Content  Filtering

Internet-content filtering, which was devised to prevent children from being exposed to offensive Web sites, is now gaining  a foothold in the corporate market. But companies aren't being driven by a sense  of morality as much as  by business concerns. If  employees are free to download  and distribute offensive  material at work, their employer could end up being sued for having vicarious  liability in sexual or  racial harassment cases.

Those  considerations have led to such cases as the sacking last autumn of 32 workers  in the U.K. by Orange PLC -- the mobile-phone network subsidiary of France Telecom SA -- for distributing pornographic material downloaded from the Internet.

Such concerns  also mean that the filtering  market will grow by close to 50% per year, reaching  (707.8 million euros) world-wide by 2004, according to forecasts  by research group International Data Corp. forecasts. It isn't surprising, then,  that new players are jumping  into the market.

Content  filtering works in two  basic ways: The Web-site  address -- or URL -- is checked against a "control list" as the employee requests  an Internet page; or the  software "sniffs" the contents  of the file as it is being  downloaded to the desktop  computer. Depending on  the sophistication of the software, an employee could  be blocked from accessing a page; discouraged by a warning; or the page that is visited could be registered in log, either  to track abuse or simply  to record Internet usage.

Filters  now can monitor more than just pornography and racism. Employers can check whether  unsatisfactory employee productivity is the result for employees using their  work PCs to book a holiday, shop, gamble, trade stock  online, or even look for a new job.

In addition, corporate computer-network security can protected by monitoring whether employees  use Web-based e-mail, chat-rooms or instant messaging, which  can bypass company firewalls  and risk exposure to malicious  attacks from outside. Employees  intentionally passing on  sensitive company information can be identified.

Finally, inefficient use of the expensive corporate network  and Internet connections  can be curbed because Net surfing places an extra  demand on precious bandwidth.

Corporate  customers can buy both  blocking and administration software. Customers can  also pay a subscription fee to receive an updated control list of URLs. Most filtered sites fall into the "sinful six" category  of pornography, hate/racism,  sport, gambling, religion, weapons, but other categories  could include entertainment,  news, shopping and messaging  sites. The company's administrator then uses the management software to decide which groups of users can see  what and when.

The problem  here, is the ability of the control-list technicians back at the software vendor  to keep track of the thousands  of sites that come online each day, or move address  to avoid being blocked.

Some product have control list that are fully automated. "Crawlers"  search sites for certain  words and groups of words.  The software can also track  graphics in the content,  such as pornographic pictures or racist symbols, whatever  the language of the site.

But this automated technique could  result in what is called  "overblocking." For instance  a retailer could find parts of its own site blocked because the underwear page shows too much skin or the login page asks for  the "sex" of the shopper. The same criticism is leveled  at the "sniffer" packages.

Increasingly,  this software comes as  part of an integrated security  package containing antivirus  and intrusion detection at the corporate Internet  gateway -- or "firewall"  -- or on the desktop. Your  company chooses what the  key words should be and  selects particular URLs to be blocked. The advantage of such packages is that the customer neither needs  to buy into a separate  control-list subscription service nor purchase a server specifically to run the huge database of  URLs locally.

Analysts forecast that corporate  demand for Internet filtering will grow at 2.5 times the rate of the rest of  the market, with stronger  demand from the European  and Asian markets.

With time, analysts expect companies' evolving Internet-management policies to move beyond  merely restrictive practices. They say that the data gleaned from monitoring  employee Internet access  could be used to refine employee-training programs or improve corporate efficiency.

For IT staff, trying to keep things standard is a frustrating, and draining proposition,  particularly as users become  more Internet-savvy and start playing with instant messaging, downloading audio files or tuning in to Internet radio.

Struggle Summary Struggle: Users  vs. IT Opponents: Users  exercising their  download skills and IT staffers  flexing their administrator  muscles. Outlook  for resolution: If users communicate  their needs to IT rather than taking matters into their own hands, IT departments  can become more proactive about  finding the right tools to increase  users' productivity.  There will always be stubborn parties on both sides. User impact: Give a little, get a  little. Cut back  on the recreational  activities and  business tools may improve.

 

As more employees take to the Web on company time, the need for monitoring  Internet access in the  workplace becomes a business concern. When the consulting firm Dataquest, a unit of Gartner Group, asked  200 business executives recently whether Internet  use should be monitored at their companies, a resounding 82% said yes.

Considering  that during an average  week most employees spend up to three hours of work  time using the Web for  personal reasons, the call for regulation is arguably justified. But it certainly  won't win any popularity  contests.

Despite  the need for management,  most companies haven't  formalized their policies about work-related Internet  use. A majority of companies  ask their employees for little more than compliance  to a formal usage policy. However, for a growing  number of businesses this just isn't enough. There's increasing sentiment among executives that a more hands-on approach to Web management is needed.

Although surveillance within the  workplace can be a sticky topic, businesses are turning  to such activity in order to understand Web use during  work hours more effectively.  According to survey participants, 34% of companies have already  deployed such a program.  And more businesses are expected to follow suit. Dataquest expects Web surveillance in the workplace to jump from 34% in 1999 to 66%  by 2001.

Will employees consider such monitoring a violation of privacy?  To keep the backlash to a minimum, companies will  have to communicate clearly  why such monitoring is  taking place.

For  most employees, Internet  monitoring by their employers won't cause too much concern.  Few workers act inappropriately  when surfing the Web. Only  5% of employees choose  to put their careers in jeopardy by visiting dubious Web sites while at work. Still, most managers probably  realize that there ought  to be limits to such surveillance.  The end doesn't always justify the means.

Whitehelm Network Security Ltd. has established strategic  relationships with world-wide leaders in content security  and management market. Our solutions provide enforcement  of email security policies, consolidation of security  countermeasures, virus detection and prevention of malicious attacks. We strongly believe that the  new model of e-business requires an open-door policy that allows Internet technologies  to flow in and out of organisations.  Whether the priorities for an individual enterprise lie in protecting information, maximising its operational effectiveness, minimising its corporate liability  or guarding against damage  to its market image and presence, Whitehelm delivers comprehensive business content security solutions.

Please call 0870 421 4023 to find out about our content security solutions, or e-mail content.team@Whitehelm.com requesting more information.