10 Reasons IT Admin Want Lightspeed Filter™
From real-time bypass detection to granular admin controls, the tools K–12 districts need to protect students, empower staff, and stay ahead.
The Visibility to Know
You can’t protect what you can’t see. These tools give IT teams a live, complete picture of every student, every session, every threat.
Reason 01
Bypass detection that works where others stop
Proxy bypass now generates 7x more blocked activity than malware across K–12 networks — and it’s creating the cover attackers need. Lightspeed Filter™ detects bypass attempts in real time by analyzing what’s executing in the browser, not just what URL is being requested.
Inspection, scoring, ongoing scanning, and feedback loops combine to catch delayed and dynamic evasion techniques — including Ultraviolet, Scramjet, and Rammerhead — that URL-based filters miss entirely.
Reason 02
AI prompt capture and reporting
More than 6 in 10 students now use generative AI tools regularly for schoolwork — yet most districts have no visibility into what’s being asked or answered. AI Prompt Capture closes that gap with a read-only, auditable log of student interactions with ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot.
Available to district Owners via the Filter Helper extension on ChromeOS, Windows, and macOS — no additional deployment required. It doesn’t block or modify AI interactions. What changes is your district’s ability to see, understand, and act.
Reason 03
Live user web activity reporting
Troubleshooting filter policy issues used to mean minutes of log-digging. Live User Web Activity brings real-time reporting from inline solutions to Lightspeed’s cloud-based filter — reducing configuration and troubleshooting time from minutes to seconds.
IT admins can pinpoint issues, validate policy changes, test custom list updates, and confirm recategorizations instantly for multiple users at a time — all in one view, with built-in blocked reason columns and SSL exclusion indicators.
The Control to Act
Seeing isn’t enough. These tools put precise, immediate action at the fingertips of IT teams and parents — without disrupting instruction.
Reason 04
SmartPlay: safe YouTube for every classroom
YouTube is the #1 accessed app outside Google and Microsoft workplaces in K–12 — but it wasn’t built for education. SmartPlay changes that with a machine-learning AI database that has crawled nearly 200 million YouTube videos, ensuring only appropriate content is accessible when SmartPlay is on.
IT teams can create custom blocked and allowed channels, vary access by student group, and configure after-school rules — all from within Lightspeed Filter, with no separate tool required.
Reason 05
Parent Portal: meaningful home control without weakening school policy
Parents are asking for more control over school-issued devices at home. The Lightspeed Parent Portal gives families structured authority — internet access schedules, a custom block list, and expanded category controls — while district filtering policies remain fully enforced during the school day.
Site-level control at home does not require district policy changes. IT keeps defined boundaries, and districts can point to a clear, documented model when questions about device control arise.
Reason 06
Policies 2.0: faster management, fewer gaps
Complex policy structures slow teams down and increase the risk of enforcement gaps. Policies 2.0 introduces a cleaner, more intuitive experience for creating and managing rules — with drag-and-drop prioritization, centralized management, and enhanced list management.
All new AI-powered features — including the ChatBOB assistant and image blurring — require Policies 2.0, making migration a prerequisite for accessing the platform’s most powerful capabilities.
Reason 07
Admin Roles: the right access for the right people
Admin roles in Lightspeed Filter let you balance security, privacy, and operational efficiency without requiring IT to field every access request. Predefined roles cover universal needs; custom roles handle specific use cases like school principals, counselors, and tech leads — each scoped to exactly the level of the organization they need.
Permissions span dashboards, reports, filter rules, classroom tools, and device management, all following the least-privilege principle. Assign by group or by user — and manage everything from a single interface.
The Excellence to Lead
Great districts don’t just manage technology — they architect it. These tools build the structure that empowers exceptional schools.
Reason 08
Filter Your Way: SmartAgent, SmartShield, Cloud DNS, or Rocket
Every district’s network is different. Lightspeed Filter adapts to yours — with layered enforcement options that cover school-managed devices, BYOD, IoT, and guest traffic without relying on proxies, VPNs, or legacy hardware.
On-device SmartAgent and SmartShield DNS filtering cover agentless traffic with the full policy controls you’d expect from an inline system. For districts that prefer inline hardware, Lightspeed Rocket is back — managed from the same interface as every other deployment mode.
Reason 09
Aligned to CIPA, FERPA, and NIST security frameworks
Lightspeed Filter is designed for the compliance landscape K–12 districts actually operate in — with built-in CIPA compliance via Cloud DNS filtering, FERPA-aligned data handling, and a security posture built around NIST framework principles.
Exportable audit trails, long-term data retention, and documented oversight capabilities mean districts can answer board questions, parent concerns, and compliance reviews with data — not guesswork.
Reason 10
ChatBOB: your built-in AI assistant
Policy management shouldn’t require digging through menus or opening a support ticket. ChatBOB is a built-in AI assistant that helps admins quickly adjust policies, troubleshoot issues, and navigate configurations — all through a conversational interface inside the product.
BOB can summarize user activity, surface proactive insights, and guide configuration changes — making complex filter management accessible to any staff member, regardless of experience level. Less friction, faster outcomes.
