MANCHESTER, U.K. -- Children are now preparing for the start of the new academic year and while the prospect of returning to school may not please every child, a significant number are probably happy that it has prompted parents to invest in PCs and laptops to support success in studies. However, Manchester-based Global Security One (GSEC1) is advising parents to ensure that they have appropriate systems to protect their children from the more unsavoury aspects of the Internet.

"The internet is a fantastic resource, with encyclopedic knowledge a few keystrokes away, but once children have access to the Internet, it is only fair to assume that they will want to engage in the social aspects too, from chat rooms to messaging," explains Mark Brooks, International Marketing Manager of GSEC1. "While there are bodies who strive valiantly to police the Internet and keep youngsters safe, it is a daunting, enormous challenge. It is unsurprising therefore, that many parents will want to try and manage their children's use of the Internet to safeguard them from online threats such as websites with unsuitable content, child grooming and cyber-bullying.

"That said, I know from being a parent myself that it's unrealistic to expect Mum or Dad to monitor every minute of their child's surfing. There are household chores to perform, there may be more than one child with a PC or laptop in the home, working patterns may not coincide with children's activities and so on. That is why we have developed the XGate which has the ability to significantly reduce any harmful online communication, without parents having to permanently survey their children's activity."

The XGate monitors real time children's online activity and alerts parents if relevant by email or sms on their mobile phone to inappropriate material and/or behaviour in terms of website content, chat room activity and emails and their attachments.

GSEC1's XGate will:

Mark explains how XGate offers this level of control: "The XGate features an intelligent web filter, which is a dynamic solution checking against a centralised database containing millions of websites that are constantly updated, categorised and rated according to their content. The XGate comes with a control centre and parents can select categories of websites and email content which is to be off-limits, for example sites with pornographic or bullying content. Should a child then attempt to access such a site the XGate cross references with the dynamic database, identifies that it is prohibited material, blocks access to the site, generates the alert page and informs the parents. These restrictions can be applied on a permanent basis or can be restricted based on the time, allowing children the flexibility to browse the Internet whilst also concentrating on their studies at the same time"

Global Security One (GSEC1)