News about Internet-enabled child pornography is rampant today. It seems you can’t watch TV news without another startling arrest story, followed by an interview with an expert about how to keep your children safe while online.
It’s great that parents are learning more about how to protect their young from predators. Today, however, I want to talk about how employers can protect themselves from predators and how they can protect the stupid predators from themselves.
In March, a program executive in NASA’s Washington, D.C., headquarters was accused of using his office computer to send and receive child pornography. According to authorities, the alleged perpetrator used a fake name to exchange e-mails containing inappropriate materials. Although he tried to hide his identity, his static IP addresses pointing to his home and office were strong clues for the investigators. When the computers were searched the contraband files were discovered.
To its credit, NASA helped finger the guy when Web content filter logs showed that pornographic Web sites viewed from the man’s office computer.
A similar case involves an assistant principal at a New York high school who recently pleaded guilty to using his workstation at school to download and trade pornography.
I’m just grateful we have the technology today to monitor and trace the activities of people like this.
Which brings me to the point I want to make: Technology is a tool that can help protect us all. I am including employers in my definition of “us.”
According to Websense, a vendor of Web security and filtering software, 70 per cent of porn is downloaded between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. What’s more, 37 per cent of at-work Internet users in the U.S. have visited an X-rated Web site from work.
Web-filtering and content-blocking software should be a standard part of your network. It’s insurance against situations like the ones above.
Ironically, I had to write this column at home, because the office in which I work blocked some of the search words I used in my research. To my network administrator, I say, “Way to go!”
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