kryten

Just wondering if anyone has recommendations for internet protection/filtering software to put on my daughter's laptop?

Obviously, iffy websites are a concern but also IM and social networking stuff 'which all her friends have' is something I'd like to be able to keep a check on too.

My wife's machine, which the kids currently use, has Norton Internet security which is such a resource/memory hog it makes the machine almost unusable at times.

I was actually hoping to find some sort of server based solution - I've got Suse Linux 10, Win2k and Windows Media Centre servers about the place, so figured I might be able to just proxy the connection through one of those...

So, any suggestions of things worth trying or others to avoid?

ScoobyDoo555

NetNanny is quite good.

On my Mac, my parental controls work the other way - I have to allow any websites before they can be viewed. It is a bit OTT, but at present, my kids are too young to be "free-surfing"...... This way they've got a selection of favourite websites, and any others get added at my (or wifey's) discretion.

Dan

Sonic'

citv and cbeebies are good websites for the kids, rarely need to go anywhere else age dependant of course

However dont let them go to bratz girls

ScoobyDoo555

Yeh, my eldest (7) is getting in to all the Bratz stuff, but for some strange reason, the website is always broken when we try to go there

Dan

kryten

Well, my daughter is 11 so a bit above Cbeebies and Bratz!

Its really the dodgy sites from google searches and some control over IM chat stuff that I want to make sure are accounted for.

Doesn't look like the Vista stuff has any IM things in it. The reason I thought the server based solution was a good one is that I have plenty about and it allows me to lock things down - allow port 80 and MSN chat port and nothing else.

I might actually do a combination of both - lock stuff out on the firewall and then add some software for site limiting...

MJW

If you're worried about dodgy sites from google, get them using a more kids-orientated search engine like Yahoo Kids

For a free filtering solution try K9 Web Protection though I can't vouch for how good it is.

[edit] MSN uses port 80 which obviously you can't block, but if you want to keep an eye on their conversations, just tick the option to keep a history and specify a storage folder on one of your other machines

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

If you are willing to pay £21.95 per annum, then this is a very useful and reliable tool:

CyberPatrol Internet Security Software - Protecting an Online Generation

We've had it about 3 years now with no complaints. Setting times when the computer can access the net is particularly useful.