Child Abuse Material Blocked from Over 2,000 UK Wide Area Networks

CI-Net first customer for Watchdog International’s new UK office

Secure and resilient Wide Area Networks specialist, CI-Net, has implemented an affordable filtering service that will block access to websites containing child sexual abuse images. The service, provided by Watchdog International, is based on NetClean WhiteBox technology.

CI-Net is the first customer for Watchdog International’s new UK office and will be deploying Watchdog International’s filtering across its network. The company will benefit from a cost effective, one size fits all, blocking and filtering service which does not require extensive internal management resources.

Over 2,000 organisations including UK charity the Royal British Legion, construction and civil engineers BAM Nuttall and Merseyside Fire and Rescue, will be protected from child sexual abuse images entering their network via the Internet.

Watchdog International’s research into the deployment of filtering services suggests that fewer than 45 ISPs in the UK have, to date, implemented a system that blocks access to web sites containing illegal images of child sexual abuse.

Watchdog’s filtering service is hosted externally to the ISP. It uses the NetClean WhiteBox, which is a child sexual abuse image blocking and filtering system.  It combines Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), IP tunnels, deep packet inspection (DPI), a list of live dynamic URLs supplied by the UK's highly respected Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and a redirection mechanism to direct users away from servers containing child sexual abuse images. If an end user, unintentionally or of their own accord, tries to access a page containing images of child sexual abuse, they are confronted with a stop sign explaining why the page is unavailable for viewing.

Unlike most blocking and filtering systems, the Watchdog system is hosted externally to the ISP's network rather than installed within it. A few minutes' configuration of a network router is all that is required for the ISP to implement filter protection.

CI-Net’s Chief Executive and Internet Service Providers’ Association council member, Matthew Hare, said, “Combating child sexual abuse images is not just a challenge for consumer ISPs. Anyone providing an Internet connection and everyone in the Internet industry has a part to play. Watchdog International has provided a system that will enable businesses selecting CI-Net’s quality, resilient internet access for their Wide Area Network to be protected from employees accessing child sexual abuse images on the IWF block list. Unfiltered Internet access in the workplace is a major concern; as without providing reasonable safeguards, employers could potentially be held liable for an employee’s abuse of their IT network. Watchdog International has helped us give peace of mind to our customers through the knowledge that known images of child sexual abuse identified by the IWF cannot be accessed from the web on their network.”

Watchdog International’s new UK Country Manager, Peter Milford, said, “No ISP wants child sexual abuse images accessed using their network. By becoming the first customer of Watchdog International’s new UK office, CI-Net are providing their clients with the peace of mind that attempts to access known illegal content will be blocked. To date the UK Internet industry has had an excellent track record of fighting illegal content on the Internet, exemplified by the establishment of the Internet Watch Foundation but most ISPs still have no blocking system on their networks.”