OZDISK PTY LTD

CyBlock ISA / TMG: Advanced Web Filter for ISA Server and Forefront TMG

• Ideal for any size organization
• Customizable employee Web-use filtering and blocking
• Produces detailed and categorized Web-use reports
• Supports ISA 2006, 2004, Forefront TMG and Active Directory
• Provided by a long-time Microsoft ISA partner

http://www.wavecrest.net/isaserver/

Websense provides web filtering technology for Microsoft ISA server via Websense Web Filter

http://www.websense.com

Quote “The award-winning Websense Web Filter solutions have long been recognized in independent research studies and market share reports as the premier Web filtering solutions.”

DNS (Domain Name Server) is what is used everytime someone tries to access a website. If you type www.ozdisk.com.au into your browser a small query goes off to find what IP  the webserver has in order to access it. It works like a phone book, that can update its information from other DNS servers located on the Internet. By tricking a local DNS server into replying with either a loopback address (127.0.0.1) or an internal address you stop the query from going further onto the Internet.

Once a computer is infected with malware or spyware, it can send information onto the internet for malicious hackers to turn computers into zombies or gather information which is confidential or even install more malicious softyware. Persons responsible for infected computers should remove the infected computers from the network and then remove the infections. Once it is clean or reimaged then put it back onto the network for use.

Now thats out of the way, here is way to help block and protect computers. Although this wont stop all infections it will reduce computers from accessing the domains that are known bad sites.

Stopping Malware & Spyware from talking to the internet by using a DNS null zone is very simple and does not require large hardware or specialised equipment. When a computer tries to access one of the sites on the list the DNS server will reply with a local IP thus keeping the data from going out onto the Internet.

It can be as simple as loading a local DNS application to your server. If you run a Windows server then you more than likely have this setup partially already. If you run Apple or Linux you can install and run a DNS server fairly easily. (Although the later will require further techs skills.)

For further information and details please visit “Black Hole DNS White Paper by David Glosser”

Another thing that can be looked at is using a HOSTS file http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Now as a business that promotes safe internet access for Children and Schools & Customised Internet Filtering for Business customers you would not think that we would be saying this.

Based off everything we have read so far, we do not believe the Mandatory ISP filtering plan otherwise known as The Clean Feed Project is the way to go.

People believe that Clean Feed will make the internet safer for children, well partially not entirely. 

Home Internet access is the responsibility of the persons whom pays for it, Business Internet is the responsiblity of all that use it and the person whom pays the bill. Mandatory ISP filtering is not really the way to go, YES i do believe that we should not have the following types of sites on the net but it will never stop. There will be ways for people to bypass it and there aint no way that they can stop that.

If you filter at every Australian ISP, you could bypass it by setting up a VPN or SSH tunnel into another country. The costs involved in this are not expensive.

The Clean Feed Project – Will use a Government Blacklist which has a number of internet sites in which they will block all Australians from accessing.

It is designed to;

• Block access to known websites which contain child-abuse materials.
• Block access to known material that is refused classification.
• Block access to known instruction in crime material.
• Block access to known drug use material.
• Block access to some adult sexual material.

Concerns we have are;

• This will not protect children from inappropriate materials.
• The Filter will be able to be bypassed rendering it useless.
• Slowing Internet access in Australia further.
• Steer us in the path of what China is now using.

Now this may sound not too bad but with the amount of adult websites that exist on the Internet these days, us as parents need to realise that we have to play a part in the control of the internet as well. Do you know where your kids have been or who they have talked to on the home computer.

Informational Links

http://www.efa.org.au/mandatory-internet-filtering-fact-sheets/

http://openinternet.com.au/

http://nocleanfeed.com/