The Internet is a cornucopia of educational resources but can also be a dangerous place for young people. Children should never have unrestricted access, so filtering is essential.
There are a variety of solutions, says Hugh Evans, but one of the best is the new CF3000 high performance web filtering appliance from Packet Dynamics.
“It’s a three-stage filter. So we have a regularly updated database of sites we block. Then we monitor what children ask for and, if necessary, tell them they can’t do that.
“Finally, when the pages come back from the web, we have a high-performance algorithm that analyses them and decides whether they are likely to be offensive.”
Levels of filtering can be adjusted to allow genuine requests for information on drugs, for example, or sex education.
Costs range from pound;2,000 for a CF3000 suitable for a school, to pound;8,000 for one education authorities could use to filter web content to 100 schools.
Contact Eamonn Doyle, tel 01506 426976 Stand H24
