I've found 2 very useful and free tools that will aid in the monitoring of your childs internet activity. You don't even need to have a PhD in IT in order to set them up either. One of the tools may work for you, as I have come aware of this tool from my recent Comcast router request (Simply call them if you are a High Speed Subscriber and request it, it's a one time $9.99 Fee for shipping, but router is your to use while you have the service).
The company they partner with is OpenDNS. I've used this company in the past for DNS forwarding for local web service. However, they now have a service called "Parental Controls"
You can blacklist (block specific websites) and white list address of your choice. With the free service I believe you can only do about 50 sites. However, the free account does come with 6 level's of generic filtering (which are very good I might add).
Filtering Level
High
Protects against all adult-related sites, illegal activity, social networking sites, video sharing sites, and general time-wasters.
27 out of 56 categories in this group - View - Customize
[x]Adware
Sites that distribute applications which display advertisements without user's knowledge or choice. Does NOT include sites which serve advertising. Alcohol
Sites about alcohol use, commercial and otherwise. Chat
Sites where you can chat in real-time with groups of people. Includes IRC. Classifieds
Sites for buying and selling (or bartering) goods and services. Dating
Sites for meeting other people. Drugs
Sites about illegal or recreational drug use. File storage
Sites that offer space for hosting, sharing and backup of digital files. Gambling
Sites that offer gambling or information about gambling. Games
Sites that offer game play and information about games (news, tips, cheat codes). Hate/Discrimination
Sites that promote intolerance based on gender, age, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or other group identities. Instant messaging
Sites that offer access or software to communicate in real-time with other individuals. P2P/File sharing
Sites that facilitate the sharing of digital files between individuals, especially via peer-to-peer software, including torrent sites. Social networking
Sites that promote interaction and networking between people. Video sharing
Sites for sharing video content. Visual search engines
Sites for searching for images based on keywords. Weapons
Sites about weapons, commercial and otherwise. Webmail
Sites that offer the ability to send or receive email. Photo sharing
Sites for sharing photographs, as individual images, galleries and albums. Adult Themes
Sites that are adult in nature and are not defined in other rating categories. Note: This category should only be turned on if you want to be very restrictive on your network. Tasteless
Sites that contain information on such subjects as mutilation, torture, horror, or the grotesque. Lingerie/Bikini
Sites displaying or dedicated to lingerie/bikini that could be considered adult-only. Proxy/Anonymizer
Sites providing proxy bypass information or services. Also, sites that allow the user to surf the net anonymously, including sites that allow the user to send anonymous emails. Sexuality
Sites that provide information, images or implications of bondage, sadism, masochism, fetish, beating, body piercing or self-mutilation. Nudity
Sites that provide images or representations of nudity. Pornography
Anything relating to pornography, including mild depiction, soft pornography or hard-core pornography. Forums/Message boards
Sites with discussions, including bulletin boards, message boards and forums. Phishing Protection
By enabling phishing protection, you'll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.
Moderate
Protects against all adult-related sites and illegal activity.
14 out of 56 categories in this group - View - Customize
[x]Adware
Sites that distribute applications which display advertisements without user's knowledge or choice. Does NOT include sites which serve advertising. Alcohol
Sites about alcohol use, commercial and otherwise. Dating
Sites for meeting other people. Drugs
Sites about illegal or recreational drug use. Gambling
Sites that offer gambling or information about gambling. Hate/Discrimination
Sites that promote intolerance based on gender, age, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or other group identities. Weapons
Sites about weapons, commercial and otherwise. Tasteless
Sites that contain information on such subjects as mutilation, torture, horror, or the grotesque. Lingerie/Bikini
Sites displaying or dedicated to lingerie/bikini that could be considered adult-only. Proxy/Anonymizer
Sites providing proxy bypass information or services. Also, sites that allow the user to surf the net anonymously, including sites that allow the user to send anonymous emails. Sexuality
Sites that provide information, images or implications of bondage, sadism, masochism, fetish, beating, body piercing or self-mutilation. Nudity
Sites that provide images or representations of nudity. Pornography
Anything relating to pornography, including mild depiction, soft pornography or hard-core pornography. Phishing Protection
By enabling phishing protection, you'll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.
Low
Protects against pornography and phishing.
5 out of 56 categories in this group - View - Customize
[x]Tasteless
Sites that contain information on such subjects as mutilation, torture, horror, or the grotesque. Proxy/Anonymizer
Sites providing proxy bypass information or services. Also, sites that allow the user to surf the net anonymously, including sites that allow the user to send anonymous emails. Sexuality
Sites that provide information, images or implications of bondage, sadism, masochism, fetish, beating, body piercing or self-mutilation. Pornography
Anything relating to pornography, including mild depiction, soft pornography or hard-core pornography. Phishing Protection
By enabling phishing protection, you'll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.
Minimal
Protects against phishing attacks.
1 out of 56 categories in this group - View - Customize
[x]Phishing Protection
By enabling phishing protection, you'll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.
None
Nothing blocked.
Custom
Only categories you select are blocked.
Academic Fraud Adult Themes Adware Alcohol Auctions Automotive Blogs Business Services Chat Classifieds Dating Drugs Ecommerce/Shopping Educational Institutions File storage Financial institutions Forums/Message boards Gambling Games Government Hate/Discrimination Health Humor Instant messaging Jobs/Employment Lingerie/Bikini Movies Music News/Media Non-profits Nudity P2P/File sharing Parked Domains Photo sharing Podcasts Politics Pornography Portals Proxy/Anonymizer Radio Religious Research/Reference Search engines Sexuality Social networking Software/Technology Sports Tasteless Television Tobacco Travel Video sharing Visual search engines Weapons Webmail Phishing Protection Note: Highlighted categories are currently being blocked.
As a parent, I can "By Pass" all the restrictions by loggin into the client utility.
It also include a time of day feature, that can be used to allow access whenever I think feel it's ok for them too use the internet. However, ensuring they are not staying up too late or using the internet while doing chores.
Most routers do offer the filtering above, however it's nice too be able to do it on the road or change from work without having to set up a home vpn of some kind.
The next software that I just love is from Norton, and it's FREE (I would gladly pay for this service. I've tried to use D-Link/SecureSpot (looks very promising with the antivirus and spyware software, parental controls, parental reporting, pop-up blocker, identity protection, spam control, and firewall all maintained from one spot), I found it more of a tedious task trying to manage 6 computer, 3 of which I paid for the above services ($80 a year I believe). I'd find that sometimes, for whatever reason, the product wouldn't work. The logging is horrible and very inaccurate. I almost always got the banned banner alters (sometimes like 10 in a row in email) only to discover the actual site wasn't reported. Hopefully they can get that in order. Any ways, getting back from my rant. As a Comcast customer, they are now offering Norton Anti-Virus Suite Software. While installing the suite on my kids computers I noticed a banner for a product called OnlineFamily.Norton.
My suggestion is to create an account with the OnlineFamily.Norton. Features include (free)
All Activity - let's me know what site, when they logged in etc.
Web - Let's me know what website they are visiting (Allowed and Not Allowed)
Search - What is being searched for and from what search engine
Instant Messaging - With who, and can log both side of conversation
Social - Tells you what account username they are using
Time - For internet control, it will shut them down if you request
Summary - Over all graph of what they are doing
The best part is, for me, I have an 11 year old, 14 year old and 15 year old. For my 15 year old male, I know porn is what he is going to mostly into. I can control the fact that no porn is looked at and no harmful software will get installed on his laptop. My other 2 are both girls. My 14 year old loves to chat, so I can restrict who she is chatting with or I can simply monitor it (however it does not do the facebook or myspace chat recording). My 11 year old, I am not so much worried about the chatting or visiting bad sites, however I am concerned about material popping up that is too mature for her eyes, or content that she isn't mentally able to handle yet.
What makes this software the best that I've ever used, is the fact I can control and monitor what I want, and when. I can suggest things to be blocked, however there may be a reson to visit some sites, like for report on breast caner. We who ever happens to go to a breast site, and the filter from OnlineFamily.Norton stops it, there is a justification box where they have to enter a reason why they are there that get's emailed to whoever and are allowed to continue. At that time I can review the site as well, and if all is good they will never know I was checking up on them. If it's a bad site, I can have it shutdown immediately with the software.
The functionality of what I want to monitor and when is the best part of the OnlineFamily.Norton. Having been using the software I know for a fact that it's something I would pay for. They have a excellent Advice section for help when setting up the configuration.
Why should my family use OnlineFamily.Norton?
OnlineFamily.Norton is an online service that links parents to their children, giving parents the comfort to set their children free online while still keeping them safe and sound.
The benefits of using OnlineFamily.Norton include
Simple, one-time set up
Create your OnlineFamily.Norton account, add and customize your family member accounts, and then easily install the Safety Minder onto all the computers used in your household.
Easy to use and access
Check your child’s activity or modify your child’s profile and preferences anytime and anywhere using any computer.
Always stay informed about those you care most about
Know where your children visit, who they talk to, and what they’re doing while they’re online. Parents can also set and manage time limits, permitted sites, online chat and social networking preferences for each family member.
Engage and communicate with each other
Take advantage of built-in notification and messaging, providing open discussion with your child about their online activities and better understanding about their intent with visiting specific sites or wanting to spend more time online.
Never miss a thing
Send alerts via email or text message to help you address urgent events. You’ll immediately know if your child has reached their time limits, visited a blocked site, or tried to add an unknown stranger as a chat buddy wherever you are.
Thank you Norton, I've been looking for a trust program like this for a while. This software allows me to be one step ahead of my children, instead of them being one step ahead of me and hiding things.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Here's How To Read Someone's Facebook Email
I have the the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm. I use BB Facebook App.
My info is as follows:
BlackBerry Storm 9530
OS: 5.0.0.328 (Platform 4.2.0.128)
Research In Motion Limited (RIM)
Facebook
Version: 1.7.0.22
While attempting to check my 13 year olds Facebook account from my phone, I discovered that when I sign into the new account, the main page is all of the new information, however when I select the mail portion of the BlackBerry FaceBook app, I notice that it is all my mail from prior logon information.
Which means, if a friend ever asks you to use your BB Storm to check out their Facebook account, they will be reading your mail since it never switches over too their mail. This is a nice security bug find if you ask me. What do you think? Should you be concerned or not? Of course, I guess it all depends on how one would use this information.. Maybe to:
- catch a cheating spouse
- monitor what you kids are doing
- social engineering from coworkers
In any case, I've sent RIM an email and I am still awaiting their response to the security find. I will post once I get a response from either RIM or Facebook.
With CNN.com reporting today that Facebook may "integrate Facebook" features and make mobile apps more useful at the FaceBook annual F8 conference today, this blogger can only hope that the leading Social App market consumer will get tighter with the developers when it comes to security.
A lot of BlackBerry users are using enterprise messaging servers with corporate email accounts. I've seen reports that the BlackBerry Storm also has been plagued by SpyWare.
Just yesterday I installed the upgraded Twitter App called "UberTwitter" and the application by default wanted to take or have full control over my phone for very little reason. Now as a Tech. guy, I understood what was going on, but for your typical non-technical user, I am surely the defaults would have been selected just to get over the installation tasks. There wasn't a single warning, only very limited instructions on what permissions were needed. Kind of takes me back the early days of shareware programs on the PC.
BlackBerry Facebook App: http://www.blackberry.com/facebook
CNN: http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/21/coming-soon-more-news-from-facebook/
UberTwitter: http://www.ubertwitter.com/
Facebook Security Bug
I have the the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm. I use BB Facebook App.
My info is as follows:
BlackBerry Storm 9530
OS: 5.0.0.328 (Platform 4.2.0.128)
Research In Motion Limited (RIM)
Facebook
Version: 1.7.0.22
While attempting to check my 13 year olds Facebook account from my phone, I discovered that when I sign into the new account, the main page is all of the new information, however when I select the mail portion of the BlackBerry FaceBook app, I notice that it is all my mail from prior logon information.
Which means, if a friend ever asks you to use your BB Storm to check out their Facebook account, they will be reading your mail since it never switches over too their mail. This is a nice security bug find if you ask me. What do you think? Should you be concerned or not? Of course, I guess it all depends on how one would use this information.. Maybe to:
- catch a cheating spouse
- monitor what you kids are doing
- social engineering from coworkers
In any case, I've sent RIM an email and I am still awaiting their response to the security find. I will post once I get a response from either RIM or Facebook.
With CNN.com reporting today that Facebook may "integrate Facebook" features and make mobile apps more useful at the FaceBook annual F8 conference today, this blogger can only hope that the leading Social App market consumer will get tighter with the developers when it comes to security.
A lot of BlackBerry users are using enterprise messaging servers with corporate email accounts. I've seen reports that the BlackBerry Storm also has been plagued by SpyWare.
Just yesterday I installed the upgraded Twitter App called "UberTwitter" and the application by default wanted to take or have full control over my phone for very little reason. Now as a Tech. guy, I understood what was going on, but for your typical non-technical user, I am surely the defaults would have been selected just to get over the installation tasks. There wasn't a single warning, only very limited instructions on what permissions were needed. Kind of takes me back the early days of shareware programs on the PC.
BlackBerry Facebook App: http://www.blackberry.com/facebook
CNN: http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/21/coming-soon-more-news-from-facebook/
UberTwitter: http://www.ubertwitter.com/
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