The Internet contains a wealth of valuable information as well as information that some might find objectionable. Parents and teachers in particular would like to enrich learning experiences of children by allowing them access to the Internet and its valuable information, some of which is only available on the Internet. Counterbalancing their desire to make information widely available to children is the concern of many parents and teachers to children being given uncontrolled access to information that the parents and teachers deem to be inappropriate, such as pornography or violent content.

Since neither a parent nor a teacher can always be present to control and monitor what a child or student might be doing, it was necessary to develop a method of providing such control in an unattended mode.

Microsystems Inc. have, over the past several years, worked with a team of professionals including both teachers and parents to create and maintain a list of sites that they believe parents and teachers might wish to prevent children from seeing. Their list that includes such sites is aptly named: CyberNOT.

Vicomsoft's advanced Host Access Control functionality is password protected to a designated administrator. This functionality allows the administrator to selectively prohibit access to specified sites. In addition, we have extended the capability of Host Access Controls by licensing the 'CyberNOT' list from Microsystems and incorporating support for it in our servers.

When an administrator of a Vicomsoft server product activates the 'CyberNOT' list, no LAN users (i.e. the computers on the network) using applications such as web browsers, newsgroup clients or FTP clients, will be able to access prohibited Internet sites through the server.

With the benefits of central control and simple administration, Vicomsoft's Internet connectivity servers' CyberNOT feature gives the teacher or parent complete peace of mind. Once it is set up and activated it is transparent to LAN users, and the administrator need take no further action.

Vicomsoft's Internet connectivity servers can be applied in mixed-platform environments, and protect LAN clients using any operating system - Mac OS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT, Unix etc.

Being server-based, the CyberNOT content filtering cannot be bypassed by users, offering a very secure environment. This has major advantages over solutions that install on the users' machines themselves, which can be disabled or are open to possible 'hacking' by more determined users, or relying on a component of a web browser that can be bypassed by simply downloading and using a different web browser.

The CyberNOT list created by Microsystems Inc. is regularly updated and users of Vicomsoft's server products will be able to download updated lists on a regular basis from the Vicomsoft site.

The CyberNOT list has its prohibited sites listed in categories which include:

• violence / profanity (graphics or text)
• partial nudity
• full nudity
• sexual acts (graphic or text)
• gross depictions (graphic or text)
• intolerance (graphic or text)
• satanic or cult (graphic or text)
• drugs / drug culture (graphic or text)
• militant / extremist (graphic or text)
• sex education (graphic or text)
• questionable / illegal & gambling (graphic or text)
• alcohol & tobacco (graphic or text)

This allows the administrator (e.g. teacher or parent) to selectively allow or prevent access to any or all of the categories simply by ticking a category.

The server's 'Internet Filters' function also allows the designated Administrator to override the supplied CyberNOT list if required; to permit access to any specific sites on the list, and to deny access to sites not on the list.

More information on the CyberNOT list and the criteria for inclusion of Internet sites on the list can be found on Microsystems' web site.

There are a number of reasons why some companies and businesses might also wish to use the general Internet filters and the 'CyberNOT' functionality in particular to control access to sites that some might find objectionable. From a purely practical point of view, a company might not wish its employees wasting time and company resources on what is obviously not work-related Internet access. Additionally, control may be desired on access that could cause offense to other employees or even leave a company open to liability, for example by virtue of sexual, illegal or intolerant content.