Parental Controls
OverviewThe Internet is becoming a routine part of the way we live our lives. Every day it seems we find at least one reason to use it. Emails, online chatting, banking, shopping, doing research, or playing an online game; the Internet is an extremely useful tool. However, with its use comes some inherent dangers - dangers that can also impact every aspect of your life including the safety of your family.
The Parental Controls feature found in SecureIT Plus assists you in managing the amount of time your family can spend on the Internet and helps protect them from undesirable content that could ultimately prove harmful. This solution provides the key elements to ensure the protection you need:
- Internet Content Filtering
- Internet Access Controls
- Time Management Controls
- Monitoring / Reporting
- Automatic Updates
- White List Mode
Use of this tool will help you monitor the Internet’s use in your home and help you teach your family to make the best decisions in terms of accessing inappropriate websites. It is important to note that this technology will provide a level of support, but parental involvement is still the last line of defense in the protection of your family.
Parental Controls Setup
- Running the Setup Wizard
- Adding Users
- Deleting Users
- Setting the Password
- Changing the Password
- Setup Access
- Setup Complete
Console, click on the Settings tab and then select the Parental Controls option at the bottom of the window.
It is required that during setup, the Administrator have administrative privileges on the computer.
At the Parental Controls window, click the box entitled "Enable Parental Controls" in order to activate the service and begin the setup. Don't worry about making a mistake during the setup. You can always go back and edit these settings later. Don't forget your Administrator password and commit it to memory or store it somewhere it cannot be accessed.
Running the Setup Wizard
When a user elects to enable Parental Controls, the Setup Wizard is launched.
The Setup Wizard walks the user through the initial setup of the Parental Controls features, providing an opportunity to customize the settings or set them at a default level.
Adding Users
Once Parental Controls are enabled, a username and password must be established for each user profile before being allowed to access the Internet. Profiles associated with the computer running SecureIT Plus are automatically detected and created in the "Setup Users" view.
The Administrator can use this area to create new usernames and passwords for specific users that will be saved in the "User Profiles" section of the module.
If there are no profiles found, a user called "Administrator" will be created. The Administrator can add new users and password by selecting the "Add User" button.
Deleting Users
If there are user profiles that are no longer used, but were automatically detected during setup, or you simply wish to remove a user profile, it can be deleted by selecting the "Delete" button. Once the "Delete" button is clicked, the user disappears from the "User Profiles" column.
Setting Passwords
In order to set an initial password associated with a valid user, select the appropriate user from the "User Profiles" list. Next, select the "Set Password" button. Type in a password and then confirm the password by re-typing it in the "Confirm" box below. If the password is accepted the box will disappear and take you to the next screen.
If a password is not accepted, the users will receive a message stating "Passwords do not match. Please try again." Select the "OK" button and re-enter the correct password information.
Changing Passwords
To change an existing password for a valid user, access the Parental Controls main administration page. Next, select the "Set Password" button and follow the prompts to make the change.
If there are more than one Administrator profiles set up on an individual machine, each would be allowed to make changes to passwords or settings of standard users. However, one administrator may not make changes to another administrator profile.
Setup Access
The Setup Access page allows the Administrator to define the types of sites that a user cannot access when surfing. There are three levels that can be applied
Administrator: This profile will manage all other profiles. The default setting for this profile is to have full access to the Internet with no restrictions. You can set restrictions if you want to.
Default: This profile is the default access profile for all non-administrative profiles that are created in the setup wizard. This profile automatically blocks the following categories:
- Adult
- Artnudes
- Drugs
- Gambling
- Porn
- Sexuality
- Spyware
- Violence
- VirusInfected
Once the selected updates have been chosen, SecureIT Plus will download the necessary filter lists.
Setup Complete
Once filters have completely downloaded then a Setup Complete window will display.
If you want to make additional changes to a particular Parental Controls profile, open the SecureIT Management Console again and click on the Settings tab and then click on Parental Controls.
From here, you can change the settings and passwords for any user. All changes will need the Administrator's username and password. Once entered, a settings window will open to give you additional options for controlling computer use.
Parental Controls General Settings
The General settings tab allows user-level customization of specific applications.
You can block:
- Instant Messaging (IM): Selecting this will block programs like MSN Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Instant Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. It will stop the user from being able to log in to their messenger program.
- Peer-to-Peer blocked (P2P): Blocks access to peer-to-peer programs like Kazaa, Limewire, Morpheus, and other torrent and file-sharing applications.
- FTP Blocking: Blocks access to being able to transfer files through an FTP service. Transferring files through Instant Messenger would be one possibility of this.
- Disable File Downloading: Selecting this will disable all file downloading from the Internet.
- White List Mode: This blocks access to any website that is not included in the White List. There is a White List category in the filter setting for a list of sites 100% suitable for kids.
- Inactivity Time Setting: You can set the user's Parental Controls profile to require them log in again after a set amount of minutes.
Filter Settings
The Filter Settings allows specific categories to be blocked based on the User Profile. The library of these categories are maintained and updated by SecureIT Plus through an automatic update feature.
The following is a list of some common categories or activities that can blocked:
- Adult: When selected will block sites containing adult material such as swearing. Not restrictive to just porn.
- Pornography: When selected will block sites containing pornographic material.
- Drugs: When selected will block sites containing drug related content.
- Gambling: When selected will block sites containing gambling related material.
- Violence: When selected will block sites containing content related to aggression, violence, and weapons.
- Illegal Activities: Can blocked by categories like Warez (illegal programs), Phishing, and Hacking.
- Malicious Activity: Can be blocked when categories like Ads, Proxy, Spyware, Anti-Spyware, Update sites, Virus Infections, and Dialers are selected.
- Chat: When selected will block sites and content related to chat and instant messaging.
- Search Engines: When selected, will block access to SearchEngines.
- White List: When selected, this category contains a list of sites 100% suitable for kids.
Time Controls
Controls can be placed on days of the week, and specific time periods under this setting window. It can be set to block certain times or days or to allow under those restrictions as well.
If attempts are made to access the Internet during the times that are not allowed, the user will receive a message indicating the the Internet is not available to them at this time and to consult the administrator of the machine.
White List
The White List tab allows the Administrator to create a list of approved web sites that a user can access regardless of their inclusion in a filtered or blocked group.
This feature allows the Administrator to add a single site to the White List so that it can be accessed by a user that may not have access to other sites in a related category. Any sites on the White List will over-ride attempts to block access to it. The Administrator can select the "Add" or "Remove" button to manage the sites on the White List.
An Import / Export feature is also present on this tab. It can be used in case the Administrator would like to transfer a White List from one computer to another instead of having to retype all the items in the White List.
Blocked Sites
The Blocked Sites tab allows the Administrator to create a list of blocked web sites that even though they are excluded from a filtered or blocked group.
Although not part of a filtered or blocked category, sites appearing on the "Blocked Sites" tab will not be accessible to the user. The Administrator can select to "Add" or "Remove" button to manage the sites on the Blocked Sites list.
Accessing the Internet
After Parental Controls are configured and enabled, a user must log in with an appropriate username and password in order to access the Internet.
If the user uses the incorrect username and/or password and clicks the "Login" button, a box will come up and state "Login incorrect. Please type the correct username and password." Access to the Internet will not be granted until a valid username and password have been entered.
Attempts to Access a Blocked Site
Each time an attempt is made to access a filtered or blocked web site, access to the site is denied and a message is sent to the browser window on the computer informing the user that access to that site is blocked. Reporting information is also logged and added to the reporting section on the Online Reports site.
Over-riding a Blocked Site
If a site is filtered or blocked, a message will be displayed to the user with two buttons: "Back" and "Override."
If the "Back" button is selected, it will return the user to the browser window but will redirect them to a white page with a Parental Controls statement in the middle detailing what has occured.
If the "Override" button is selected it will prompt the user for a username and password. If a user that has "Administrator" access puts in a correct username and password, it will allow this site to come up and temporarily add the site to the "White List."
Support Options
If you have SecureIT Live or SecureIT Plus, please call our 24X7 Support:1-877-373-3320
E-mail us
Visit the SecureIT Online Support Forum