Local authorities increasingly clamping down on internet misuse

Local authorities are increasingly turning to Internet filtering software as a means to protect employees, students
and members of the public from viewing inappropriate Web sites, reports Websense Inc. supplier of employee Internet
management (EIM) software.

In the last six months, Websense EIM software has been purchased by a number of prestigious UK local authorities, including Oxfordshire County Council, Lancashire County Council, and City of Westminster. Currently, more than 150 government agencies use Websense Enterprise software in
their workplaces. Long-standing customers include Manchester City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, Royal Borough of Windsor, and Buckinghamshire County Council.

Local Boroughs and Councils are opting for EIM software as a means of protecting their employees, electorate and students from the dark side of the Web, said Geoff Haggart, vice president of Websense International Ltd. Faced with a wide range of users surfing the Web for
different interests, searching in different languages and exploring obscure sites that come online every day, authorities chose Websense as their EIM product of choice. This is primarily because of the accuracy of the Websense Master Database, which is updated daily in 44 different
languages and 81 different categories of content.

The Borough of Poole has been accessing the Internet under the protection of Websense for a number of years. We recognised the need to protect our employees from accessing potentially harmful or distasteful Internet sites and Websense came fully qualified for the job, said Marc
Biondic, IT security officer for the borough. We find the solution both scalable and flexible. And it was very easy to tailor for the specific levels of filtering required, not only for our employees, but also for the borough schools and public Internet access from Poole''s
libraries.

Driving the purchases of EIM software by local authorities and councils is a growing concern over online chat rooms, which have recently grown to more than 25,000 sites on Web, according to Websense research. When accessing chat rooms, students often unknowingly give out personal information, leaving themselves vulnerable. In addition, chat room Web
sites are also seen as a security threat, because hackers are able to circumvent traditional firewall and anti-virus protections.

As a government initiative in Liverpool that has been set up to enable children to become more familiar with technology, it is essential we manage what they access and protect them from the dangers of the Internet, said Agni Amin, network manager for Bosco City Learning Centre. Chat rooms are a major problem for children as they can very
innocently give out their numbers. We make it our job to educate them against giving their personal details, and we block chat rooms using Websense Enterprise, which is the most accurate and reliable software available.