Over the years, filtering has become more challenging for schools as they strike the balance between safety and appropriate access on devices that go everywhere with students. In addition, no two schools (or students!) are the same, so filtering policies vary across the board.

SSL

With an increasingly encrypted web, getting the information schools to need to protect students is trickier. Search term reports, selective access to Google services, YouTube controls — schools need SSL decryption for all of them. The traditional solution of a trusted-man-in-the-middle proxy is hard and expensive: more hardware, PAC files, trust certificate management. Sadly, over 60% of K-12 IT personnel say they aren’t decrypting SSL at all. (Fortunately, Lightspeed Systems® offers a better way with patented smart agents!)

Pornography

Blocking access to pornographic and obscene content is the most fundamental thing a filter needs to do — and for good reason. Children who access pornography have an increased risk of engaging in high-risk sex; sex addiction; perpetrating or suffering sexual violence; anxiety and depression; and many more harmful consequences. 74% of K-12 IT personnel have identified students attempting to access pornographic content. Yet some filters block less than half of the pornography on the web! (Don’t worry, Lightspeed Filter effectively blocks pornography even when it’s in other languages or multimedia.)