete web filtering, super control panel, very fine grain adjustments available.
I contacted them for my 7 kids and they gave me a complimentary license for home use.
A simple browsing protection could be implemented using the web of trust.
I thought the same way you did-- concern over my kids, hands wringing, brow sweating...
Then I had a revelation-- I could just install MY CLEAN PC! and it was truly the answer to all my
-- aaah, f**k it. Nevermind.
Instead of loading something on one PC, they'll eventually have multiple devices that connect to the internet in your home. Why not load up an old box with pfsense (www.pfsense.org) and then use the content filtering that's possible with the invisible proxy filter. This makes it very difficult to get around and will protect all devices. You can even make exceptions for your own person equipment so you don't have anything you visit being blocked. I use this for customers all the time as a great free FOSS alternative to paid software and it works great.
We've got the computer in the living room. The occasional porn add or google spam did pop up. We didn't mind since it was obviously accidental on the kids'part but it bothered the kids so they approached me for a solution. Firefox, addblock and foxfiltre help a lot. Registering with google and youtube (dummy account!) and setting the preferences to safe did the rest. They can surf the net without supervision, they know I do random checks of the browser's history and everyone's happy.
Go to Amazon and search for Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and order a 3 license copy for $19.95 (I just checked, it's still $19.95 there vs $70 or so).
Then download the free trial version from kaspersky.com. Set the password... Setup parental controls, usage windows, etc...
When your box version arrives use the activation codes that come with it.
Kaspersky Antivirus. Cheap, safe, no dirty tricks (like saying that you have malware when you don't have, just to make you subscribe for one more year), and has parental control.
I use it along with my Untangle box, works VERY well, all for free.
The fact is, none of this parental control software is foolproof... It will always let the odd thing through, and if its purely software based rather than running on a separate network device then it's not exactly hard for someone with physical access to the machine to bypass it.
Kids have a natural desire to do new things, especially things which are forbidden.
Instead you want to educate the kids.
If it's not a forbidden subject then younger kids will have no interest in things like porn...
They will encounter questionable content themselves sooner or later, better that they be prepared for it under an environment controlled by their parents than stumble into it unprepared and on their own.
That kids will see things like porn and violence isn't the biggest concern, it generally won't interest them and they will just move on unless you make a big deal about it... The biggest concern is grooming pedophiles, and these won't be found on the porn sites targeted by software filters, they will be found on the online forums and chat services which are actually aimed at kids.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
This... but download the trial from Kaspersky's site and then go to Amazon.. order Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 3 Licenses for $19.95. Use the activation codes that come in the box instead of buying from Kaspersky's site.
You can block apps, use lists, control usages times etc... way better than free offerings.
There IS NO SOFTWARE SOLUTION that will keep your kids safe on the 'net.
Period.
You'll simply have a *very* false sense of security, a hole in your time/budget, and kids that learn first that you're not very smart, and second, that the game to play is "find ways around limitations my parents set for me". That, and they'll also quickly learn all about "two girls, one cup", "lemonparty", and probably "goatse" as well.
Either be around when they're using the 'net, or turn the damn thing *off*, and tell them to do something else. It's really not that hard.
Sure, you won't be "cool". You might not be your kid's "friend" any more, at least for a while. They might even tell you "I HATE you!!".
Suck it up. YOU are the adult here. YOU set rules & limits. You're supposed to be a parent, not their buddy. Your job isn't being "cool". Your job is doing "parent" things, like make unpopular decisions that they may not understand for years yet, if ever.
Try setting rules that they're not to go online without a parent around. Take a crucial cable with you, or lock it up, when you're not there. Put the computer in the family/living room.
You have to decide whether the time you spend doing things other than supervise your children's 'net use is more important than they are. Software can't do it. It's just there to salve your conscience with illusion, and make money from your guilt.
This isn't rocket surgery.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Indeed. You end up with people like me.
Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood...
^_^
I am John Hurt.
My own observations with kids hating their parents is that unless the hatred is bordering on homicidal, then they generally eventually learn to get over it. And, in fact, after some time has passed (by my observations, typically between ages 20 to 25 or so) they can often see that their parents were actually just looking out for them, and can even be genuinely grateful for just knowing they had a parent that cared enough about them to seriously stop them from doing stuff that they could not have possibly realized how bad it was at the time, and it is only in full hindsight that they can often see their parents for what they truly were... somebody who has always and will always love them.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Talk to your kids.
It's right there, "Nanny". If you're going to pay someone else to raise your children for you, why bother having them at all?
Children aren't some kind of exotic pet that you can stick into kennels when you don't feel like looking after them.
I have kids, 4, 6 and 13.
I am a computer nerd, and work on a computer all day. I love my gadgets.
My kids don't have a computer.
They are allowed to use the family computer, when supervised. Sometimes games for the little ones, or videos (entertainment or educational). The older one, of course, does research for school work, etc.
They are absolutely not allowed on Facebook. Period. This has been a major issue for the older one.
I look at it the same way I look at real life. I wouldn't let them walk the streets (even in my nice neighborhood) alone, why would I let them wander the internet alone? They may play in the yard or at a known and trusted neighbor's yard, supervised by other adults. This is analogous to a website I know and trust.
I don't lock all the doors in the daytime or keep them on leashes or make them wear blinders and earplugs and sometimes they hear bad words (I've got a potty mouth) or subjects they arent ready for. So we explain to them why its not ok for them, and maybe even I should try not to say bad words.
Facebook, for the older child, is a particular bone of contention. I look at Facebook the way I Iook at a bar. I wouldn't let my kid hang out in a bar alone either, or for that matter, even the local coffee shop I frequent.
Its just common sense.
I'm also against much computer use at a really young age. Little kids should be running around, playing with legos, learning how to socialize, etc. Not playing video games.
I really wonder sometimes, if computers had been what they are today when I was kid, if I would have ever learned to program one...
-- Senior Software Engineer, Attorney appearance services, locallawyerapp.com.
I bought my niece (12) and nephew (11) laptops for Christmas, and I had the same problem. If you're running Windows as well, I found the answer in MS Windows Family Safety. As others have mentioned, a filter isn't really a replacement for parenting. I fully expect that when the boy's hormones start running wild he'll find a way to see boobs, and I'm not losing sleep over that. This (and MSE, and no admin access) keeps them reasonably safe from accidental malware installs.
It's also nice for time limits. Set a time to keep them from getting stupid on YouTube all night. They're told they'll be logged off 15 minutes prior, and they're logged off at the appropriate time. Their login is basically not functional, but you can still log in with your account. The filters are nice too -- you can manually white/blacklist sites (and occasionally some strange things are blocked for no reason -- Google searches will sometimes be blocked even though safesearch is forced on) or use their categories. The girl is currently banned from social networking as she went batshit crazy on Facebook. This wipes out FB, Myspace, etc. It also kills all webmail, though they have Google accounts (on my domain) and Google is whitelisted for that.
You can configure and monitor everything from anywhere with an internet connection. It's not perfect, and again not a replacement for parenting, but it's "free" (with a valid Windows license) and definitely "good enough."
Not wishing to interrupt the bickering about whether children watching people fisting each other is a good or bad idea but you could try:
Squid + SquidGuard + Whatever lists you want from http://dsi.ut-capitole.fr/blacklists/
Not the easiest to set up but the lists are just plain text (with some regexs if you really want) so you can block/unblock what you want.
Or maybe Smoothwall: http://www.smoothwall.org/ might be easier, it will do this and much more besides.
You can all carry on now.
I've just been doing this using dansguardian and squid with some extra blacklists+voodoo for a primary school (ages 5-11) these last two weeks. See http://linuxcentre.net/wiki/index.php/Web_Content_Filtering . Personally I find this kind of filtering not completely effective - even the best commercial filters out there are no better in 'protecting' the kids. This was a lot of effort for 100+ children. You probably wouldn't want to go to so much trouble for a home setup. However, the above link does represent a real-life setup and not just a theoretical setup.
OpenDNS, without a doubt, would work for you. It's free for what you are wanting to use it for. You can pick and choose what type of content is okay or just lock it down. It replaces your ISP's DNS settings in your router. Probably all your computers and devices get their DNS settings via DHCP from the router, so that would be the only setting needed. Not software, and they are probably way to young to be defeating it with custom DNS settings on their client machine.
Just don't do it. You are playing into the hands of all the fear mongers. We have enough problems dealing with the people who actually believe it's all necessary to save the children as it is without encouraging them.
Go to google images, search for anything, turn safe search off.... porn.
There is also Google Cache which can be used for most sites which appears to filters as if you are browsing google.
I guess what I'm saying here is that even if you use a filter program unless it block google (and most other search engines) your kids will still be able to easily access porn and almost anything else they want to.
I installed both (on Ubuntu server) and added an inline virus scanner (ClamAV) module to DansGuardian as well. DG also has pre-made blacklists available to save you a TON of time setting them up. It did take a little while to configure but it's been stable and effective (sometimes a little TOO effective for the older kids).
EVERYTHING that is OFFLINE : Commodore/Amiga/BBC/ZX ...
I simply don't think that 9 year olds should be using the Internet unsupervised. But I definitely think that children should not have TV sets in their rooms. (In fact, the majority view of my children is not to have TV in the house).
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Probably said a thousand times but here comes again:
Using a filtering software has a very limited use - sure, it can block porn ads (but so does adblock) on torrent sites and you can easily block chat sites you don't want your kids hanging in. But - this works for a very limited time. I would say a few years max just in the 7--10 age - if at that. Then they find out that hey, they can access the blocked sites at their friends house or at library, and while it has been previously forbidden it must me exciting and they want to find out what it is.
So put the computer in the living room. Give them privacy over time (room to write personal messages without observation on Facebook etc. when they demonstrate that they can act responsibly) as they mature. If they screw up educate, and encourage them to report online bullying or inappropriate behavior without the feat that *they* are disciplined. Sure, they will see a few porn images if they are interested - you can't watch them every second. But kids did see those back in the day from porn mags in the garage of someone who's dad had a stash piled up there. It will not destroy their mental health or anything. Just educate them on the real threats - do not meet strangers from chat rooms without adult present, as you would not meet a stranger from the street in private, this stuff is easy and easily taught when you do not over-mystify it.
If my 8 year old develops interest in hardcore porn, I'll be surprised, but I won't prevent him from viewing it. Fact is, seeing people combining their body parts in interesting and novel ways has no damaging effect on anyone's "fragile psyche" unless you stress about it and make it a taboo. I'll just ask him to not discuss this at school, because other kids might be from far less civilized families.
Side-stepping the 'be a better parent' comments... (yes, I have kids, no I can't supervise them all the time...)
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/blue-coat-webfilter - It's not oss, but it's free for personal use
Password protected filtering, easily configured categories... The kids occasionally see a puppy on the screen with a friendly message, and anything you want to remove from the filter can be whitelisted.
NBIAR
When my kids (now 7 and 4, and perfectly fine without censoring) become rebellious, I'll just use reverse psychology and tell them they should look up more porn sites ;)
IPCOP. If you have an old computer lying about, you can set it up as a firewall, with a transparent proxy using Dan's Guardian as a web filter.
I like to educate the kids instead of protecting them like you!
I really love club dresses ,
Safe Eyes (now owned by McAffee) and OpenDNS, along with a good firewall/rules on the computer. Safe Eyes only runs I think on OSX and Windows, so if you're a Linux man, you're out of luck here.
I've been happy with Safe Eyes as I've used it at the orphanage I volunteer at to reduce bandwidth (by blocking heavy video/music sites as well as to help monitor computers used by our older residents). They're pretty family friendly and they've donated the last couple years of subscription for us.
All in all, personally teaching and investing time in parenting and supervising what is done on the computer is a must. Placing computers in a high traffic area in the house and giving restrictions on when to use it aren't bad ideas either.
--- b2b.mallaidh.org | www.mallaidh.org | www.kidsalive.org/article/kahlil-pfaff/
1) Kids will figure out ways to get around software 2) Simple solution: only allow computer/tablet/laptop use in living room or other public area of house. We have our computer / wi-fi access point only accessible from this room = no need for software, and the family can stay together even when surfing net 3) Better than software is to teach your kids what is right and wrong
I have small kids.
What I did:
Install Firefox + Adblock Plus , that will get rid of porn ads, etc
Set up the PC to use the free DNS filter from OpenDNS :
OpenDNS DNS FamilyShield servers:
208.67.222.123
208.67.220.123
Also, he uses a computer with Linux, so no malware, only the games I pre setup for them (ZSNES, Mame, Sega Emulator, etc)
All I ask is that you later post the IP logs of the people that were actually dumb enough to download a zipped exe file from a link in a slashdot comment.
Apart from the obvious "don't let software parent your kids", with all the associated problems that brings, why not just do something simple?
Install VNC on the machine (use the modes where the icon is not visible and you may not quit the client). Tell them you can see their screen from anywhere, even on your phone. Demonstrate it by putting their computer screen onto the living room TV. Tell them you're watching everything they do and if they break your established rules (no chatrooms, no contact with strangers, NO GOOGLE for a start - it is NOT kid-safe, even with SafeSearch, etc.) you'll punish them.
Hell, tell them you are recording it onto your computer so you can play it back later and anything they do on the machine can be used in evidence against them.
It doesn't mean you actually HAVE to do all that (but it might not be a bad idea to just flick over or review history occasionally at least), just put the fear of it into them so that the only infractions are going to be accidental and unavoidable anyway.
I work IT in schools, there is no perfect filter, and certainly not a free one, and they will see worse things on your authorised sites than they will anywhere else, and they shouldn't be going on Google at all (we force safe-search in this school, and have OpenDNS filtering, and have internal filters too, and still we get 6-year-olds hitting on perfectly innocent searches that return undesirable results).
Don't rely on software to do your job. Either accept that it won't (and thus is pretty useless, and you might as well just let them loose and rely on their common sense and ingrained discipline - you DO instil discipline in your children, yes?), or do the job yourself.
Install a second monitor in the living room, next to the TV, and have it mirroring their display (wherever they happened to be - VNC or a HDMI over standard network cable is hardly difficult) all the time, and enforce logon restrictions so they CAN'T use it when you're not around or in the middle of the night.
But, to be honest, what I'd really do is just tell them the PC can only be used while I'm there, and in sight of me. And only after a big, long "family meeting"-type talk to draw their attention to the problems I would have with them breaching my laid-down rules on what they can do on it. I probably *don't* need to look at the screen at all. But I would, just to show them I do check up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtooth_%28film%29
The man asked a speciffic question asking for particular information. I've just read tens of comments lecturing him on how to parent his children and I can tell most of the respondants are not even parents.
The thing that was not found was a useful answer to his question. Why do we always want to tell others how to live THEIR lives.
I've found a fairly simple solution.
I set up an extra router for the kids. This router forwards OpenDNS as the DNS server. I've setup OpenDNS to only allow the sites that I allow them to access without supervision. OpenDNS also provides reports of what sites were attempted to be resolved.
When the kids want to play an online game (or do some other activity that we believe should be supervised), they have to bring their laptops downstairs to the family room where we can watch them and connect an ethernet cable to our main router.
I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
...Eyeball Mk. I. You should supervise children that young on the internet at ALL TIMES.Reliance on software or any other technology to babysit for you is an invitation for FAILURE.
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Opendns. Free and easy
1. it is a bit amusing how you start with porn as the most dangerous thing your kids can face. You should probably be a LOT more concerned about who they communicate with and give their personal information to as starters.
2. sit in front of the computer with them. let them browse, have discussions on safe behavior as well as the potential of what you can do online. Your children will have to deal with what is out there outside your control sooner or later and this will benefit them a lot more than any blocking software.
This is not a problem that can be solved by technology. At least not until we have strong AI.
This young, try to get them to do only (at least loosely) supervised browsing. Talk to them about what they may find and how it relates to reality. The rationale is that very soon they will managed to get unsupervised access. You cannot protect them by shielding them, only by putting the stuff they may find into perspective and a context. Don't try to forbid them access, they will find a way.
As to how to do that at that age, e.g. porn is basically visual fairy-tale-style material. Tell them it is not real, but all acted. But don't worry about simple nudity, it is not a danger to kids. Violence is possible less of a problem, with what can be found on TV. Religion is dangerous to kids, but the fairy-tale explanation could work well. Politics they will not understand, hopefully.
And make sure they trust you enough to talk to you is something troubles them.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
You raise a point, still the massive left-over anger from completely clashing with my dad over how one should live your life was so huge by 21 that when I felt he was making a mistake in a decision about a much younger sibbling - we had a fall-out so big I didn't even visit my parents again for 6 years.
What if one of them, or me, had died in that time ?
Now 14 years after I left school - we get along fine, I live my life exactly the way I said I wanted to when I was 14, the difference - now my dad cannot tell me not to.
I knew he had good intentions, boys who die their hair pink on one side and blue on the other have a harder time getting jobs in his world-view (but I don't have that problem because I have a sufficiently impressive resume that employers really don't give a damn what I look like - especially since my work isn't customer-facing).
Over the years, he even came to adopt some of my ideas - especially in terms of artistic expression and the need for that to be uncensored even by yourself.
We got along great until I hit puberty, then we didn't actually get along at all again until I was so old and successfull that he stopped trying to tell me how to live. Now I can happily ask his advice about many things - things where he has experience I lack (I bought my first house a few months ago, he's had a few - of course I had him help me go over the contracts and check that the deal was above board and the house was really what it appeared to be).
I also grew up enough that when a while ago he said to me "maybe you should stop with the tattoos now, it's getting a bit much" I didn't get angry - I just smiled and ignored it. But I didn't have that capacity at 18 - I had a sense of who I was, but I didn't have a decade's worth of proof that it can work, I had nothing to back me up then - just stubbornness to drive me forward.
So sure, kids hating parents mostly work out after a few years... I would rather not have such a few years with my kids - because I don't know that I, or they, will be around long enough to see it end.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
True. True.
I want to pick up on this article statement though: secure enough they can't just bypass it using a google search?
I set my daughter up with a Gmail account when she was 7-8 years old; about 5 years ago. I constantly remind her that I know the password, and all her mail is forwarded to me. The whole family knows that if I really wanted to, I could capture all the internet traffic on my network.
"When you can work out how to change the password and cancel the forwarding, you can do so."
She hasn't, although I know Google has reset her password many, many times. She doesn't need to. She trusts her Dad and why he read all her boring email?
There's no searching Google for workarounds. There's very little searching at all. She likes Facebook, Disney games, online games she's seen at school, Beiber, JLS, and did I already say Facebook?
Compaired to some of the messages I've seen her exchange with her peers, I know more gets seen and said in the playground.
I've been to the deeper parts of the internet. I do not run into porn unless I want to. There's more chance of her forgettting to knock, and catching me and her mother at it.
This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
"The problem is whats out there"
How about a grammar-only utility for you and your kids?
I use OpenDNS to help protect my wife. Not to keep her away from inappropriate material. To reduce browsing malicious sites. She's been phished 3 times. Believing emails that ask for account verification. Fortunately she's asked me within a minute or two of providing login information, letting us change passwords fairly quickly. No harm yet. And she's a bit more savvy now. But she was a bit more savvy after the first and second phishing incident too.
So to all those people who say educate and monitor your kids, I say that's not enough. Consider this: Our computer is in the living room. She knows of the dangers of the internet as well or better than most kids. It only takes a moment to do something stupid. And it's happened.
Even if OpenDNS only catches a small fraction of malicious sites, it's simple enough to be worth the trouble.
There are several technical ways:
1) use Family Shield of OpenDNS - its as easy as changing your DNS addressess to 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123. Best way is to change them on local router, not on the client stations. Test it by yourself, how easy and powerful is that.
2) use restricted account, without possibility to install anything or change configuration
3) set up some Parental Guidance programs, on clients. There are some free solutions.
4) if you are advanced enough, set up small linux proxy with dansguardian + openblacklists+ squid. The whole network will benefit from such configuration. I set such thing on Netgear's ReadyNas Duo - it's small home NAS with linux on it (as big as shoes box), so I didn't had to use big desktop with screen and big power supply.
But I agree most important is setting some rules with your kids, in form of agreement - you will agree to give them access to the Net, but in return they agree to obey some rules like:
- asking you about installing ANY programs or creating online accounts in ANY portal (you are to do it),
- not giving ANY personal data like names and address (you are to do it),
- respecting (decided together) time of surfing the net.
and so on.
DarwinSurvivor (1752106) = new 7 digit /. reg.'d user acc't. 4 trolling.
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Unidentified Anonymous Coward gamemaker troll is trolling.
Just look at creating a whitelist of sites that are 'reasonably' safe.
Any site that allows people to upload or edit (YouTube or Wikipedia) are not 100% safe and children should be supervised.
> I have two kids, 7 and 8.
Seriously, why call 'm 7 and 8? Why not start at 0, like I did, way less confusing.
I used to have him on kubuntu, but there are so many windows apps he wants, so I put XP pro on his system. He has admin access too, but I have him use firefox with ad-block and ghostery blocking everything. I tried having him restricted, but it is too much of a pain. We do keep his PC in the middle of the room where we can see what he is doing at all times. I have had him in this config for about a year now, and with MSE he has been very "safe" even hitting those flash games sites....
Over at open dns you can setup the family filter. http://www.opendns.com/home-solutions/parental-controls/
Some things you can do that prevent ads and protect privacy: The holy trinity of Adblock, Flashblock, Noscript. (Some people use flash replacer over flashblock these days). This will cut the problem down to size.
For what remains, some things you can do to stop kids deliberately looking up things they might not be ready for: Good parenting. And maybe once in a while you can sit down with your kids and look through browser history and discuss what they did that day.
Actual software that proclaims to somehow magically protect your kids? It's the new snake oil, don't give them your money.
Even if they did work, remember that much of this software comes from the US. Even if they did work at all as advertised: if you live somewhere else, you might not want to feed your kids a biased view of the world where making people is bad, but breaking people is ok.
tl;dr: Think of the children, keep them away from evil filters.
I found Child Control from http://www.salfeld.com/ good (there's German and US sites).
What I found good was that they supposedly had a way to link multiple clients to a single central db of rules, logs, etc. I could never get it to work, so just ended up running it in standalone versions and it did a good job.
Their support was excellent, they constantly answered my stupid questions right away.
Then again, it seems pretty expensive now, it was only $20 for a 5-user license roughly 10-12 yrs ago when I bought it, which was a steal.
-Styopa
From worried teenagers in 3...2...1...
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
I use pfSense running Snort IDS (for indications of comprimised machines) and Squid proxy filter. Squid is granular enough to provide authentication (e.g. need a password to use the Web).
My kids are 10 and 7 so they are in that range where the Internet is more than just pbskids or other sites. All I have and all I will ever have is Adblock which removes most of the annoying ads or things that could come onto the screen by accident. However, this is as much for the parents as it is for the kids.
Our take on this is that we need to teach our kids how to use the Internet safely and effectively. We cannot police them 24/7 and even if we tried, it would only serve as incentive to break through and see what is out there (prohibition makes things taboo and therefore irresistible to a curious mind). As they get older we help them understand the more complex aspects of humanity but just getting a good foundation has let them learn how to discern what they see for themselves. They have seen disturbing items on news sites which they have asked us about and have actively avoided afterwards because they just cannot deal with it right now (try teaching a 7 year old about suicide bombers or why people hate other people and you will see what I mean). We have also taught them to not believe the first thing they see and to try to verify from unrelated sources anything they read or see.
We are raising our kids to be adults; preventing them from being able to access the world and then tossing them into it when they turn 18 (or whatever age in your country) is not helpful for anyone.
Do you really think a parent hovers around their kid 24/7?
Do you really think a kid should surf the net 24/7?
We're on slashdot, so the answer is probably "yes, and constant exposure to child rape porn, racism, bestiality and real life beheadings never hurt anyone."
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
1. Get OpenDNS on, which will help against the nasty stuff. But don't assume some websites aren't on any list. But their organisation and community are good at categorisation of websites.
2. In the same room you are in. Do not assume when you are using filters its 100%. I once fixed a computer that was used by a 11 year old girl, her mother said it was infested with viruses. They had some parental software on, but they worked around it or at least their friend did. I was asked to get the internet history and I cannot even begin to tell you what they or friends were looking at. This was because they were allowed to sit up stairs. I would never let anyone that age to go on internet without being in the same room.
Have fun :)
Do you also suggest I remove all the "child safe" lids on the various poisonous things in the house?
Yes, well before kids are 7 they should know not to drink or eat random things found around the house. If not then a high shelf and child proof lids will not stop them because by that age they can easily get a stool or climb over counters to reach them and defeat a child proof lid. Hence you are living with a false sense of security leaving the child proof lids on....much like the false sense of security given by using child protection software on the web.
Some of the twits on /. think this is about restricting freedom or having some software do the job the parent is supposed to do...
At 8 years old, most kids do not want to see porn. On the internet, at any moment, you are one click away from the full spectrum of content. Believe it or not, some links even lie about their intended purpose. Hey kids, free candy. Kids will believe almost anything and have a level of trust that is unrealistic for the Internet.
It's more about filtering the noise than preventing kids from seeing the "bad stuff."
Build a router our of an intel atom machine, set up debian + webmin + dans guardian and let them go (well mostly anyway - you can't totally shirk your responsibilities as a parent). I have two kids (9 and 12) and it keeps them out of the bad stuff and still allows them to browse without me having to worry every second. You can set up filters on your own, but it does come with preconfigured ones as well. Plus you have to love the Debian uptime.
Put computer in a common area, by the kitchen door for example , facing outward so you can always see the screen. By the way it is called 'Parenting (tm)'.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
Use OpenDNS. It isn't software but it helps a bunch. http://www.opendns.com/home-solutions/parental-controls/
Children aren't some kind of exotic pet that you can stick into kennels when you don't feel like looking after them.
That's not actually true.
Just don't be surprised when they take on the value system of the people who work at the kennel (i.e. the nanny).
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Its easy... built into Microsoft Windows 7 is parental controls which allow you to set which sites they can go to. Along with site control you can set schedule and time limits. To get even stronger control you can add controls on a router/firewall which can block sites allowed by individual computers. I would only allow kids that age on shuch sites a disney, nick , and suck for play. Kidsties dot com is also a good resource.
When your kids login you can set their internet home page to one you create will the permitted links and you can disable web searching.
I recently installed the Windows 8 Preview which has the software built-in (Microsoft Family Security); When I created an account for my child it asked me to enable this and I did as a test. It had some really neat functionality:
a) It emailed me daily a report of every website he goes to and how much time spent on that site
b) Tells me every application he runs, and how much time per-application
c) Allows me to put in filters for allowed applications/disallowed applications and time limits per
d) allows me to set curfews - at 8;30pm - his account gets logged off.
It is 100% free and able to be downloaded and installed on previous versions of Windows too.
I setup a library where mostly teens used to surf porn sites, etc. I put an Untangle box in that logs everything it allows and blocks. It sends the report to me via e-mail daily. If the kids find a proxy to bypass the filters, it shows up in the log and I can add it as a blocked site. It works great. The kids spend a lot of time trying to find a proxy that gets them around the filters, and I literally spend seconds adding it to the block list.
Sounds like you want to create a 'backyard' for your kids -- someplace you can let them play on a swing-set and not worry about the pedophile down the street getting at them. Sounds like a great idea.
Problem is that it won't work.
You see, unlike with a real back yard, you don't actually own any of the cool stuff your kids want to use, and the only way to let them use it is to let them 'out of the yard'. There is no way to hack off a chunk of the internet and stick a fence around it for your kids. It's all or nothing.
So they way you need to think about your computer is this:
1) When your kids use the computer without the internet access enabled, then it's your backyard. Set them down and go make dinner.
2) When your kids are 'on the internet' they are out in the world and your will need to shepherd them around. Keep an eye on them
Sorry. That's the way it is.
I agree. Those terrible government run schools, summer camps, daycare and post-high school educations. I'm so glad the USSR collapsed, comrade.
Or were you making some sort of snarky comment about the schools n the US? Sorry, Republican humor escapes me.
I've never considered putting on "parenting" software. I'm more concerned the software company is likley to screw up my computer - and hence my kids - then anything they'll come across on the internet. They are on the computer adn the internet alot, have been for years, and I've never been worried. What is it that your afraid of that you need software to protect your kids? Do you view too much porn and pop-ups are crowding you screen? do you view a lot of child porn and you don't want you kids to find your stash? What is it you are proctecting them from? Don't let them sleep over MJ house, shower w/ old men or give out personal info. Nothing they see will actually cause them to go blind.
We use Squid proxy with squidGuard. We use the squidGuard blacklists from squidguard.mesd.k12.or.us (which is a combination of two upstream sources).
Additionally, we use Google's safety tools for general searching and YouTube. For a browser, we use Firefox with Adblock Plus (as I've been too lazy to ween them off that in favor of Chrome with similar extensions).
As we use Macs, I have the kids' own mac mini as the proxy server. It's an old mac mini (circa 2007?), but works just fine for the kids' browsing habits. I've had to view the proxy logs as we suspected my 5 year-old hit a questionable site (he didn't), so having the proxy logs is useful.
Also, since they have a dearth of in-the-wild spyware exploits and viruses as compared to Windows, using Macs helps.
Personally at home, I'm a fan of a kid friendly browser. I use Kidzui for my 6 and 4 year old. They can easily get to all their favorite sites and games. As your kids age and need to get into more of the wider net, parental guidance and education are your best bet.
if you want to put a few limits on them then
1 what ever software you come up with needs to be on a Gateway System that your kids computers connect to
2 this system of course needs to be in a Secure Room.
3 of course if they manage to Hack In then you need to increase your security as needed.
But the best thing to do is be cool with things since the best defense is to make sure that your son seeing a girl less than fully dressed is NOTHING SPECIAL (and vise versa).
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
An easy way to make sure that the internet goes off at a certain time is to have the kids router go through a timer switch. Usually for $10 you can pick up one of those christmas light timers that'll turn the lights on at X PM and off again at Y PM. Use that switch to turn the internet off for the kids at 9 PM and switch it back on again at 8 AM. For bonus points, use that extra switch you have laying around to turn off the kids access while maintaining your connectivity.
Even though I am a CENTOS guy normally, get a copy of debian and install dansguardian. I have 8 kids and it works great. My wife and I love it too. Peace of mind is priceless. It is highly configurable.
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." --H.L. Mencken
I use a combination of MS Live Family Safety, and Timez Up Kidz. This allows reasonable content filtering and logging, with the ability to set really fine grained time limits. You will get tired of saying "five more minutes then your time is up" and your kids will be mad at you for taking away their toy. Set the limits in software, and you get much less pushback from the kids, and a much more reliable result. This has actually reduced complaining by a very noticeable amount. Kids like having a bit of control, and actually like having known limits. This allows both, highly recommended.
Norton Safety Minder is a nice configurable tool that is free as a standalone product. It doesn't block everything, its focus is on reporting what your kids are doing online, but it also allows you to set curfews. If you want something that works really well at blocking from Norton, they have a DNS product in Norton 360 that blocks things irrespective of browser (not free).
If your kids aren't too savvy and all you have installed on the system is Firefox, you can go with Procon Latte, which comes with a default blacklist and whitelist capabilities, and you can configure that. It won't keep your kids from finding bad stuff if they are determined to find it, but it will keep them from stumbing across things.
Kiddix sounds like it's exactly what you need. It's a Linux distro designed for kids, and has pretty good parental controls plus a lot of other software geared for kids.
I have children, and you're right. But the answer is not to turn the raising of your children over to machines or corporations.
Put the only machines the children can access into the most public room in the house. Do not allow them to have computers in their bedrooms (or in any room with doors) or to have wireless access to the Internet until they are old enough to buy their own computers with money they have earned themselves. Do not use any sort of censoring or blocking software, at all, ever - the lesson that stuff usually teaches is how to deceive and subvert your over-controlling parent.
When your children are using the computers, you need to regularly inspect their activity with the Mark I Eyeball. Be a parent, not a proxy for some church or software corporation.
Because, seriously, blocking them from seeing this stuff at home is a pretty sure-fire way to get the opposite of what you want. What you want is for your children to grow into well-adjusted, sexually confident, healthy adults. You do not want them to be twisted by the circumstances in which they encounter sexual material, so you want to be present when they inevitably stumble across nasty porn. When they look up and say "Daddy, what is that man doing to that other man? Why is there a sheep in his boots?" you want to be there so you can explain the difference between healthy physical relationships that include sexual activity, and exploitive abusive relationships such as your children may find presented as "normal" in Internet porn, Catholic schools, or Senate bathrooms. You do not want them to remain in ignorance until they meet an exploiter, and you do not want them to believe this is something you cannot discuss with them in real time.
If you're uncomfortable with this role, tough luck, it's kind of late now to decide you're not going to be doing any meaningful parenting. You should get in touch with the local Unitarian Universalists or United Church of Christ; they have extremely good sex education resources that they will be happy to let you study if you don't know how to deal with it. If using resources published by religious organizations seems to contradict what I said above, then you didn't understand what I said.
Teach your children age-appropriate things at the earliest age they can comprehend them. If they can play minecraft, they should have already been taught that there's a right way and a wrong way to approach sexuality, and if you aren't going to teach that lesson, somebody else is going to do it while you're not looking. Like their soccer coach, or the priest, or the music teacher, or that nice man next door, or an older child...
One of the best ways is still having the computer in an open area of the home. That being said, I do have an older computer setup running linux to do blacklist filtering using Squid proxy and SquidGuard. No, it's not easy to setup, but rock solid when it is. I subscribe to Dan's Guardian blacklist thats updated once a week automatically. I also use this setup in a school environment and have had kids try to get around it, with no success. The blacklist blocks just about all proxy sites along with most everything imaginable. Again, no, it's not easy to setup, but the benefits are worth it. The Squid proxy server has to be setup between your network and router and must be setup to route all traffic through it. IF your kids are smart and have access to the server, they could defeat it. (Give me physical access and I own it!). There is alot of configuration options, with a lot of help online.
See subject-line (& realize my reply will just drag it back into view -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2931273&cid=40407907 [slashdot.org], trolls...)
APK
P.S.=> Above all else - Downmods of a post lacking ANY "computing technical" justification in them are totally unjustifiable, & you know it trolls!
(Thus, your attempts to "hide" my post via downmods thus isn't effective @ all/whatsoever, period - & I'll just pull it back into view, & that's that!)
I challenge ANY "naysayer" to disprove each of the points about custom hosts files I enumerated here -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2931273&cid=40407907 & good luck - you'll NEED it! apk
See subject-line (& realize my reply will just drag it back into view -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2931273&cid=40407907 , trolls...)
APK
P.S.=> Above all else - Downmods of a post lacking ANY "computing technical" justification in them are totally unjustifiable, & you know it trolls!
(Thus, your attempts to "hide" my post via downmods thus isn't effective @ all/whatsoever, period - & I'll just pull it back into view, & that's that!)
I challenge ANY "naysayer" to disprove each of the points about custom hosts files I enumerated here -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2931273&cid=40407907 & good luck - you'll NEED it! apk
The kid who recorded and posted the bus monitor bullying has said "I saw all these bullying videos so I didn't think it was a big deal". There are kids damaging and abusing other people because they see other people doing things and think it's okay.
Then there's the violence and gore. I stumbled on rotten.com as an adult ten years ago, and I'm *still* scarred.
It's kind of a strange argument to suggest a kid is going to be dysfunctional as an adult because he wasn't allowed to see Two Girls and a Cup at age 7.
Downmods for pointing out a troll's off-topic? Make me laugh more.
That's pretty much it. Porn sites stand out pretty clearly on the log summary. Sort by bytes transferred. Actual porn site visits will have a lot of traffic, incidental visits (ie., a banner ad that slipped past AdBlock) will only have a little.
This technique allows you to know when they're browsing. It actually blocks very little, but they know that you'll know where they went. Yeah, some crap will unintentionally slip through. You can't help that, and if you're that allergic to boobies maybe you shouldn't let the kids browse by themselves anyway. If they've gone out of their way to find stuff you can talk to them about it. "Son, what's this gigabyte transferred from 'hentai-babes.com'?" If possible, get their mom to talk to them. There's nothing a teenage boy likes more than explaining his porn tastes to his mom.
There's a side benefit in that it'll help teach your kids networking. Nothing gets them to learn faster than standing between them and their porn! I'm just sad that my kid hasn't figured out how to spoof his MAC address yet. Or if he has, he's also figured out how to keep from showing up as an unknown device in the DHCP logs. And if that's the case, he's earned his dirty pictures.
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
Idiot parents stop sheltering your kids
you are making them WEAK
Unfortunately this post is likely to get lost in the discussion of how kids should and shouldn't be parented, whether porn is or isn't harmful for kids, and lots of other discussion that has nothing to do with actually answering the question. (The fact that you posted AC doesn't help either)
DansGuardian is a good piece of software. A few years ago, I set up an old PC as a router/firewall using IPCop and the Cop+ addon, which adds DansGuardian. It has blacklists, including auto-downloading of blacklist updates, whitelists, and very configurable content filtering. The content filtering is score-based, so rather than just block any site that has the "forbidden words", you can adjust how strictly you want things blocked, and as the kid gets older, set the block threshold higher. There's some very good controls for adjusting the filtering. For example, by default, the word "breast" counts slightly against the page's block score, unless the page also contains the words "cancer" or "medical". I also added "chicken", "turkey", and "recipe" as words that would cancel a ding against the page score. I also had to add "sandal" and "shoe" to negate a ding on the word "thong" when my wife got blocked from a footwear site.
DansGuardian by default is set quite strict - the default settings are probably appropriate for an elementary school - but the score-based blocking allows for a lot of versatility. Pairing it with IPCop, you're protecting the entire house's connection rather than just a single PC, so my daughter's iPod touch is also filtered.
Unfortunately, while IPCop is still under active development, most of the addons aren't. Cop+ was last updated in 2008. I actually started reading this thread hoping someone would recommend something easy to setup that's still active.
Redundancy is good And also good.
To +1 please (regarding the post I replied to now). He's off topic as well as doing a failing illogical ad hominem attack attempt).
* Thank you...
APK
Disprove the facts I posted in it. You can't. You know it, I know it, & anyone reading here, knows it.
* I'd like to know just what it is you FEAR from custom hosts files that I posted here ->
(Ah... I suspect I have already answered THAT much, below!)
APK
P.S.=> Tell us: Which of these "threatened parties" are you, regarding the downmodder of my posting:
---
1.) A malware maker/malicious site scripter
2.) A advertiser online
3.) A webmaster losing profits due to adbanner blocking (which saves a user money he pays out in speed/bandwidth as well as infestation by malscripted adbanners, plus more screen realestate)
---
?
... apk
Disprove the facts I posted in it. You can't. You know it, I know it, & anyone reading here, knows it.
* I'd like to know just what it is you FEAR from custom hosts files that I posted here -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2931273&cid=40408179
(Ah... I suspect I have already answered THAT much, below!)
APK
P.S.=> Tell us: Which of these "threatened parties" are you, regarding the downmodder of my posting:
---
1.) A malware maker/malicious site scripter
2.) A advertiser online
3.) A webmaster losing profits due to adbanner blocking (which saves a user money he pays out in speed/bandwidth as well as infestation by malscripted adbanners, plus more screen realestate)
---
?
... apk
Disprove the facts I posted - You can't. You know it, I know it, & anyone reading here, knows it.
* I'd like to know just what it is you FEAR from custom hosts files that I posted here -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2931273&cid=40408179
(Ah... I suspect I have already answered THAT much, below!)
APK
P.S.=> Tell us: Which of these "threatened parties" are you, regarding the downmodder of my posting:
---
1.) A malware maker/malicious site scripter
2.) A advertiser online
3.) A webmaster losing profits due to adbanner blocking (which saves a user money he pays out in speed/bandwidth as well as infestation by malscripted adbanners, plus more screen realestate)
---
?
... apk
As some posters have mentioned, OpenDNS is probably the best, easy solution.
For relly young kids, a white list of a couple of dozen sites might work for a while.
But as others have pointed out, there is no way to keep kinds 100% safe on the 'net. Letting kids on the internet is like letting them wonder around in New York City.
You need to put the computer in the family room or somewhere that the screen can easily be observed, versus bedrooms.
Also, try putting a mechanical timer on you AP/router that turns it off at bedtime. Some routers can do this internally.
Competition Good, Monopoly Bad.
Disprove the facts I posted. You can't. You know it, I know it, & anyone reading here, knows it.
(IF the "best you've got" is *trying* to "hide" my post, without a justification based on computer technical errors I made (none afaik)? Face it - b>YOU FAIL!)
* I'd like to know just what it is you FEAR from custom hosts files that I posted here -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2931273&cid=40408179
(Ah... I suspect I have already answered THAT much, below!)
Doesn't really matter - your attempts @ hiding my post get nullified in seconds by my reposting beneath it, dragging it right back into view so folks can get the benefits of what I posted... pretty simple -
SO KEEP BLOWING YOUR MODPOINTS, trolls... lol!
APK
P.S.=> Tell us: Which of these "threatened parties" are you, regarding the downmodder of my posting:
---
1.) A malware maker/malicious site scripter
2.) A advertiser online
3.) A webmaster losing profits due to adbanner blocking (which saves a user money he pays out in speed/bandwidth as well as infestation by malscripted adbanners, plus more screen realestate)
---
?
... apk
I've been using the RedFlag Facebook app recently. It scans all my son's friends and lets me know which ones are potentially perverts trying to befriend my son. Its a pretty cool app, its free, and its given me some deep insights into who he's friends with and where he knows the people from.
Disprove the facts I posted - You can't!
You know it, I know it, & anyone reading here, knows it.
(IF the "best you've got" is *trying* to "hide" my post, without a justification based on computer technical errors I made (none afaik)? Face it - YOU FAIL!)
* I'd like to know just what it is you FEAR from custom hosts files that I posted here -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2931273&cid=40408179
(Ah... I suspect I have already answered THAT much, below!)
Doesn't really matter - your attempts @ hiding my post get nullified in seconds by my reposting beneath it, dragging it right back into view so folks can get the benefits of what I posted... pretty simple -
SO KEEP BLOWING YOUR MODPOINTS, trolls... lol!
APK
P.S.=> Tell us: Which of these "threatened parties" are you, regarding the downmodder of my posting:
---
1.) A malware maker/malicious site scripter
2.) A advertiser online
3.) A webmaster losing profits due to adbanner blocking (which saves a user money he pays out in speed/bandwidth as well as infestation by malscripted adbanners, plus more screen realestate)
---
?
... apk
Hey OP: Firefox, Web of Trust, No Script, HttpS everywhere, and a half dozen other random odds and ends as the mood takes me. Then I spot check the history, and talk to them about why I am doing it. But I'm one of the less technical readers of /.
The rest of us: All of this, but with none of the hate. This is mostly a matter of style, and if OP wants to filter, let him filter. If someone else wants to monitor 24/7, let them do it. If naked guy wants to shut the door to his play room, more power to him for being able to afford a play room. We ought not scream about how his choosing to restrict is anti-freedom, 'cause that's silly. In the end I doubt it is going to lead directly to irreparable criminal degeneracy. I am young enough that I had internet porn, and I'm okay.
As to why I filter? I filter the real world for their safety: I put rails on their cribs, tell them the street is off limits till they learn to look both ways, and I filter their Internet. And when they start climbing out of the crib, asking to cross the street, or trying to circumvent my filters, then I know that it is time to move on. Hell, I give my 9 year old lock puzzles with prizes in them just to encourage puzzle breaking. And there are people out there wanting to hurt them, and trolls, and people wanting to scam them. If there weren't my kid wouldn't have spent 10 bucks on Cooking Momma ingredients, not knowing it was real money, before I noticed.
IIRC, one of the reports from the Freakonomics guys said it didn't really seem to matter what kind of parenting books you bought, as long as you were the kind of parent who bought parenting books.
When I have kids (our first is due November 28), I plan to use filtering software not because I don't want him to see, but because I'm hoping he'll try to get past the filtering software. Evading online censorship (and covering his tracks) is going to be an important skill when he's older, and I feel it's my responsibility to prepare him with a curriculum of progressively more draconian censorship measures for him to learn to break. Some parents dream of high school graduation; I dream of the day my son gets his porn on virtual machine connected through TOR and remembers to reset the VM to a clean snapshot when he's done.
I have dealt with this issue with quite a few of my friends and colleagues. No matter what you do or say in a parenting manner, these kids are going to get on the net and look at what they want. Without a "tool" to enforce the rules, you are pretty much dead in the water. Kids these days are so tech savvy that you have to use a sledge hammer where a ball-peen would have worked a few years ago. You use a program on the computer and they find a way to uninstall it or bypass it. You try a DNS service and they use Tor to bypass it. The only thing that I have found that works "MOST" of the time is a security gateway like Astaro or Untangle. And then you have to lock the modem and gateway in a closet so they can't get to it. These are both free for home use and work very well.
Set up a subscription to OpenDNS. It is not perfect, as nothing really is, but it offers a very simple and powerful set of continually updated filters to allow you to select caegories of sites you do not wish them exposed to, and simple bypass codes that will allow you to override a block either personally or for the occaisional "false positive". The service also includes an active watch on currently infected sites, and helps prevent those types of attacks. You add the OpenDNS servers as forwarders in your router and instead of the "offending" site you get a message page saying OpenDNS has blocked this page, with a bypass code option for you to get around the more restrictive settings you place as default for the kids.
In my mind, parents need to handle everything related to computer and internet safety. There are a few things that can be done, but most parents canâ(TM)t or wonâ(TM)t do them.
* Kid's computers are in the family room where Mom or Dad are always when they go online. /etc/hosts file on the kids PC. Here's an article about managing hosts tables. http://lifehacker.com/5817447/how-to-block-unwanted-ads-in-all-applications-and-speed-up-web-browsing-with-the-hosts-file
* Kid's do not have a laptop or PC in their rooms unless it is not connected to the internet. A USB WiFi adapter is a great way to police this connection. Just take the USB wifi adapter away when you donâ(TM)t want them on the network.
* Kid's accounts on PCs need to not have administrative or power user access to the system.
* Technically challenged parents should at least use a DNS protection service like opendns.org to filter bad websites.
* More advanced parents will deploy a proxy server to log and filter all objectionable content. Dans Guardian is a good choice. I'd block external internet access to every PC, except the proxy server too. This way, the kids can't by-pass the proxy to see questionable content.
* For children under age 9, a white-list of websites is probably best. Disable DNS completely and manually set Disney.com and 10 other websites in the
* Recognize that access will happen at their friend's homes, but that it isnâ(TM)t ok in your house. Talk to them about internet browsing.
* Sites that are appropriate for teens are different then sites for a 7-8 yr old. Filter appropriately for the age.
* Twitter and facebook will always be blocked. Always.
* At a certain age, unlimited internet needs to happen ⦠that age begins exactly when the kids pay for the internet connection, not before. Until that time, my network, my rules.
That isn't going to be helpful, because there are measures you can take that will completely prevent him from getting access up to and including having everything go through a router located in a place he doesn't have physical access to. You are relying on doing your job as a parent improperly.
If you really need something to block things on the cheap then use PeerBlock (it's free). Then you can use the lists at iBlockList or look for some lists on the internet. There should some appropriate lists for you. Also you can white list servers individually if needed.
In terms of avoiding porn ads, the closest thing that I have in mind is Adblock plug-in for either Firefox/Chrome. Still, it might not be a perfect solution.
I will probibly end up getting bashed to no end with this statment, but I have had wonderful sucess with Microsoft's "Family Saftey". It provides grainular restriction for selected profiles, detailed usage reporting of not just web browsing but also applications used, messaging restrictions and the ability for your child to "request" a site be unblocked if they come across something they wish and feel appropirate. Best of all its free (unless there is a price to selling your sole to M$, lol)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Protecting-your-kids-with-Family-Safety
Ill give you the same advice I give everyone who asks me about this. Dont bother. If you start blocking stuff, the kids will find out there is stuff you dont want them seeing online. And there is no better motivator to do something than being told not to do it. They would probably figure out how to bypass just about any software or settings you can find. However, since they are so young, its probable that they dont even know that stuff exists online, so the chances of them accidentally stumbling upon it is very little (and should they stumble on it, you could take the opportunity to explain it to them, and why its inappropriate. That will work far better Im sure. And by the time they are in their teens, and likely actively searching for porn, they will have even more reason to get past any filters to see it. So just get antivirus or linux, make sure they dont use your money to buy anything on those sites, and stop worrying about it.
I suggest Blue Coat K9 Web Protection (requires registration, but is free for home use). Not that there aren't ways around it for the enterprising child, but....*shrug*
I trust my 8 year old to be on the internet in the family room with minimal oversight before I get home from work while mom is making dinner. But if he searches for "on-line clock" he's one missing "L" away from porn.
We use the free Norton Online Family. It's not perfect but it's doing the job pretty well for now.
I just wish websites did a better job and allowed users to flag user-generated content as NSFW or a sliding scale. My kid is into science, math and space and loves wikipedia. I wish that website had some parental control settings. He loves it for learning about the elements but he could stumble upon other things I'd rather him not learn about quite yet.
And we try to block user-generated content in general. He liked an on-line puzzle-style game where you could upload your own levels. I noticed that some of the levels people uploaded were in the shape of 4 letter words or 'naughty-bits'.
"Proud" of you for asking... Not an easy thing, especially with so many naysayers. It shows your interested in your kids, realize you're not perfect, and appreciate "security in layers". (Interesting analogy as it turns out. Hope others will appreciate that.)
As parents, we do the best we can with what tools we have. Like many have said, don't put all your hopes in the tool. You need to teach them good choices while they are able/willing to learn - that happens to be your job.
K9 has been good to us and also provides a monitoring function so you can check in on them.
Best of everything in your parenting!
Tattoos and dyed hair? What superficial nonsensical narcissistic twaddle.
I like Dyn's Internet Guide.
It works like this:
You set yourself up with one of their dynamic hosts (using a client on your machine/router, $20/year.)
You add Dyn Internet Guide to your account (free.)
In the Dyn Internet Guide, you select what categories of traffic you wish to prohibit (or allow.) They've partnered with Barracuda on this, so the lists are pretty good. You may also add specific hosts to black/white lists.
In the Dyn Internet Guide, you set it to protect your dynamic host (so they know which traffic is coming from you.)
Then you set your machine to use their DNS servers, or your router to hand out their DNS servers to your network (DHCP option 6.)
Any time a host on your network requests DNS for a site that's been blocked, it returns a Dyn IP, and usually displays a little "this page has been disallowed" page. For pages that include mixed content, the error is displayed in the prohibited content's space.
I run my own DNS for my home, but set Bind to use Dyn's DNS servers as forwarders. Any zonefiles I have do resolve locally, but all other requests are forwarded to Dyn. I don't have any children in my house, but I set my Dyn account to block Advertisement and Popups, Conficker Worm, Phishing, Spam, and Spyware categories. It seems pretty robust, and It works well. I like it.
WillowNG is a content filtering web proxy written in Python. It outperforms many filtering and non-filtering web proxies (see benchmarks.txt in the package).
Unlike many solutions (like K9), WillowNG filters based on both CONTENT and URLs.
https://launchpad.net/willowng
GNU GPL v2
OpenDNS has an option to filter porn and stuff ... I use it and it down't interrupt my normal activities.
I find that the Microsoft offering of Family Safety Software to be a decent filtering software. This precludes that you are running Windows 7 or Vista (I think). On the Mac / Linux front, there is none that offer the same level of simpleness with a fairly decent level of customization. You have 5 levels of filtering, whitelisting and blacklisting along with the ability to lock kids down differently. Okay, granted that this is not ipfilters, but it works for my needs.
I use it on my two kids (9 and 12) and have them at different levels depending on their level of maturity. As many posters have pointed out, you cannot keep them from learning about the net for the rest of their lives, but you can protect them until they are close to ready to see it. I am getting ready to release the restrictions on my older one within the next couple of years.
It is a balance between helicopter parenting and exposing your 9 year old to goatse or tub girl. Each parent has to make their own choices and live with their adult kids at some point. Remember they will be choosing your nursing home... :)
As someone who came of age with BBSes, this is no different, just more widely distributed.
Hi, I tried K9 and NetNanny and they caused as many problems as they cured with Windoze errors, etc. I currently use OpenDNS and as they get older allow more and more content through. It has a very nice side effect of blocking all of the nasty virus sites and has pretty much ended the drive by PC infections. If (more like when) your kids get smart enough to learn how to change their DNS manually a simple firewall rule in your router can block DNS traffic to anything other than OpenDNS, just make sure you have a very secure password to your router (I initially did not and the my oldest figured out how to unblock things :) )
If you want to really lock things down you could try something like Untangle - it has a free version for your own hardware. It is a bit more work, but will get you very solid network control and security.
All the talk about parenting is of course valid, just not the one stop solution some people think it is. Good luck.
sig, what sig, am I supposed to have a sig? I don't want a sig. I don't need a sig.
My advice buy them some wooden toys and some really good games spend lots of time with them and don't let them use a computer unless they really need to use it for school homework and then unplug the internet!!!
Anyone who lets a child under the age of 16 use the internet should ask themselves a few questions
a) do you care?
b) should you sit by the side of them?
c) wether your going to monitor activity and how you monitor that activity?
d) If you can accept any consequences arising from the above.
As others have metioned you can use the OpenDNS FamilyShield settings (http://www.opendns.com/home-solutions/parental-controls/) with your router which will block out the majority of adult content out there. I would also enable safe search on google for each computer (http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2519950&rd=1) which will filter out adult image and web search results and make sure you lock the settings so they can't just go in and remove safe search (http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=144686&rd=3)
As others have metioned you can use the OpenDNS FamilyShield settings (http://www.opendns.com/home-solutions/parental-controls/) with your router which will block out the majority of adult content out there. I would also enable safe search on google for each computer (http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2519950&rd=1) which will filter out adult image and web search results and make sure you lock the settings so they can't just go in and remove safe search (http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=144686&rd=3)
Forgot to mention that :D
By that logic you should white out a bunch of the dictionary and encyclopedia too, wouldnt want him learning about stuff from that. Wikipedia is meant as an educational site, its unlikely that he find videos of people having sex or anything (thougy he likely will find descriptions if he goes looking). He has to learn sometime.
And trying to block user generated stuff? Thats a pretty significant portion of the internet these days.Wikip
Kids that age need supervision. Don't let them go wandering around on line by themselves.
Its better to get them involved in some other activities as well. Jerry Sandusky has an excellent sports program for kids where you can just drop them off without concern. Or there's always church run activities.
On second thought, there's practically nothing you can do with kids that age which just involves dumping them someplace on their own.
Have gnu, will travel.
Back when I got my son his first laptop he was getting viruses every other day. I put BlueCoat's K9 Web Protection on it and haven't had a problem in 2 years. It pissed him off with some of the stuff that it blocks, but it works really well. http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
Here are a few programs for free that are off the Internet.
http://supertuxkart.sourceforge.net/
http://tuxpaint.org/
http://tuxracer.sourceforge.net/
http://childsplay.sourceforge.net/
http://www.stellarium.org/
http://gcompris.net/-en-
Jesus...all the bickering about protection and everyone forgot the actual question here. OpenDNS....I highly suggest you look into that.
I'm not affiliated with them but know a little about them. The company produces commercial products (for businesses) to classify and control web activity. They offer a free filter designed to protect home computer users. It is probably just what you want. I assume there are other similar products.
Check it out at http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
Don't worry about the children. They can handle the porn. Worry about the adults! They can't handle watching children meeting porn.
OpenDNS works nicely....use their DNS servers, create a free account and you can set various restrictions and blocks. That way it is outside of windows which is easily bypassed. There is also plenty of commercial software that can monitor and track them but who wants to go down that road....if you do, make sure you are open with your kids or you can forget about them trusting you ever. Hope this helps. BTW, the Open DNS server are faster and help with malware too....
What's going to be super funny is when you're 55 and realize, "damn, the old man was right. I look like a fucking IDIOT with all this shit on my body."
Wait, you care about your kids, but you're absolutely unwilling to accept software you have to pay for?
Problem solved.
I've never tried it but check this site out for a info and see if there free product works for what you need (it's backed by a company that makes enterprise stuff, it that helps) http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
They have some Live Family Center that works pretty well. Just for web browsing, I have it set to block everything at first. If they want access to something new, they can ask me to allow it in person or if I'm not there, they have an option to request through email. Programs can be managed in a similar fashion plus you can set the amount of time they can be logged in as well as when they can be logged into windows. Since this is slashdot, I'm sure my solution is the most horrible thing in the world since it's Microsoft.
...also, that is if you want to try to keep them from using the f word in every sentence.
Install Adblock Plus if you are afraid of ads, but otherwise it's no big deal. It's difficult to come across NSFW content by accident (unless you're on Reddit), and whatever they do won't scar them for life. If you must, OpenDNS has easy to configure filtering that isn't terribly oppressive or overkill.
Thats it, no online access unsupervised. When they reach whatever you consider an informed age... and are properly aware of the consequences of various actions then you don't have to worry. Its different for everyone.
On another note, there is nothing important on the internet. It is all 99% coporate shill or re-produced by coporate fanboies shill. Even the porn is shitty corporate shill. Do you know how fucking hard it is to find real honest to god amateur porn?
Yup, dont even worry about it, your kids will be better off being luddites, killing animals with their bare hands in order to survive, eating the flesh raw. =)
On a more serious note, only a few online games like quake, and minecraft require an internet connection to be played with friends. Why not encourage a lan party? Or have a computer in a public space just for those activities. Also there is no other reason for online access to things like MMO's until they can pay for it with their own monies.
If you have a really creative savant like a kid who is programming C++ opengl apps already, then dont even fucking worry about it the'yve already been completely corrupted online at their friends house or the school library. Just give them unfettered access and encourage some participation in a few projects that might start up and make millions so you have a gravy train to retire too.
Not perfect but they help quite a bit.
Self-expression is by nature superficial and narcissistic, they are also an important component of freedom. If we cannot look the way we want, we cannot be the way we want.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
> "damn, the old man was right. I look like a fucking IDIOT with all this shit on my body."
He's made that argument. Thing is, heavy metal is old enough that the first fans are over 50 now, I know a few such people. I don't think they look like idiots. In fact, I look at them and feel proud of the proof they carry that they never sold out.
I would like to look like that one day.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
A program I wrote that 2 makers of custom hosts file data are hosting for me (hpHosts/malwarebytes + hostsfile.org/securemecca.com):
http://securemecca.com/public/APKHostsFileInstaller/2012_06_01/APKHostsFileEngineInstaller32_64bit.exe.zip
You simply extract its files to ANY folder you like (usually one you create for it, doesn't matter where, but you MUST run it as administrator (simple & the "read me" tab shows how easy THAT is to do):
What's it do for you?
It's a custom hosts file mgt. program that does the following for end users (Calling it "APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++")
---
1.) Offers massively noticeable increased speed for websurfing via blocking adbanners
2.) Offers increased speed for users fav. sites by hardcoding them into the hosts file for faster IP address-to-host/domain name resolutions (which sites RARELY change their hosting providers, e.g.-> of 250 I do, only 6 have changed since 2006 - & when sites do because they found a less costly hosting provider? Then, they either email notify members, put up warnings on their pages, & do IP warnings & redirectors onto the former IP address range to protect vs. the unscrupulous criminal bidding on that range to buy it to steal from users of say, online banking or shopping sites).
3.) Better "Layered-Security"/"Defense-In-Depth" via blocking host-domain based attacks by KNOWN bad sites-servers that are known to do so (which IS, by far, the majority of what's used by both users (hence the existence of the faulty but for most part working DNS system), AND even by malware makers (since host-domain names are recyclable by they, & the RBN (Russian Business Network & others)) were doing it like mad with "less than scrupulous", or uncaring, hosting providers)
4.) Better 'anonymity' to an extent vs. DNS request logs (not vs. DPI ("deep packet inspection"))
5.) The ability to circumvent unjust DNSBL (DNS Block Lists) if unjust or inconveniences a user.
6.) Protection vs. online trackers
7.) Better security vs. the DNS system being "dns poisoned/redirected" (a known problem for recursive DNS servers via port 51/53 misdirection)
8.) Write protecting the hosts file every 1/2 second (supplementing UAC) - even if/when you move it from the default location via this registry entry (which if done, can function ALMOST like *NIX shadow passwords because of this program):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters
And changing the "DataBasePath" parameter there (I do this moving it to a faster media, a "true SSD" using DDR-2 RAM, in the 4gb Gigabyte IRAM I have).
9.) Automatic downloading & Alphabetic sorting of hosts files' records entries (for easier end user mgt. manually) from 15 reliable sources (of 17 I actually use).
10.) Manual editing of all files used (hosts to import list, hosts itself in its default location of %windir%\system32\drivers\etc, the hosts files to import/download & process, & favorite sites to reverse dns ping to avoid DNS (noted above why)).
11.) Removal scanners (if the users decide to remove hosts entries from imported data they can check if the site is indeed known as bad or not (sometimes 'false positives' happen, or just bad entries, or sites clean themselves up after infestation due to vulnerable coding etc./et al)).
12.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Comments (useless bulk in a hosts file that's "all business")
13.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trailing comments after records (produces duplicates)
14.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Invalid TLD entries (program checks this in a BETTER method than the API call "PathIsURL")
15.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trims entries (vs. trailing blanks bloat on record entries)
16.) Removal of bloa
A program I wrote that 2 makers of custom hosts file data are hosting for me (hpHosts/malwarebytes + hostsfile.org/securemecca.com):
http://securemecca.com/public/APKHostsFileInstaller/2012_06_01/APKHostsFileEngineInstaller32_64bit.exe.zip
You simply extract its files to ANY folder you like (usually one you create for it, doesn't matter where, but you MUST run it as administrator (simple & the "read me" tab shows how easy THAT is to do):
What's it do for you?
It's a custom hosts file mgt. program that does the following for end users (Calling it "APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++")
---
1.) Offers massively noticeable increased speed for websurfing via blocking adbanners
2.) Offers increased speed for users fav. sites by hardcoding them into the hosts file for faster IP address-to-host/domain name resolutions (which sites RARELY change their hosting providers, e.g.-> of 250 I do, only 6 have changed since 2006 - & when sites do because they found a less costly hosting provider? Then, they either email notify members, put up warnings on their pages, & do IP warnings & redirectors onto the former IP address range to protect vs. the unscrupulous criminal bidding on that range to buy it to steal from users of say, online banking or shopping sites).
3.) Better "Layered-Security"/"Defense-In-Depth" via blocking host-domain based attacks by KNOWN bad sites-servers that are known to do so (which IS, by far, the majority of what's used by both users (hence the existence of the faulty but for most part working DNS system), AND even by malware makers (since host-domain names are recyclable by they, & the RBN (Russian Business Network & others)) were doing it like mad with "less than scrupulous", or uncaring, hosting providers)
4.) Better 'anonymity' to an extent vs. DNS request logs (not vs. DPI ("deep packet inspection"))
5.) The ability to circumvent unjust DNSBL (DNS Block Lists) if unjust or inconveniences a user.
6.) Protection vs. online trackers
7.) Better security vs. the DNS system being "dns poisoned/redirected" (a known problem for recursive DNS servers via port 51/53 misdirection)
8.) Write protecting the hosts file every 1/2 second (supplementing UAC) - even if/when you move it from the default location via this registry entry (which if done, can function ALMOST like *NIX shadow passwords because of this program):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters
And changing the "DataBasePath" parameter there (I do this moving it to a faster media, a "true SSD" using DDR-2 RAM, in the 4gb Gigabyte IRAM I have).
9.) Automatic downloading & Alphabetic sorting of hosts files' records entries (for easier end user mgt. manually) from 15 reliable sources (of 17 I actually use).
10.) Manual editing of all files used (hosts to import list, hosts itself in its default location of %windir%\system32\drivers\etc, the hosts files to import/download & process, & favorite sites to reverse dns ping to avoid DNS (noted above why)).
11.) Removal scanners (if the users decide to remove hosts entries from imported data they can check if the site is indeed known as bad or not (sometimes 'false positives' happen, or just bad entries, or sites clean themselves up after infestation due to vulnerable coding etc./et al)).
12.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Comments (useless bulk in a hosts file that's "all business")
13.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trailing comments after records (produces duplicates)
14.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Invalid TLD entries (program checks this in a BETTER method than the API call "PathIsURL")
15.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trims entries (vs. trailing blanks bloat on record entries)
16.) Removal of bloa
A program I wrote that 2 makers of custom hosts file data are hosting for me (hpHosts/malwarebytes + hostsfile.org/securemecca.com):
http://securemecca.com/public/APKHostsFileInstaller/2012_06_01/APKHostsFileEngineInstaller32_64bit.exe.zip
You simply extract its files to ANY folder you like (usually one you create for it, doesn't matter where, but you MUST run it as administrator (simple & the "read me" tab shows how easy THAT is to do):
What's it do for you?
It's a custom hosts file mgt. program that does the following for end users (Calling it "APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++")
---
1.) Offers massively noticeable increased speed for websurfing via blocking adbanners
2.) Offers increased speed for users fav. sites by hardcoding them into the hosts file for faster IP address-to-host/domain name resolutions (which sites RARELY change their hosting providers, e.g.-> of 250 I do, only 6 have changed since 2006 - & when sites do because they found a less costly hosting provider? Then, they either email notify members, put up warnings on their pages, & do IP warnings & redirectors onto the former IP address range to protect vs. the unscrupulous criminal bidding on that range to buy it to steal from users of say, online banking or shopping sites).
3.) Better "Layered-Security"/"Defense-In-Depth" via blocking host-domain based attacks by KNOWN bad sites-servers that are known to do so (which IS, by far, the majority of what's used by both users (hence the existence of the faulty but for most part working DNS system), AND even by malware makers (since host-domain names are recyclable by they, & the RBN (Russian Business Network & others)) were doing it like mad with "less than scrupulous", or uncaring, hosting providers)
4.) Better 'anonymity' to an extent vs. DNS request logs (not vs. DPI ("deep packet inspection"))
5.) The ability to circumvent unjust DNSBL (DNS Block Lists) if unjust or inconveniences a user.
6.) Protection vs. online trackers
7.) Better security vs. the DNS system being "dns poisoned/redirected" (a known problem for recursive DNS servers via port 51/53 misdirection)
8.) Write protecting the hosts file every 1/2 second (supplementing UAC) - even if/when you move it from the default location via this registry entry (which if done, can function ALMOST like *NIX shadow passwords because of this program):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters
And changing the "DataBasePath" parameter there (I do this moving it to a faster media, a "true SSD" using DDR-2 RAM, in the 4gb Gigabyte IRAM I have).
9.) Automatic downloading & Alphabetic sorting of hosts files' records entries (for easier end user mgt. manually) from 15 reliable sources (of 17 I actually use).
10.) Manual editing of all files used (hosts to import list, hosts itself in its default location of %windir%\system32\drivers\etc, the hosts files to import/download & process, & favorite sites to reverse dns ping to avoid DNS (noted above why)).
11.) Removal scanners (if the users decide to remove hosts entries from imported data they can check if the site is indeed known as bad or not (sometimes 'false positives' happen, or just bad entries, or sites clean themselves up after infestation due to vulnerable coding etc./et al)).
12.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Comments (useless bulk in a hosts file that's "all business")
13.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trailing comments after records (produces duplicates)
14.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Invalid TLD entries (program checks this in a BETTER method than the API call "PathIsURL")
15.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trims entries (vs. trailing blanks bloat on record entries)
16.) Removal of bloa
A program I wrote that 2 makers of custom hosts file data are hosting for me (hpHosts/malwarebytes + hostsfile.org/securemecca.com):
http://securemecca.com/public/APKHostsFileInstaller/2012_06_01/APKHostsFileEngineInstaller32_64bit.exe.zip
You simply extract its files to ANY folder you like (usually one you create for it, doesn't matter where, but you MUST run it as administrator (simple & the "read me" tab shows how easy THAT is to do):
What's it do for you?
It's a custom hosts file mgt. program that does the following for end users (Calling it "APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++")
---
1.) Offers massively noticeable increased speed for websurfing via blocking adbanners
2.) Offers increased speed for users fav. sites by hardcoding them into the hosts file for faster IP address-to-host/domain name resolutions (which sites RARELY change their hosting providers, e.g.-> of 250 I do, only 6 have changed since 2006 - & when sites do because they found a less costly hosting provider? Then, they either email notify members, put up warnings on their pages, & do IP warnings & redirectors onto the former IP address range to protect vs. the unscrupulous criminal bidding on that range to buy it to steal from users of say, online banking or shopping sites).
3.) Better "Layered-Security"/"Defense-In-Depth" via blocking host-domain based attacks by KNOWN bad sites-servers that are known to do so (which IS, by far, the majority of what's used by both users (hence the existence of the faulty but for most part working DNS system), AND even by malware makers (since host-domain names are recyclable by they, & the RBN (Russian Business Network & others)) were doing it like mad with "less than scrupulous", or uncaring, hosting providers)
4.) Better 'anonymity' to an extent vs. DNS request logs (not vs. DPI ("deep packet inspection"))
5.) The ability to circumvent unjust DNSBL (DNS Block Lists) if unjust or inconveniences a user.
6.) Protection vs. online trackers
7.) Better security vs. the DNS system being "dns poisoned/redirected" (a known problem for recursive DNS servers via port 51/53 misdirection)
8.) Write protecting the hosts file every 1/2 second (supplementing UAC) - even if/when you move it from the default location via this registry entry (which if done, can function ALMOST like *NIX shadow passwords because of this program):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters
And changing the "DataBasePath" parameter there (I do this moving it to a faster media, a "true SSD" using DDR-2 RAM, in the 4gb Gigabyte IRAM I have).
9.) Automatic downloading & Alphabetic sorting of hosts files' records entries (for easier end user mgt. manually) from 15 reliable sources (of 17 I actually use).
10.) Manual editing of all files used (hosts to import list, hosts itself in its default location of %windir%\system32\drivers\etc, the hosts files to import/download & process, & favorite sites to reverse dns ping to avoid DNS (noted above why)).
11.) Removal scanners (if the users decide to remove hosts entries from imported data they can check if the site is indeed known as bad or not (sometimes 'false positives' happen, or just bad entries, or sites clean themselves up after infestation due to vulnerable coding etc./et al)).
12.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Comments (useless bulk in a hosts file that's "all business")
13.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trailing comments after records (produces duplicates)
14.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Invalid TLD entries (program checks this in a BETTER method than the API call "PathIsURL")
15.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trims entries (vs. trailing blanks bloat on record entries)
16.) Removal of bloa
If you are worried about your kids using the webcam without your supervision, you could try WebCam Lock (http://www.webcamlock.net), it is a nice tool to control who can access to the webcam (includes parental control).
A program I wrote that 2 makers of custom hosts file data are hosting for me (hpHosts/malwarebytes + hostsfile.org/securemecca.com):
http://securemecca.com/public/APKHostsFileInstaller/2012_06_01/APKHostsFileEngineInstaller32_64bit.exe.zip
You simply extract its files to ANY folder you like (usually one you create for it, doesn't matter where, but you MUST run it as administrator (simple & the "read me" tab shows how easy THAT is to do):
What's it do for you?
It's a custom hosts file mgt. program that does the following for end users (Calling it "APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++")
---
1.) Offers massively noticeable increased speed for websurfing via blocking adbanners
2.) Offers increased speed for users fav. sites by hardcoding them into the hosts file for faster IP address-to-host/domain name resolutions (which sites RARELY change their hosting providers, e.g.-> of 250 I do, only 6 have changed since 2006 - & when sites do because they found a less costly hosting provider? Then, they either email notify members, put up warnings on their pages, & do IP warnings & redirectors onto the former IP address range to protect vs. the unscrupulous criminal bidding on that range to buy it to steal from users of say, online banking or shopping sites).
3.) Better "Layered-Security"/"Defense-In-Depth" via blocking host-domain based attacks by KNOWN bad sites-servers that are known to do so (which IS, by far, the majority of what's used by both users (hence the existence of the faulty but for most part working DNS system), AND even by malware makers (since host-domain names are recyclable by they, & the RBN (Russian Business Network & others)) were doing it like mad with "less than scrupulous", or uncaring, hosting providers)
4.) Better 'anonymity' to an extent vs. DNS request logs (not vs. DPI ("deep packet inspection"))
5.) The ability to circumvent unjust DNSBL (DNS Block Lists) if unjust or inconveniences a user.
6.) Protection vs. online trackers
7.) Better security vs. the DNS system being "dns poisoned/redirected" (a known problem for recursive DNS servers via port 51/53 misdirection)
8.) Write protecting the hosts file every 1/2 second (supplementing UAC) - even if/when you move it from the default location via this registry entry (which if done, can function ALMOST like *NIX shadow passwords because of this program):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters
And changing the "DataBasePath" parameter there (I do this moving it to a faster media, a "true SSD" using DDR-2 RAM, in the 4gb Gigabyte IRAM I have).
9.) Automatic downloading & Alphabetic sorting of hosts files' records entries (for easier end user mgt. manually) from 15 reliable sources (of 17 I actually use).
10.) Manual editing of all files used (hosts to import list, hosts itself in its default location of %windir%\system32\drivers\etc, the hosts files to import/download & process, & favorite sites to reverse dns ping to avoid DNS (noted above why)).
11.) Removal scanners (if the users decide to remove hosts entries from imported data they can check if the site is indeed known as bad or not (sometimes 'false positives' happen, or just bad entries, or sites clean themselves up after infestation due to vulnerable coding etc./et al)).
12.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Comments (useless bulk in a hosts file that's "all business")
13.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trailing comments after records (produces duplicates)
14.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Invalid TLD entries (program checks this in a BETTER method than the API call "PathIsURL")
15.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trims entries (vs. trailing blanks bloat on record entries)
16.) Removal of bloa
A program I wrote that 2 makers of custom hosts file data are hosting for me (hpHosts/malwarebytes + hostsfile.org/securemecca.com):
http://securemecca.com/public/APKHostsFileInstaller/2012_06_01/APKHostsFileEngineInstaller32_64bit.exe.zip
You simply extract its files to ANY folder you like (usually one you create for it, doesn't matter where, but you MUST run it as administrator (simple & the "read me" tab shows how easy THAT is to do):
What's it do for you?
It's a custom hosts file mgt. program that does the following for end users (Calling it "APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++")
---
1.) Offers massively noticeable increased speed for websurfing via blocking adbanners
2.) Offers increased speed for users fav. sites by hardcoding them into the hosts file for faster IP address-to-host/domain name resolutions (which sites RARELY change their hosting providers, e.g.-> of 250 I do, only 6 have changed since 2006 - & when sites do because they found a less costly hosting provider? Then, they either email notify members, put up warnings on their pages, & do IP warnings & redirectors onto the former IP address range to protect vs. the unscrupulous criminal bidding on that range to buy it to steal from users of say, online banking or shopping sites).
3.) Better "Layered-Security"/"Defense-In-Depth" via blocking host-domain based attacks by KNOWN bad sites-servers that are known to do so (which IS, by far, the majority of what's used by both users (hence the existence of the faulty but for most part working DNS system), AND even by malware makers (since host-domain names are recyclable by they, & the RBN (Russian Business Network & others)) were doing it like mad with "less than scrupulous", or uncaring, hosting providers)
4.) Better 'anonymity' to an extent vs. DNS request logs (not vs. DPI ("deep packet inspection"))
5.) The ability to circumvent unjust DNSBL (DNS Block Lists) if unjust or inconveniences a user.
6.) Protection vs. online trackers
7.) Better security vs. the DNS system being "dns poisoned/redirected" (a known problem for recursive DNS servers via port 51/53 misdirection)
8.) Write protecting the hosts file every 1/2 second (supplementing UAC) - even if/when you move it from the default location via this registry entry (which if done, can function ALMOST like *NIX shadow passwords because of this program):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters
And changing the "DataBasePath" parameter there (I do this moving it to a faster media, a "true SSD" using DDR-2 RAM, in the 4gb Gigabyte IRAM I have).
9.) Automatic downloading & Alphabetic sorting of hosts files' records entries (for easier end user mgt. manually) from 15 reliable sources (of 17 I actually use).
10.) Manual editing of all files used (hosts to import list, hosts itself in its default location of %windir%\system32\drivers\etc, the hosts files to import/download & process, & favorite sites to reverse dns ping to avoid DNS (noted above why)).
11.) Removal scanners (if the users decide to remove hosts entries from imported data they can check if the site is indeed known as bad or not (sometimes 'false positives' happen, or just bad entries, or sites clean themselves up after infestation due to vulnerable coding etc./et al)).
12.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Comments (useless bulk in a hosts file that's "all business")
13.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trailing comments after records (produces duplicates)
14.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Invalid TLD entries (program checks this in a BETTER method than the API call "PathIsURL")
15.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trims entries (vs. trailing blanks bloat on record entries)
16.) Removal of bloa
A program I wrote that 2 makers of custom hosts file data are hosting for me (hpHosts/malwarebytes + hostsfile.org/securemecca.com):
http://securemecca.com/public/APKHostsFileInstaller/2012_06_01/APKHostsFileEngineInstaller32_64bit.exe.zip
You simply extract its files to ANY folder you like (usually one you create for it, doesn't matter where, but you MUST run it as administrator (simple & the "read me" tab shows how easy THAT is to do):
What's it do for you?
It's a custom hosts file mgt. program that does the following for end users (Calling it "APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++")
---
1.) Offers massively noticeable increased speed for websurfing via blocking adbanners
2.) Offers increased speed for users fav. sites by hardcoding them into the hosts file for faster IP address-to-host/domain name resolutions (which sites RARELY change their hosting providers, e.g.-> of 250 I do, only 6 have changed since 2006 - & when sites do because they found a less costly hosting provider? Then, they either email notify members, put up warnings on their pages, & do IP warnings & redirectors onto the former IP address range to protect vs. the unscrupulous criminal bidding on that range to buy it to steal from users of say, online banking or shopping sites).
3.) Better "Layered-Security"/"Defense-In-Depth" via blocking host-domain based attacks by KNOWN bad sites-servers that are known to do so (which IS, by far, the majority of what's used by both users (hence the existence of the faulty but for most part working DNS system), AND even by malware makers (since host-domain names are recyclable by they, & the RBN (Russian Business Network & others)) were doing it like mad with "less than scrupulous", or uncaring, hosting providers)
4.) Better 'anonymity' to an extent vs. DNS request logs (not vs. DPI ("deep packet inspection"))
5.) The ability to circumvent unjust DNSBL (DNS Block Lists) if unjust or inconveniences a user.
6.) Protection vs. online trackers
7.) Better security vs. the DNS system being "dns poisoned/redirected" (a known problem for recursive DNS servers via port 51/53 misdirection)
8.) Write protecting the hosts file every 1/2 second (supplementing UAC) - even if/when you move it from the default location via this registry entry (which if done, can function ALMOST like *NIX shadow passwords because of this program):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters
And changing the "DataBasePath" parameter there (I do this moving it to a faster media, a "true SSD" using DDR-2 RAM, in the 4gb Gigabyte IRAM I have).
9.) Automatic downloading & Alphabetic sorting of hosts files' records entries (for easier end user mgt. manually) from 15 reliable sources (of 17 I actually use).
10.) Manual editing of all files used (hosts to import list, hosts itself in its default location of %windir%\system32\drivers\etc, the hosts files to import/download & process, & favorite sites to reverse dns ping to avoid DNS (noted above why)).
11.) Removal scanners (if the users decide to remove hosts entries from imported data they can check if the site is indeed known as bad or not (sometimes 'false positives' happen, or just bad entries, or sites clean themselves up after infestation due to vulnerable coding etc./et al)).
12.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Comments (useless bulk in a hosts file that's "all business")
13.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trailing comments after records (produces duplicates)
14.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Invalid TLD entries (program checks this in a BETTER method than the API call "PathIsURL")
15.) Removal of bloating material in many hosts files like Trims entries (vs. trailing blanks bloat on record entries)
16.) Removal of bloa
Try using this: http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ Its based on the filtering technology from blue coat but is a local installable web filter, free for home use. I belie it is intended for exactly what you describe.
Astaro security gateway. www.astaro.com Software free for home use. costs you an older pc that you can use as a firewall, but you can get those on the used market for less than $200 bucks. protects your whole network, uses smart filtering, web washing, email spam and virus protection, etc. i used it for years when my kids were home, and i never once regreted it. it does not substitute for sound parenting, but helps reinforce your standards.
his requires a multi-pronged approach: Put the computer in a public place, especially if it has a webcam. Do yourself and your family a favour and pay for something that will at least prevent the worst of the Internet from entering your living room because when you pay, you have a team of developers who are updating the software as and when it's required and you have a level of accountability if something goes wrong. The maintain the list, the patches, the updates etc. You have a level of control too, you can add additional sites to your block list if need be. Log everything. Review the security logs, history, favourites etc. Do NOT allow them to have administrative access to the local workstation. Have a separate administrative account with a tough to guess password that you keep locked up in a safe area of your house or at work or on your mobile phone (you get the idea). Talk to your children about online safety as you would any other kind of safety. Tell them about online predators, tell them about grooming techniques and how to handle them. There are so many resources out there on how to handle this parenting issue. And Most importantly, ignore the advice of the childless. As teenagers think they know everything until they realise they don't, the childless think in much the same way, that they know how best to raise children. A parent has the advantage of having once been childless and smug, as well as being a parent. There's no lesson as effective as experience.
Convince them that you can see everything they do online - that should keep them away from stuff they know is taboo, but won't protect them from following something innocuous.
Check out http://www.commonsensemedia.org/mobile-app-lists/best-action-apps - we love their site. ^.^
Internet? Eight years old?
When I was eight in the early 70's I'd be out with my mates in the woods playing practical jokes on paedophiles.
Security is best done in layers. Like others have said put it in a public room where other people will be going through on a regular basis. Second is load up OpenDNS as your DNS. If you can put it on the DSL/cable router/NAT that is best because everyone who brings a laptop over will get the settings. Then setup a network on OpenDNS and enable filtering for what you want. I think they use St Bernard Software on the back end. That will prevent all accidental access.
To stop intentional attempts at changing DNS just use the FUD factor to your favour. Tell the kids that you have enabled logging at the network level so you can trace what they do even if they obliterate the computer.
I believe you should treat Internet access basically like you do when they go out of the house and onto the street (the real world) since that's exactly what they are doing when they "exit" the security of the living room through the Internet window.
When they are very young, the cable or wi-fi should be disconnected whenever you are not at the computer with them "on your lap". Then when they are a bit older being there half of the time at their side, "holding hands" whenever needed (like when "crossing the road" to another website ;-) A they get older and more autonomous you'll probably will want to have them under your sight - you never know... You get the picture right?
The trouble with security software is that it gives a false sense of security and sometimes unappropriate sites (as sights or strangers in the street) are presented to your kids... The best is knowing they have an open channel to you to discuss whatever issues have troubled them - in the street, at the school, on-line.
Check the Microsoft Safe Internet site (http://www.microsoft.com/security/family-safety/default.aspx#Overview) or the european Safer Internet (http://www.saferinternet.org/web/guest/home;jsessionid=B160C5B8BC0CEF85583C3991CAD6CDF8) - lots of good ideas there and a bit all over the net. Don't make the error of thinking that there will ever be an application to safely protect your kids on the net. As there aren't any that will guarantee they will be safe on the street.
-- joao
My suggested approach:
-computer in 'public' area of the house
-frank discussion (as frank as you can be with a 7yr old) about your expectations and a simple request to do their best
-openDNS (free) will help with the obvious sites
-be aware of who they are communicating with. This is the biggest danger IMHO and another reason to have the computer in a family space, and lots of chats about what they are doing online.
My youngest is 14 now and as he got to about 9-10 we had to get brutally honest about why we had to know who he was talking to on steam/xboxlive. Once he realised the potential of somebody pretending to be something they weren't, he wasa bit more relaxed about it. It was a conversation I would rather not have had, but in light of letting him grow up relatively unscathed, we thought it necessary. Good luck and know that you have done the best you can.
This has been a nice discussion to read but the concerned parent was looking for a parenting tool. As for a solution, the only thing I know off the top of my head (it's free, as well) is the firefox plugin that's a child-safe browser. It may not allow minecraft since that isn't completely child-safe due to no one policing the chat and/or no child-safe chat controls. I know of a perfect solution for an android smartphone so I'm sure there's something out there. You could bite the bullet at $40 a year per computer that one of the first respondants mentioned (they were modded to a 2- insightful, I believe, so only a portion of their message shows on its own)
I don't understand how no one has mentioned KidZui. While it used to be free (been using it for a long time), it is still very affordable, and is IMO one of the best solutions out there. It's basically a 'shell/wrapper' which runs full screen and allows kids to explore many kid-friendly sites and games. The sites are approved by a group of teachers and other types of people who have a strong interest in educating and protecting children. You can also generate reports of what your kids have been doing etc.
I installed this software on an 8 year old's laptop, and also use OpenDNS's free family filter package to catch anything odd going on. So far it has been a huge success.
Now keep in mind this software doesn't replace the task of having to supervise the kid, but it sure helps catching unexpected but unacceptable popups/images etc., and organize many fun resources in 1 location.
Hope you'll see this comment.
I didn't say ban them from the internet. The fact that a bunch of people seem to think that is what i mean by parenting is sad in itself...
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
I am using : http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/essentials-other-programs , to block content for my classroom computers. It is free and you could set it up as you wish. What sites they can go to what games they can play, etc... . Also you can download http://www.lanschool.com/lanschool_lite , for free, for a real time screen monitoring. Good Luck !
You do know that every time a digit gets added to the id length, it increases the time number of users with that many digits by 10 right? In fact, my account is nearly 2 and a half years old.
Oh, and if you're going to call someone a troll because of having a 7-digit id, try not doing it as AC...
Can somebody just answer the question instead of arguing who's the best parent
I'm curious how limiting 9-year-old's access to pornography somehow triggers the downfall of democracy? I wasn't aware the operation of a free state was dependent on unfettered access to Two Girls One Cup.
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
K9 by blue coat It does exactly what you want and is free
You're a troll no matter how you slice it. So, stfu troll.