Our Christmas 2016 newsletter is now out! Download it here!
Recently, a few of our customers have upgraded their internet connections. Wanting to test the shiny new connections and demonstrate that they were money well spent, they went to speedtest.net and were disappointed to discover that the reported speeds were unexpectedly low when the traffic was routed through their Opendium Iceni web filter. We ended up fielding a few support calls relating to this, and after some investigation discovered that the low speeds being reported were largely due to flaws in the speedtest.net application.
For effective safeguarding, it is not enough to just filter the internet. Identifying which user is responsible for each web request is extremely important, as this allows for filtering to be tuned to the individual users, and for reports to be used effectively to address abuses and concerns with the individuals involved..
HTTPS decryption encompasses several mechanisms that online safety systems or web filters use to examine encrypted internet communications. The terms "SSL decryption" and "TLS decryption" are sometimes also used interchangeably.
Safeguarding students is incredibly important for schools. Online safety systems such as web filters are a key part of any safeguarding strategy. These systems block inappropriate material, record an audit trail and report on any concerning behaviour.
Our Christmas 2015 newsletter is now out! Download it here!
If you're using a Bloxx internet filter or you're a Bloxx supplier, you'll know that on November 2nd Bloxx announced that they had been acquired by the US based content distribution company Akamai, and were withdrawing from the education sector. Whilst Bloxx will be honoring existing contracts, they have curtailed renewals and new sales have been stopped with immediate effect.
We were recently asked to diagnose a networking problem: the customer has a group of boarding houses that are connected back to the main school network through a microwave link. They were reporting that Windows logins worked fine at the school, but if they took a laptop to the boarding houses they were left waiting upwards of a minute to log in.
On November 2nd, Scottish internet and e-mail security firm Bloxx announced that they had been acquired by US based content delivery company Akamai. The company says that they will be honouring the ongoing contracts with their customers. But according to CEO Charles Sweeney "the current Bloxx product set will no longer be available for sale or refresh" and renewals will only be offered until the end of January.
