Internet Access Control - Resources for Educators

Keeping Students Safe on the Internet

The Internet is a powerful learning tool offering both students and educators an unlimited amount of information from around the world. But it also offers pornography, gambling, violence, hate-groups, drugs and more.

How can educators address these problems and offer a safe learning environment for students without limiting their access to relevant information? The first part of the solution is a written Internet Access Policy (IAP). The second is using Websense Enterprise Internet filtering software to enforce the policy.

Websense Enterprise is used by approximately 20,000 organizations worldwide, including thousands of schools and universities. Websense allows you to transparently monitor, report and manage Internet usage. Its network impact is minimal; it's easy to install; its administration is next to nothing; and it integrates seamlessly with Cisco, Check Point, Microsoft, CacheFlow, Inktomi, NetScreen, Novell, Netscape and many other leading Internet infrastructure products.

The Websense Master Database
Websense Enterprise enables you to filter out inappropriate content and allow relevant information to reach students. For instance, if a student performs an Internet search for "breast cancer," he/she will not be blocked because of the word "breast" which can imply sexually explicit Web content. This "flexible filtering" is possible because of the Websense Master Database.

More than 5 million Web sites
The Websense Master Database currently contains more than 5 million unique Web sites (more than 1.1 billion Web pages) organized into 80+ categories. Daily updates allow you to keep-up with the changing Internet.

How is the Master Database developed and maintained?
Sites are found using proprietary software and then classified into categories. Sites needing more detailed inspection are reviewed by a qualified Internet analyst for the most accurate categorization possible.

Flexible filtering
You choose what categories students are able to view by category. Categories such as "Sex Education" and "Prescribed Medications" enable your students to conduct research on school related topics, while allowing you to block pornography and illegal drug use sites.

Customize Policies for Users and Groups

Customize Internet access policies by user, group, workstation or network. Define users and groups and assign them different access capabilities. Enable faculty to access a different range of sites than students.

Comply with Federal Law and Avoid Legal Liability

The Children's Internet Protection Act
Laws like the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) can penalize schools that don't use Internet filtering software by withholding federal Internet and computer funding. Websense meets CIPA criteria helping to ensure compliance with federal law.

Avoid costly lawsuits
Another legal concern for educators is lawsuits brought by concerned parents and organizations. Installing Websense Enterprise on your network limits legal liability by blocking inappropriate and objectionable material.

Conserve Expensive Network Bandwidth

MP3s, streaming video and online chats are extremely popular with students. They also require a lot of bandwidth and affect your network's speed and performance. Websense allows you to block sites that offer memory intensive entertainment, freeing up precious bandwidth and improving network performance.

Websense Enterprise Internet Filtering Software Enables You to:

• Protect "at-risk" students
• Limit legal liability & comply with federal laws
• Customize policies based on users and groups
• Conserve expensive bandwidth
• Increase network speed and performance

Case Studies - Pennsylvania School Districts