SurfSafe

The problem with giving children access to the internet is how to protect them from the unregulated world, in which it is just as easy to access pornography, accidentally or on purpose, as it is to get hold of the news headlines.

It is possible to block websites using a firewall but this involves the tedious process of identifying individual sites. SurfSafe's answer is to install a piece of software that will block access to certain sites, as defined in a list held by the company.

The user - a family member who sets up the software - sets an age rating, along the lines of film and video certification. The 18 rating is unrestricted, so no sites are locked, while 15, 12 and PG block progressively more sites. The U rating is the highest. The company suggests setting the age to that of the youngest person to use the PC.

Setting it up is very easy. It works with Internet Explorer, Netscape and Mozilla Firefox. On the U setting, it was extremely over-zealous, blocking even the most innocuous of sites, instant messaging programs and email.

The PG setting was more useful, allowing several news and entertainment sites, but obviously still blocking the adult ones. It allowed email and instant messaging software.

Obviously the system is dependent on the list being kept up to date, and many sites are not on the list at all; there are so many websites out there that it is impossible to list them all.

It is possible to manually add sites that will be allowed at any time and block specific sites that slip through the net.

To change settings it’s necessary to log in to a web page; it is not possible to change settings on the PC, which adds a layer of security. One annoyance is that any changes to the filtering require logging in and logging out.

We couldn't find an easy way round the filter, but it is always possible that a technically minded child could bypass it, although it would take a lot of work, from what we have seen.

At roughly £36 a year it is not particularly cheap, but it is an effective way of blocking sites.