As The School Year Approaches, 8e6 Technologies Offers Advice on Keeping Students Safe

SAN DIEGO – NECC BOOTHS 1215 & 1217 – July 6, 2006 – At the National Education Computing Conference, 8e6 Technologies, a security company dedicated to Internet filtering and reporting, is sharing its back-to-school best practices with K-12 administrators, educators and IT managers responsible for ensuring the safety and security of students using the Internet. With the proliferation of online social networking sites, peer-to-peer networks and Web sites with objectionable content, schools have to be more vigilant than ever.

“8e6 has collaborated with large school districts across the U.S. for more than 10 years about how to provide the highest level of security for children using computers,” said Paul Myer, president and chief operating officer of 8e6 Technologies. “In providing these suggestions, we hope to share our expertise with K-12 professionals responsible for securing the learning environment on a daily basis.”

Filtering 101: Optimizing Your Web Filter for Greater Security

• Explore the Web Safely – Enable the “Google/Yahoo! SafeSearch” feature on your Web filter to ensure students perform “safe” Web searches, including protection from accessing inappropriate image files.
  
• Safeguard against Social Networking – Online communities such as MySpace continually add numerous sub-domains to house the profiles of their fast growing communities. Ensure that your filtering appliance can accept wildcards to block these types of sites efficiently. For 8e6 users, adding “http://*.myspace.com”, for example, to the wildcard will ensure that anything on MySpace will be blocked.
  
• Put a Face on Anonymous Proxies – Web-based proxy services allow anyone to surf the Web privately and securely and also provide students with a method to bypass school filters. If available as a distinct category in the filter, administrators should block Web-based proxies/anonymizers to keep students away from sites that offer free anonymous proxy services. As a second level of protection, “proxy pattern blocking” may also be available to prevent users from bypassing the filter if they try to use (unencrypted) Web and client-based proxies.
  
• Prevent Network Meltdown – To effectively manage network bandwidth, ensure your filter can block or limit access to streaming media applications and popular Web services, such as Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Instant Message (IM). In addition, use a filter that also logs user attempts to run IM and P2P applications and blocks these applications based on the traffic patterns they generate.
  
• Attachment Filtering – This feature blocks the ability to download files by type/extension including executables, music, video and broadband radio. This helps conserve network bandwidth and prevents viruses from infiltrating the network.
  
• The More They Know – Parents and teachers must discuss with children the hazards that are on the Internet. With proper education and the right filtering product, parents and administrators can rest assured that their children’s Internet experience is safe.
  

About 8e6 Technologies

8e6 Technologies is a security company dedicated to Internet filtering and reporting. We are the only Web filtering company that uses a unique "pass-by technology" on a highly scalable appliance. Our standalone reporting appliance is easy to use and provides extremely detailed information, faster than any other product on the market. By preventing improper Web access, 8e6 Technologies ensures CIPA compliance and provides a secure learning environment. Our standalone security solution achieves a dramatic reduction in the cost of hardware, subscriptions, maintenance, and support, and produces a substantially lower total cost of ownership. A Web filtering pioneer since 1995, the company maintains headquarters in Orange, California, with offices in Taipei and Beijing, as well as a network of channel partners worldwide. For more information, please call 888.786.7999 or visit www.8e6.com/education.