Net Nanny 5
Net Nanny has a fairly prominent name in the web filtering business, and it was the only package in our testing to come in an actual package; while there is a downloadable version it's also distributed locally in a box by Manaccom.
Installation of Net Nanny is slightly different to many of the packages we've examined here. For a start, the software requires a reboot before it'll work properly. Once that's done you're dropped into an initial configuration screen where you can choose to create users, or just go with a generic 'anybody' account with basic blocking in place. Given that the software itself recommends giving the 'anybody' account a trial for a few days before setting up user accounts, we suspect most users will just set it that way and leave it, so that's the configuration we used in our testing.
Net Nanny utilises a password to lock down the settings console, but it has a unique approach to protecting that password. Where most of the other packages we've examined use a hint question, Net Nanny requires the administrator to create two questions and answers before the settings console will open up, an extra level of security that's quite welcome in a product of this sort. Once initial configuration is complete, the package checks with Net Nanny's servers for updated configuration files and is then ready to run.
While running, Net Nanny sits like so many other programs in the system tray, although it won't respond to a regular left click at all; a right click brings up the options to display the current user, change user, deactivate the software or change Net Nanny's settings. The settings display panel isn't the most attractive, or for that matter the easiest to get around, but it's quite comprehensive, and once you get used to the fact that most dialogs rotate around to different areas within the settings panel, easy to administrate.
Net Nanny uses a mixture of word filtering and white/black lists to block content, with a specific focus on 'adult' (read: sexual) content. Its rather unique selling point is that it doesn't hide or encrypt its lists, which are freely available to the administrator for the purposes of review. That's a bold step -- most filtering software manufacturers tend to protect their lists on the basis of research -- although it should be noted that Net Nanny's particular focus on sexual matters means that the list of blocked sites is comparatively small. The administrator can pick whether to simply block sites or also pop up a warning notice to users when banned material is requested by the browser. Disappointingly, it offers no advice to the user as to why a site's been blocked.
Net Nanny also offers a number of other functions that fall outside of our particular testing spectrum; users can block the display of objectionable words -- again, with a sexual theme being prevalent --, block users from using IRC and similar chat tools as well as file sharing applications.
Net Nanny was one of the few products in our roundup that looked beyond Internet Explorer in terms of web filtering. According to the packaging it should block any version of IE above 5.01 and any Netscape product above 4.08. In our tests, it also correctly picked and detected content being loaded into Opera 7.1 and Mozilla Firebird 0.61. It did have a noticeable hit on performance, especially when checking sites with complex layouts, where presumably the Net Nanny engine has to work that much harder.
In our tests Net Nanny correctly blocked all of our clearly pornographic websites, and many of our questionable adult sites. It was one of only two packages (along with Cybersitter) to correctly block two of the web's more infamous disgusting image sites.
We were keen to see how well a blank installation of Net Nanny would handle sites outside its core competency of 'adult' material, and this set of tests showcased a definite weakness, as it passed all of our hate, weapons and drug sites with no blocking whatsoever, although its word filter did overwrite some objectionable terms within those sites. That's not an insurmountable problem -- as with other packages that allow user white and blacklists you could always build your own lists of allowed/disallowed sites based on the user logs. Net Nanny's logs are quite easy to read and export quickly into .txt format files.
Net Nanny is a very effective pornography blocker that's noticeably weak in other areas, although the ease of adding sites does mean that it could be built into an all-round filtering tool, as long as you've got the time to administer it properly.
Net Nanny 5
Distributor: Manaccom
Price: AU$89.95
Phone: (07) 3870 4900
| Introduction | Editor's Choice | How we tested | |
| AllegroSurf | ChildSafe | ChildWebGuardian | ControlKids |
| CyberPatrol | Cybersitter | Net Nanny | WeBlocker |
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