Contents • • • • • • • • • • • • Why get a filter? For many years the Brethren have warned us of the dangers that accompany the Internet, and have counseled us to employ some technological barriers to the unending flow of filth that permeates the otherwise wonderful and extremely useful virtual world of the Internet. Recall President Hinckley’s warning in 2002, when he said: “Guard your homes. How foolish it seems to install bars and bolts and electronic devices against thieves and molesters while more insidious intruders stealthily enter and despoil”, or more recently when Elder Oaks told us in April conference, 2005: “We must also act to protect those we love. Parents install alarms to warn if their household is threatened by smoke or carbon monoxide.

We should also install protections against spiritual threats, protections like filters on Internet connections.” Do filters work? A common question that arises is whether Internet filters really work. Mac 9 to 5 news. The answer depends on what you are attempting to accomplish with the filter. If you are attempting to prevent accidental access to inappropriate content, then most filters can be considered successful. Many filters also have other features, such as time controls, chat logging, reporting and other useful capabilities.

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All of these features help keep our family safe, and help provide us with more information regarding how our computers are being used. From this perspective, it would be safe to say that filters work. One of the unfortunate side-effects of installing a filter is the false sense of security that it provides. Most teenagers can get around just about any filter if they really want to, and parents need to know how this is done so they can watch for the warning signs.

Also, be sure to use the tools that the filter provides, such as usage reports, blocked site reports, etc. A filter is not a silver bullet, and it is not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. Increasing individual accountability is one of the most effective ways of filtering content. It is a good practice to place the computer in a public place, and to limit the use of the Internet to times that others are around. Windows Vista/7 and Mac OS X offer time limits on internet access, as do most filters. Many home routers now also offer availability schedules for protecting non-computer devices. The only fool-proof filter is, as President Faust once explained, the personal moral filter.

'As the traffic on the communications highway becomes a parking lot, we must depend more and more on our own personal moral filters to separate the good from the bad.' Filter types An analogy might be helpful as we discuss the different filter technologies. Let’s consider the content on the Internet to be analogous to mail that is delivered to your home. A filter could be thought of as a guard that is hired to sort through your mail before it is delivered to you. This guard could be asked to remove any junk mail, or even mail from any individual or company, and set it aside so you don’t have to deal with it. The guard would then review each piece of mail before handing it to you.

Filters work in similar fashion, sorting through the content that your computer requests, and preventing certain content from entering your home. To understand the different filter technologies, let’s relate them to this guard, and where he might intercept our mail before giving it to us. There are three basic technologies used for filters today, namely: Software This is the most common filter, and it comes in the form of an application that is downloaded from the Internet or purchased in a store, then installed on your computer. The filter interjects itself into the communication chain between the applications on that computer and the Internet so it can watch the communication, and perform its guard duty.