Ok, sorry for this but I know there are a few of you out there: Assuming a router that can be suitably configured, and that there is an almost limitless number of 'good' sites, most of which you will not know in advance that you want to allow network users access to. and with no consistent identifying factor between them, and an equally limitless number of bad ones you want to deny, how do you do it?
a) explicit whitelisting, b) explicit blacklisting, or c) heuristics. These are, respectively, a) a massive admin headache, b) a massive waste of time, and c) both a massive admin headache and a massive waste of time (given that it combines the worst parts of a and b - false positives and false negatives)
Your best bet is educating the users on which sites are acceptable to be accessed. There are no technological solutions to social problems, and all that.
-- Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/ "After my experience, I have come to hate war. War settles nothing." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
On Sun, 24 Apr 2005 13:22:30 +0100, Keith Willoughby <[email hidden]> wrote in message <[email hidden]>:
Quoted message said:
Your best bet is educating the users on which sites are acceptable to be accessed. There are no technological solutions to social problems, and all that.
Agreed. Still and all, we have a net nanny type thing on the kids' PC, because it's a quick and easy 90% solution.
Ok, sorry for this but I know there are a few of you out there: Assuming a router that can be suitably configured, and that there is an almost limitless number of 'good' sites, most of which you will not know in advance that you want to allow network users access to. and with no consistent identifying factor between them, and an equally limitless number of bad ones you want to deny, how do you do it?
Your best bet is educating the users on which sites are acceptable to be accessed. There are no technological solutions to social problems, and all that.
Which is what I have done at work. Defined acceptable use policy everyone signs, and a threat of something-or-other for violations. So far (several years) we've only found one violation, and that some time after a user had left teh employ of teh company.
I heard once of an IT department at a large firm of lawyers. They decided they needed an explicit AUP. Policy eventually agreed, circulated in duplicate to all users, users to sign one and return signed copy to go on file. Result: 200 signed copies of AUP returned, every one of which was differently amended, annotated, had certain terms crossed out, etc. (probably urban myth).
Ok, sorry for this but I know there are a few of you out there: Assuming a router that can be suitably configured, and that there is an almost limitless number of 'good' sites, most of which you will not know in advance that you want to allow network users access to. and with no consistent identifying factor between them, and an equally limitless number of bad ones you want to deny, how do you do it?
Your best bet is educating the users on which sites are acceptable to be accessed. There are no technological solutions to social problems, and all that.
Which is what I have done at work. Defined acceptable use policy everyone signs, and a threat of something-or-other for violations. So far (several years) we've only found one violation, and that some time after a user had left teh employ of teh company.
