Latest Product Reviews

Product reviews > Software > Internet Filtering

We-Blocker
Price: Free

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Duncan Evans

This review updated: 22/08/2002
Featured in magazine:
Issue 37, page 46
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: We-Blocker
Web Address: www.we-blocker.com


Following the standard three tier approach to web filtering, We-Blocker is dedicated to cleaning up the web. It can block users from sites contained in the usual banned sites list, alongside any user-defined categories you can think of. Each user can have their settings configured separately and, for younger surfers, there are further options such as only having access to sites in the Allowed List.

Where We-Blocker comes into its own is in the provision of 'bad word' filtering, using a giant library of words and expressions and rating them accordingly. It scans a web page and, on normal blocking, if the combined rating of suspect words hits a certain score then the page is blocked. Some phrases are sufficient to trigger a block on their own, while others need to be combined with other words to trigger the alarm bells. The word list is completely customisable so if you don't agree with We-Blocker's opinion, you can change the weighting on different words. Words, as with the other options, can be added to the list, but it is the way they are graded that sets this program apart from the others.

In practice, this made We-Blocker good at weeding out the undesirable, though gambling and satanism didn't sound the alarm bells – you'd have to add your own keywords if this is likely to be a problem for you. All the test sex sites were blocked, however, as were downloads and one of our sick sites. On the other, the main page was allowed but half the content was blocked, as were video clip downloads. Finally, for any item that was blocked, there was a screen explaining exactly why it wasn't allowed, which is good if you want justification without exposure.

More Internet Filtering reviews:

• Webroot Parental Controls
• McAfee SiteAdvisor
• WOT
• Link Scanner Lite
• TrendProtect