Parental Controls Online - 6 Questions to Ask Your Family

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Have you ever noticed how your child's favorite TV shows are directing them to the Internet to watch extra episodes and access special content like games and other shows? My daughter is just now starting to show interest in our family laptop, finding it wherever we might be hiding it. We keep putting off establishing parental controls, but it's only a matter of time before she figures out how to make the laptop work.  As a family we will be nervous with not only the content she will be introduced to, but the wide variety of identity theftand other serious dangers that lurk within. Struggling with allowing her to learn while keeping her safe is a big challenge, one every parent is going to encounter.

This led me on a path of research, searching the web for keywords like "family safe internet software" and "parental controls for the internet."  I saw quite a few sites selling software solutions like NetNanny, BSecure, and free tools like K9webprotection. There were others which carried with them some recommendations like FocusontheFamily and ConsumerSearch, which suggest pre-reviewed products to use.

Looking at all of the options, I can understand how it would be difficult to choose the best product for your family. Here are a few questions to help identify your family’s need for a tool like this:

1) Who in your family needs protecting? Yourself? Children? Adults who are wary of the Internet? Guests?
2) What devices do you need to protect? Smart phones? Laptops/Desktops? Wii?
3) What applications does your family use? Internet browsers? Instant messaging? Social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace?
4) What operating systems and versions do you have? Mac? Windows? Linux?
5) What are you willing to spend to keep your family safe from these dangers?
6) What kind of monitoring do you want to have access to? Web surfing logs? Online game play? Instant messaging usage?

Let me know your thoughts on this topic! Please chime in and let us know what you do to keep your family safe.

Jacob Harris is a Vulnerability and Forensics analyst at Westfield Insurance. Sharing Knowledge. Building Trust.

Comments

[Mike]

The most successful controls at my house are physical.
1) The kids' computer is positioned in the family room with the monitor pointing at the kitchen so we can easily oversee their activity.
2) We control the amount of time they can be online, sending them outside to play when they've been on too long.

We also had "the talk" before they were allowed online. The cyber equivalent of 'don't take candy from strangers'.

We do have some limited software controls running, though. What do you think of the parental controls built into Windows Vista and Windows 7?

[Jacob Harris]

Great Question!

I spent some time with the Parental Controls available in Windows 7 last night.

I like the ability to control when a specific person can log into the computer by day and time. The control you have to limit usage of applications based on ratings (even picking different types of ratings like the "ESRB") is really cool. Picking a specific application looked like it was going to be great, but I was a bit disappointed by the complexity of the list provided to you.

I started looking into the "Add-On’s" section, thinking this is how I'd be able to protect web filtering and social media, but there really isn't a great deal of information readily available. I checked into the K9WebProtection mentioned earlier, and they appear to integrate as an add on for Windows 7, perhaps I'll give that a try this weekend.

Thanks again for the comment!

[Suzanne]

Jacob: What is the cost for the K9WebProtection?

[Jacob Harris]

From what I can see on their website, K9WebProtection is offered free for home use from Blue Coat, a company that sells security and network technology to other companies.

Their website even states "K9 Web Protection is our free Internet filtering and control solution for the home. K9 puts YOU in control of the Internet so you can protect your kids."

While I recommend looking into applications like this for home user, you still need to review all of the information provided by them, and make sure it fits your needs!

Thanks for the question!