White list start-up targets net nasties

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 18 May 2010 08:27

Your IT - Home IT

A Brisbane start-up, which will soon relocate to Singapore, has launched a software tool which it claims will help keep kids away from net nasties for $99 a year.

Maxwell Thomas, founder of The Cyber Guardian, says that the system has been developed based on a white list approach - where only sites deemed acceptable can be accessed - in contrast to the Government's planned approach to internet filtering which hinges on outlawing access to black listed sites.

In what many tech savvy teenagers are likely to see as a challenge, the company claims its tool can't be circumvented using proxy servers or the like. 

Although the system automatically excludes sites featuring such as pornography, gambling and illicit drugs, it also excludes social networking sites. Thomas says parents who buy the tool can then either retain social network blocks, or use the password controlled dashboard to change the settings to allow one or all of their children to access specified sites.

The tool also allows parents to decide what computers can be used when, and features a system which allows them to set specific tasks or chores for children, which when complete allows the kids more time online. Allowing parents a say in what their children can and can't access is important says Thomas as he is planning an international launch of the product and acknowledged that 'What is acceptable to a parent in Denmark might not be acceptable in Saudi Arabia.'

Thomas said the system had been developed as a result of his own experience with a teenage son who was addicted to playing RuneScape, and who needed to be reined in. Although Thomas originally envisaged the tool having biometric access control, that was deemed both expensive and overkill, so parents now have access to the control dashboard using a password.

The tool is available for $77 a year for a promotional period until the end of the month. This provides access for up to three children, and four computers.