EdTech Show Daily

Beyond URL Filtering: The 8e6 Total Solutions Approach

The biggest trend in online safety over the last year has been tracking user behavior online, rather than just filtering inappropriate sites. F iltering is just the first step, and everybody needs to filter. But with the rapid increase in online learning programs, school districts are a lot more interested now in tracking what people are doing and why, so they can plug holes in their policies and address the issues—whether it’s students going to social networking sites, online predators or open-source proxies.

People just don't know what they don't know, so the ability to track exactly what's happening on the network is something that enterprise has been concerned with for some time, and now education is making this a priority.

There's a responsibility when you bring the Internet into a school district. Somebody has to be aggressive in reviewing the sites the kids are accessing, and the content they are viewing. You have to have a content filter in place that meets the minimum requirements of CIPA (the Children's Internet Protection Act). And you have to back that up with reporting and monitoring of activity on your network, by students and staff.

Obtaining this total view of online behavior is easier said than done, and overburdened IT staffs struggle to implement and manage these complete solutions. However, there are vendors who do it all—filtering, reporting, monitoring, whom also offer easy installation and administration. By working with these one-stop shop vendors, there is just one number to call, which is critical for today’s over-burdened K–12 IT staff.

The award-winning 8e6 Professional Edition from 8e6 Technologies is the most comprehensive solution available, integrating best-in-class, appliance-based URL filtering, forensic Web usage reporting and real-time monitoring to protect schools and districts against threats arising from Internet-based learning.

The 8e6 solution includes:

• 8e6 R3000 Internet Filter—offers high-performance, enterprise-level filtering optimized for speed and scalability. Filters URLs, anonymous proxies, spyware, instant messaging, peer-to-peer and other emerging threats utilizing the 8e6 100+ Category Database enhanced by Intelligent Footprint Technology. 
• 8e6 Enterprise Reporter—provides detailed drill down forensic reporting without compromising filtering performance or impacting network functions. Ensures enforcement of AUPs.
• 8e6 Threat Analysis Reporter—proactively monitors and mitigates student/teacher generated Internet threats by offering an up-to-the-minute graphical “gauge view” of online activity.

Internet-assisted learning can extend beyond the classroom and into students’ homes, providing more resources and better teacher-student communication. However, most IT staffs or administrators do not have a comprehensive and cost-effective solution to enforce Internet use policies for mobile users.

For schools exploring laptop programs, 8e6’s technology and service also extends to support 1:1 programs. 8e6’s Mobile Client—a software-based solution that filters remote PC and Mac laptops, works in conjunction with the R3000 Mobile appliance, and is simple to deploy, manage and maintain.
8e6 directly addresses the challenges of online child safety by giving network administrators and educators the tools to view, understand and react to Web-based threats arising from online learning.

For more information about 8e6 Technologies, call 888-786-7999, visit www.8e6.com/education or stop by NECC booth 5146.

EthernetShield Provides Schools With Internet Filtering at Affordable Prices

For nearly a decade, InternetSafety.com has provided top-of-the-line Internet safety solutions for home computers. Now, with the launch of EtherShield, schools and other organizations can also benefit from the cutting-edge technology that a leading consumer organization says is the best available.

Safe Eyes, the flagship Internet content control software from InternetSafefty.com, has twice been selected as the PC Magazine Editors’ Choice. Based on the proprietary technology of Safe Eyes, EtherShield filters computers both on-network and off-network to block access to objectionable content and free up costly Internet bandwidth.

“EtherShield is an affordable, practical solution for schools looking to provide their students with the best the Internet has to offer,” says Shane Kenny, President of InternetSafety.com. “With danger lurking just one click away, I like knowing that my children are protected by EtherShield when they are at school.”

EtherShield filters out objectionable material and content by blocking or monitoring Web sites, instant messaging, chat rooms, social networking sites, file-sharing sites and software. This means EtherShield also frees up costly, unwanted bandwidth usage.

Among the many other benefits of EtherShield:

• Cost Effective – Because it is based on Safe Eyes’ proprietary technology, EtherShield offers leading-edge tools at 20 to 30 percent less than average network filtering systems.
• Remote Filtering Capability – Filter computers both on-network and off-network using EtherShield Remote. This is part of the basic EtherShield package, not an expensive add-on.
• Easy Customization – EtherShield allows each computer in your network to be uniquely customized from one central network location. You choose which of EtherShield’s 35 categories of websites you want to block or limit access to. You can also exempt specific sites from the list, block additional sites by URL or keyword and create a list of blocked search-engine keywords.
• Daily Updates – EtherShield’s filtering technology is updated daily, as is the database of blocked Web sites (based on your preferences). And if you add new computers to your network, they are automatically added to your EtherShield set-up.
• Protection from Unexpected Threats – it’s easy to think of IM, social networking and file sharing as innocuous. Yet these and other online activities can open security holes in your network without EtherShield’s protection.
• Easy-to-Understand Reporting – The reports generated by EtherShield not only serve IT professionals, but they can also be understood by all who are interested in monitoring your network. And if a user attempts to visit a blocked site, the system generates a log entry and maintains a database of policy violations.

From a hardware standpoint, EtherShield is 1U 19-inch rack-mountable and can fit nearly anywhere. An optional rack-mount kit is also available. InternetSafety.com recommends placing EtherShield between your Internet router and the rest of your network. With this configuration, all Internet-bound traffic is filtered. EtherShield can be used on networks with any combination of PCs and Macs.

For more information or to order EtherShield for your school, visit www.ethershield.com, call 877-944-8080 or stop by NECC booth 3017.