Just because a company manufactures pharmaceuticals doesn’t mean their employees are qualified to do surgery. The same analogy can be drawn for companies that operate computer networks. The ability to download software and input data does not make you an expert on network security solutions. That is best left in the hands of the professionals. We spend all of our time detecting and preventing threats from affecting your computer network. Let us do our job and you’ll have more time to do yours.
The dangers that are out there right now on the internet are difficult to detect. The newest ploy used by hackers is to hack a seemingly safe website that you visit all the time and create a tunnel back to your network when you visit. You’ll lead them right back into the heart of your system and never even know that they’re there. Most of the standard anti-virus programs you can get for free and install on your own can’t detect that level of threat. As internet security professionals, we can. Our URL blocking software is updated hourly, so the moment one of those unsafe websites is detected its blocked for all of our clients.
Other network security tools incorporated into our software help to speed up your applications and keep your email safe and secure. When you send a message to someone in what you think is a secure fashion, it can be fairly devastating for that message to be intercepted. Most of us operate under the belief that no one can read our email except those recipients we send it to. That’s not true. Not only is it possible to intercept email, but it’s also possible to pirate someone’s email address and use it to send emails. This is done with a particularly nasty virus that is hard to detect. That’s why you need us to handle your security for you. We know what to look for.
Do you know what a Trojan is? Trojans and worms get inside a computer system and harvest sensitive and private information like names, addresses, social security numbers, credit card numbers, and bank account numbers. They are one of the most common tools of the identity thief and new ones are developed every day. If you’re running a business that inputs that type of information, you are a prime target. Give us a call and we’ll make sure you’re protected.
Speed, in relation to web and network applications, is essential if you’re going to keep up with the fast-paced business world you’re attempting to compete in today. Speed comes with efficiency, bandwidth, and the clearing out of any obstacles that might slow your system down. Application acceleration software optimizes your network to improve performance in all three of these areas. Think of it as a tool to widen the road, clear out any road blocks, and add horsepower to the car at the same time.
When most people see the word “acceleration” they think of adding something to improve performance. Application acceleration software does the opposite. It doesn’t focus on making your system work faster; it eliminates what’s slowing it down. There are a number of problems which can be deeply embedded in your system and need to be removed, but stay entrenched because you can’t see them. Our software finds these obstacles and clears them out of the way. This “optimization” brings your system back to a state where it should have been in the first place, where it was when first installed.
Once all the clutter is gone, the software can provide CIFS acceleration for remote file sharing, HTTP acceleration for web browsing and web applications, and HTTPS acceleration for secure intranet applications. You’ll also see Email acceleration to transfer and download large messages and attachments and better performance from mobile devices connected to your system. Add our website blocking software to all of that and you’ll have a safe, secure, fast system which will give you an edge over your competitors. That type of advantage translates into more revenue.
The moment you connect your network to the internet you start to accumulate saved files, cookies, and possible malicious software which can potentially damage your system and slow you down. By adding an acceleration program you get rid of a lot of those harmful elements and give your employees a better chance of getting their work done in a reasonable time frame. Your entire company, from IT all the way to the mail room, will be happier and more productive.
If you have last year’s version of an anti-virus or anti-spyware program, you are not protected. In fact, if you have a version that was released last month, you may not be protected. Hackers and identity thieves develop new viruses and worms at such a rapid pace that you almost need to upgrade daily to keep up with them. We do, and we make sure our clients always have the latest in network security software. Our URL blocking software, designed to block out harmful websites, is updated hourly, giving you the maximum protection you can get at all times.
If you haven’t upgraded your network security software recently, you might want to consider doing it soon. There could be viruses and malware present in your system right now that you don’t know about. Familiar sites that were seemingly safe for browsing may have been hacked, enabling the hacker to follow you back to your network through an encrypted tunnel and harvest at will. There could even be an internal threat from an employee who holds a grudge against the company. You just never know, so it’s best to be safe and make sure you have the latest security software installed.
Our experience has been that most threats to a business computer network are generated by employees browsing on unsafe websites. This is not always done while workers are attending to personal affairs. There are sites that are visited for legitimate reasons which may carry viruses or worms. Our web filtering software, the ultimate in network security, is updated hourly as sites with real threats are identified. Using selective blocking, we prevent access to those sites, eliminating the danger.
As the web grows and steadily stretches across the globe, the number of potential threats multiplies rapidly. To keep up with the hackers, you need the assistance of someone whose sole purpose is to keep your network safe. There are programs you can buy and install yourself, but they can’t compare with what we have to offer when you install our Content Keeper web filtering system. See our main website for more details.
Don’t you know there’s an election going on? Is your favorite team winning? The playoffs are right around the corner, you know. How about those fall fashions that just came out? Have you seen the colors this year? These are what are known as distraction questions. They’re random inquiries that cause your employees to check online for answers or clarification, distracting them from the real work they are supposed to be doing. They are also the number one reason why you need to monitor employee internet access and behavior. Your production levels are off and time wasted on the web could be the reason why.
During the presidential campaign season of 2008, internet usage was at the highest peak it had ever been to that point. The issues being put on the table and the social media campaign waged by the candidates had Americans logging on in homes and offices everywhere. Even those responsible for curbing personal internet use at work were guilty of checking headlines and watching highlights from conventions and nomination speeches. The information age had hit its stride and big business began to feel the downside of it as productivity dropped.
In the years since 2008, the need for employee internet monitoring has become clear to business owners and managers in virtually every industry that has a need for internet technology. Politics still has its followers, as does professional sports, shopping sites, and on line gaming. Porn, a hot button issue due to the legal ramifications involved, attracts thousands of users at work every single day. How often have you seen that “exclusive” rare video going out to everyone’s email? Let your people know not to open it. Most of those files come loaded with viruses and worms.
If it seems that your production levels aren’t what they once were, monitor employee internet access for a while and see if you can spot where the abuse is happening. There are ways to prevent it, including URL blocking software that will eliminate the ability to log on to social media, news, or porn sites. If you’re wrestling with the ethics of doing that, think about the losses you’re suffering from wasted man hours. Controlling internet use in your office isn’t optional, it’s a necessity.
The most effective way to solve a problem is to analyze it, break it down, and address the individual causes of it. Personal internet use at work, one of the most common problems faced by businesses today, can be solved by internet use reporting. The time that employees spend checking their personal email and looking up their friends on Facebook can be spent more productively doing their jobs. Our studies have shown that at least fifty percent of all internet use in the office is for personal, not business reasons. Just imagine how many man hours you’re losing with those numbers.
The development of social networking back in 2003 created a wonderful forum for people to share their ideas and experiences and it opened up a powerful marketing medium for those who know how to use it. The down side is that it’s so addictive that people spend hours online following the soap opera-like stories of other people and playing online games. If a good conversation thread starts up in the morning, an average user will go back to it at least half a dozen times during the day. Multiply those by ten minutes per visit and you as an employer have lost an hour of production.
Employee internet monitoring is the only effective way to eliminate this problem in the work place. Combine it with some URL blocking software that prevents anyone from accessing social media and you might actually get some work done. To some that would seem Orwellian, but any manager or business owner who has looked closely at usage behaviors and tendencies will tell you it has to be done. To most computer operators, a couple of minutes a few times a day on their social media home page seems harmless enough, but the cumulative total of all those minutes at the end of the month can seriously cut into the bottom line of a business.
Think about your own internet use. You may be one of those people who logs on when you need something and logs off as soon as you get it. You’re in the minority if you are. Most people, even when they’re not checking their home page, at the very least stop for a few minutes and search something or other. Add up all the time you spend on the internet that is not business related and then assume your employees are doing the same thing. We’ll be expecting your call for monitoring software soon.
The Content Keeper web filtering system is, in our opinion, the most effective URL blocking software in the world. Occasionally, we get asked why. If you’re using another system, we’d be happy to make a point by point comparison with you. Our original client and still largest user today is a government agency with over two hundred thousand employees relying on our software for protection. Their need for security is greater than most private enterprises and we’re their preferred choice. Can the company that provides your URL blocking software claim the same?
Every hour, our list of dangerous URLs and IP addresses is updated by terminals around the world that have detected threats. These updates are fed to all of our clients, making each of their networks secure against viruses and worms that could cause significant damage. Our system is more than just software. There is a hardware component to it that connects through Ethernet and gives us better filtering capabilities and faster speed. Put in simple terms, any new threat discovered anywhere in the world is blocked on your computer within an hour. That’s pretty fast. Can your software do that?
Our web filtering software is fully customizable. If any of those blocked URLs are sites you want your employees to visit for business purposes, you can unblock them on your system and allow access. This may sound like a bad idea, but some sites that appear to be a threat may just be ecommerce or database sites looking to harvest basic information. That is not always a bad thing. Directory sites that provide SEO value to business websites often employ technology that looks very much like a Trojan or a worm to security software. Our system blocks everything that appears to be dangerous. It’s up to human editors to unblock if they see fit. Can you do that now?
Finally, in studies we have conducted with our clients and potential clients, it has been found that most company productivity is affected by personal unauthorized internet use. Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are the most popular destinations. With Content Keeper, you can block those URLs or you can set up access to them to only be allowed during certain hours, like lunch time, before work or after the day is done. Does your web filtering software do that? Ours does.
Business owners beware. There are threats to your prosperity that don’t come from your competitors or any outside regulatory agency. They originate inside the walls of you very own office, at the desks of your employees. Every time they log onto the internet, you are at risk. Do you know which sites they are visiting or how they’re spending their time? If you haven’t installed internet access control software, you don’t. The men and women you rely on to keep your company afloat could be unwittingly sinking the ship with viruses and malware.
It’s important to have trust when you run a company that relies on internet access for any facet of its operations. The act of going online can be risky if you don’t know what you’re doing. Opening up unknown files can lead to the introduction of harmful viruses and worms which could irreparably damage your network and your company database. Having a good anti-virus program can help, if the threat comes from outside your office, but what if it originates inside? Systems have been crashed by disgruntled employees more than once. Are you at risk of something like that?
If you monitor employee internet access, you eliminate the possibility of someone logging on to your system without you knowing about it. If you control who can log on by requiring each user to have an individual log in and password, you’ll know when someone does something which could result in damage to your network. The act could be intentional or unintentional, but at least you’ll know who did it and which terminal it originated from. Diagnosing a problem is the first step towards solving it.
How secure is your computer network? When your employees use the internet, are they doing so for business purposes or killing time surfing for personal amusement? Those minutes turn into hours as the month goes by and you end up losing valuable production time without knowing why. Install internet access control software and your employees will know they’re being monitored. That will eliminate the chance of abuse.
The debate has raged for years now, since the dawn of the internet. Is it ethical to install employee monitoring software to watch over your employees’ browsing behaviors? As long as they’re aware they’re being monitored, there’s no reason why it would be considered otherwise. Not only that, if you’re the person paying the bills, it’s a necessity. Unauthorized browsing lowers productivity and could pose a danger to the company. Those websites the time killers are going to might contain viruses and malware, so you could present the argument that monitoring benefits everyone.
In the early days of internet technology, the general public feared the “Big Brother” appearance of monitoring software. The most common argument against it was that it was an invasion of privacy, another way for management to “see all” that employees were doing at all times. The psychological impact of installing it was counter-productive in many ways, stifling the creativity of the user by instilling a fear of consequence. Even just a few years ago there was still a phobia about it. Some prospective employees would turn down one job for another if monitoring software was in place.
Today, employee internet monitoring is common, and jobs are harder to come by. In a difficult economy like the one we’re presently mired in, a little thing like having to delay your personal browsing until you get home will not prevent someone from taking a job. It’s also understood that the monitoring is as much to prevent malicious software and viruses from getting into the system as it is to watch over employees and make sure they’re using their time productively. Most modern companies don’t operate with that philosophy anymore. Employees are encouraged to be creative and look outside the box for solutions and ideas.
The question of ethics rarely comes up today when the topic of monitoring employee internet access is being discussed. Security is an issue that is always in the forefront of people’s minds when they work on the internet. Psychologically, the “Big Brother” syndrome is still there, but it’s no longer directed at employers. Internet users are more concerned about search engines and social networks monitoring their behaviors than their employers. If you are an employer, don’t hesitate to install monitoring software. It will benefit you and your employees in many ways.
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Website blocking software | web_filtering_software November 16, 2010 | 
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