Keyword monitoring and content filtering options with small footprint?

[Jons]

Hello, I looked on here for options to filter the internet based on keywords entered by children.

 

As you may know this has to be in place by September. Yeah, right.

 

I see a lot of large footprint options such as Smoothwall and Policy Central (spit).

 

We don't want any of this nonsense, and this small school only has 1 server at the moment.

 

Introducing another server for this monitoring purpose is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

 

Does anyone know of a cloud-based option or filtering the keywords via the Link2ICT firewall (McAffee I understand - we are a Birmingham school) ?

 

We want the smallest footprint possible with the least admin. I note LANSchool looked OK but no keyword monitoring :/

 

Lord help us.

[Rob_D]

WHere do you get your internet from? It may be worth speaking to your ISP about it. The last school I worked at used Capita Openhive for their internet, which comes with integrated web filtering. And I know webanywhere and other similar companies do the same thing.

 

Have you seen this spiceworks thread?

https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/316024-cloud-based-web-filtering

 

It's also worth noting that if you're using office365 or are heavily into your cloud based stuff, you want to try and avoid proxy based systems as it can slow everything down quite a bit.

Edited July 15, 2016 by Rob_D

[Oaktech]

Maybe something like an iBoss appliance? It's still a bit of a sledgehammer, but it's a necessary one.

[Jons]

Our provider is Link2ICT (Bham).

 

Thanks I had a look at those.. but no keyword logging.

 

We need to detect people becoming radicalised and joining ISIS. Whoops.

[RichCowell]

Our provider is Link2ICT (Bham).

 

Thanks I had a look at those.. but no keyword logging.

 

We need to detect people becoming radicalised and joining ISIS. Whoops.

 

You're going to need to look at the proper e-safety solutions, like Impero, NetSupport, Securus, Smoothwall eSafe... some of them do filtering too, with decent reporting, but all are going to require a server of some sort and client installed on the workstations... any filtering solutions are only going to monitor web traffic, not keywords, and I'd assume your ISP will do the main filtering, so that just leaves the on-site e-safety to sort...

[synaesthesia]

You're starting a bit late to be honest; we've all known of these requirements for a long time, and in an ideal scenario you'll need a few months to go through the options, trial them, play with them, get your e-safety leads to check them out etc. I would strongly advise you look at some of the "sledgehammer" options as a year's stopgap at the very least. For a small school the likes of Smoothwall, which are not really that big a footprint, would be quite cost effective on a licensed-per-user or per-station deal. Same again for the more software based options such as Netsupport or Impero.

 

Split up your options twofold. The first is content filtering in general. Smoothwall and Lightspeed are two common good options, providing full internet filtering. Lightspeed however only works on blocklists whereas Smoothwall uses content-aware filtering.

 

The second is software based, things like Impero and Netsupport. These are typically not used on their own for filtering or safeguarding, they are more typically additional. In a small primary setting, I'd advise looking at the full filtering solutions.

[MrPstv]

Our provider is Link2ICT (Bham).

 

Thanks I had a look at those.. but no keyword logging.

 

We need to detect people becoming radicalised and joining ISIS. Whoops.

 

(This may come across as sarcastic, i honestly don't intend it to be!)

It seems that you want a simple solution.. good luck with that..

Link2ict provide Policy Central of which does what you want for key logging, an option has been given to you and you choose not to take it in the interim...we took that option as we can look at other products next year or the year after.

 

Better to have something in place than nothing at all....

Especially being a Bham based school....

Good luck with your one fix solution at a non discounted price..if you find such a miracle please PM me...

[Michael]

The BGfL of course implement core web filtering, so from that perspective you're covered, so it's more so keyword filtering that you're after.

 

Yes, Policy Central does this, but as to whether it's any good or simple to deploy is a different matter. I've started to use NetSupport DNA and it will do everything you require and is a lot more cost effective. You'll also be able to install it onto your existing server, it has no special requirements.

[MrPstv]

The BGfL of course implement core web filtering, so from that perspective you're covered, so it's more so keyword filtering that you're after.

 

Yes, Policy Central does this, but as to whether it's any good or simple to deploy is a different matter. I've started to use NetSupport DNA and it will do everything you require and is a lot more cost effective. You'll also be able to install it onto your existing server, it has no special requirements.

 

May need to delve into your experience with Net Support, would you say it is a usable monitoring tool? Are you still using Policy Central with NetSupport..

 

Thanks ..

[Michael]

Just to confirm, no I'm not using Policy Central and NetSupport DNA - that'd be like running two AV applications on the same system; it's not advisable.

 

You could also argue (in the context of Safeguarding), all schools in one large area (Birmingham) running the same software isn't always a good thing. I'm pretty sure like AV products, some are stronger than others in all areas concerned. I think also a lot of schools should start questioning the LA's decision making process, because it's not always necessarily the best product or the most affordable based on your requirements.

 

As I say, I've looked at a lot of products, but for me NetSupport DNA has the edge in terms of deployment. Impero still requires .NET 3.5 which by default is switched off in Windows 10. I know a revised version based on .NET 4.x will be released at some point, but in saying that Windows 10's been out for a year now..

 

If you have specific questions/queries, query @Al_NetSupport - if he doesn't know, then no one does...

[Al_NetSupport]

Just to share, we also released this week new language packs for our Safeguarding / Keyword Monitoring in NetSupport DNA, so schools can also begin to monitor and safeguard EAL students as well.

 

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/enterprise-software/172876-netsupport-launches-new-generation-keyword-monitoring-safeguard-bilingual-stude.html#post1483217

 

Al.

[ReadTheNetwork]

@Jons How many computers are we looking at? Did I read correctly that you're a primary school? My preferred method would be a proxy. But if it makes life easy for administration, why not try something like a local install? (more like home/family type environment). So an example I found is Parental Controls | Monitor and block computer activity online and offline | Veridium Software.

 

You can upgrade to pro too. You may need to phone up and ask for more information.

[rpmoore]

Securly can do keyword detection and support Prevent from the cloud. No hardware to software to install, so suitable for primaries.

[rogerdnixon]

Securly is a good option if you use Google Apps. Entirely cloud based and works well. Can be deployed in an hour or so depending on the complexity of things onsite.