Parental Control/addict helper software

Parental Control Software
The internet in its raw form in my opinion is so tasteless and goes way outside the bounds of even an adult. However, there are so many good things about the internet that the internet cannot just be disconnected from our lives. This is where Parental controls come to play. If you read up anything about me you will see I favor K9 Web Security. After much research you just can't beat what you get for free from this software. Most paid softwares don't even compare. K9 can also be combined with opendns to lock down almost everything. The keyword to that last phrase was *almost*. It's impossible to block everything sadly. This is why blocking "bad" sites is just not enough. Another tool that is need is accountability reports.

Addict Helper Software
Accountability reports are usually used by addicts. These reports get sent to a sponsor or another person to review and talk about with the addict. What I want to persuade is that these accountability reports should be used not just for addicts but for parents and kids. The fear of having someone else know where you are going on the internet through reports is a good tool to keep you away from the demoralizing aspects of the internet. I have heard that convenant eyes is a great accountability solution. It does have a monthly cost, but is worth the cheap price tag. I would not recommend x3watch. Very often it doesn't work not sending the report to your sponsor and if the report does send it only shows random snipets of what is going on.

Incomplete Protection
Combining the tools of blocking the internet and adding the accountability reporting is a good step towards what is being looked at on the computer screen. This is not complete however. There are loop holes to consider. A teen could have all the above enabled on the PC and still get around the security.

Here are some additions to the above recomendations:

1. Disable boot from external drive and CD then password protect the BIOS. This makes the PC not able to boot to a disk that could have a bootable OS system. Booting to another OS system could allow avoiding any software installed on the current OS on the disk.

2.   Make an Admin user on the PC with a password. Then make all other users standard users with update rights. This dissallows anyone from installing keyloggers (records what keys are being pressed...which if on the PC your password when typed could be hijacked). This also doesnt allow the software installed to be disabled. Even my highly recommended K9 has a flaw that can be disabled by changing a files contents and restarting. Without admin rights however this flaw is no more.

3. have each parent create their half of one password. On any password you create make the password split into two passwords that each parent only knows their part to the password. This is security 101 to any corperation. Don't give anyone all the keys to the castle. The responsability eats away at the person and since we are all human we all can fail.

4. Setup OpenDNS on the router and not on each indivdual PC. Doing this adds more security when a device that doesn't have K9 or other parental software installed to have access to your "bad" list. There is a loop hole with this concept in they can just change their PC DNS to another and get around this step 4. To counter I would suggest getting a router with DD-WRT firmware so you can force DNS resolution to always use the DNS you provide on the router.

5. use pingdom.com. This trys to setup communication to the router. If it fails it emails you that it is down. Without going into to much tech stuff it would be better if you used TCP settings to communicate and use a port you opened up. The port could be a protocol you use but could also be something you don't. If you don't use it just map the port to an IP not used on your home network. If a hacker notices this port is open and attacks it, he can't get anything out of it. pingdom is a great way to notice if someone is bypassing the router and connecting directly to the modem. Connecting directly to the modem means they bypass any security set up on the router.

6. May I suggest a tidius but good way to block everything except what is needed on the internet? block all catagories of the internet with the filter. After they are all blocked start browsing to your favorties list. Allow each of those websites that you know are good and can be trusted. Amazon and ebay sites in my opinion cannot be trusted as a simple search can lead to very revealing stuff. after allowing all your favorites start browsing around a little and when you have a website you know is good allow it. It's funny but I bet you only visit around 20 sites normally. Only when searching for something on google would you venture out of these 20 sites. So when you want to venture out in the open have the neccessary security, get someone to allow you full access for 20 mins while you search down your big project. That's all you really need to find the solution. If it doesn't you can always allow for more. I am sure your spouse or whomever will be gratefull you didn't spend hours resesarch on a the topic. Then, afterwards, your walls come back up and your secure again.

Castle Analogy
Think of the analogy of a castle. You need walls to protect the inside. The walls need to be high enough to evad a baruage from the air. There are guards to only allow what is good in.  Another thing worth mentioning is when the King or Queen step out of the castle they never go out alone. There was always a protector, even if the protector was a single archor with a keen eye for look out.

What happens in the movies when the King/Queen leaves without a gaurd? He/She gets into pearl. Although he/she may come back a hero, he/she still got into trouble and had to find a way out.

can you see the simularities from the castle to the web protection?

Conclusion
I would hope parents/addicts and anyone alike don't have just the raw internet flowing from their PCs. I would also hope that this article was helpful to someone and in turn will help many.