A common feature request is for whitelisting, content filtering and censorship.
- Limit surfers to a domain (whitelisting)
- Block pornography. The TLD .xxx would be a godsend!
Preferably these requirements should be implemented separately on the gateway or proxy in your network.
Known 3rd party appliances
- IPCop software - not an appliance I think, though perhaps you load this on an old computer?
- SmoothWall or SmoothGuardian more specifically for content filtering
These appliances are unfortunately quite pricey. The SmoothGuardian product module with hardware is AT LEAST 3000GBP.
Cons: These appliances focus on firewalls, though Webconverger does not actually require a firewall for security…
Whitelisting
Whitelisting can be done fairly easily with tinyproxy. If you need whitelisting, just follow up with an email of your “white-listed” domains.
Webconverger with OpenDNS
OpenDNS provide a filtering service.
Pros
- Easy to implement (no cost)
- Does not add any weight to Webconverger
Cons
- Not really open
- Not using your ISP’s DNS, so quite possibly slow
- Only works on the Internet (so not good for Internal networks … )
Webconverger with content filtering
For those who really need a basic pornography filter, this can be included in the ProCon Alba ‘solution’ in a special customisation.
Cons
- Webconverger will be slower running these extra services
- There are always ways of getting around content filtering. e.g. Many porn Web sites do not have any text, only images.
- It is difficult to maintain and keep up to date a word list.