Hi guys, ive just stumbled acroos my daughters myspace and was horrified at the comments and stuff ive just seen on there, boys asking to meet her ( boys 7-8yrs older then her ) and asking for pictures of her exposed etc etc. I was wondering is there a way i can stop her from getting onto myspace? Im using Opera as my web browser, any help would appricated.
Blocking myspace?
- Thread starter almighty
- Start date
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
Depending on the layout of your system, if you use a router to share a connection between multiple machines or act as a firewall, most can block sites and be password protected. This will only work if your daughter cannot plug directly into your modem (PC too far away from the router) or knows how to use web proxies.
If you run her machine with proper group control, you can do things like give her a limited user account, and then use the admin account to use the hosts file to redirect the myspace URL back to the local machine, thereby cutting it off. You only allow the admin account to change the hosts file, and ensure your daughter doesn't have the password.
However, it's probably also recommended to sit down and talk to your daughter about this. If you can tell her how young girls like her are regularly fooled by older, cleverer predators, and how easy it can be to stalk someone from the small details they leave online. As long as she understands that you have a genuine concern and worry from a small chance of a potentially very high risk occurrence. While it's not very likely anything will happen, if it does there is the potential for her life and that of her family to be devastated or her even killed.
I don't know how old your daughter is, or how worldy-wise she is, or if you have the type or relationship where you can talk to her about the certain breed of men that hunt, stalk, and even rape and kill in the modern urban and electronic environment we now live in. These are the guys that used to steal women from other villages. It may sound silly, but these places are exactly where the predator is drawn to, much in the same way as any animal prefers to hunt where it's prey is.
You can block her net access and close down her website, but without her understanding the risks of an online life, she may still use a friend's PC or a cybercafe, and circumvent your banning efforts.
If you run her machine with proper group control, you can do things like give her a limited user account, and then use the admin account to use the hosts file to redirect the myspace URL back to the local machine, thereby cutting it off. You only allow the admin account to change the hosts file, and ensure your daughter doesn't have the password.
However, it's probably also recommended to sit down and talk to your daughter about this. If you can tell her how young girls like her are regularly fooled by older, cleverer predators, and how easy it can be to stalk someone from the small details they leave online. As long as she understands that you have a genuine concern and worry from a small chance of a potentially very high risk occurrence. While it's not very likely anything will happen, if it does there is the potential for her life and that of her family to be devastated or her even killed.
I don't know how old your daughter is, or how worldy-wise she is, or if you have the type or relationship where you can talk to her about the certain breed of men that hunt, stalk, and even rape and kill in the modern urban and electronic environment we now live in. These are the guys that used to steal women from other villages. It may sound silly, but these places are exactly where the predator is drawn to, much in the same way as any animal prefers to hunt where it's prey is.
You can block her net access and close down her website, but without her understanding the risks of an online life, she may still use a friend's PC or a cybercafe, and circumvent your banning efforts.
Put myspace.com in your host file (system32/drivers/etc I think it's in) and link it to 127.0.0.1
If she is clever she will figure it out eventually though so it's a pointless exercise.
We have kids at work all day messing around on it but it's been locked down in our hardware firewall for months.
They will always find a way around it.
Edit: Whoops, someone already mentioned it.
If she is clever she will figure it out eventually though so it's a pointless exercise.
We have kids at work all day messing around on it but it's been locked down in our hardware firewall for months.
They will always find a way around it.
Edit: Whoops, someone already mentioned it.
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Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
It is possible to lock things like browser settings down if you have enabled a proper user/admin model which would make it much harder for her to change things like browser settings back without the admin login.
It doesn't however stop her from using PCs out of your control as I mentioned above, nor does it really educate her as to why allowing your personal details online is a bad idea, or how to prevent that happening in the first place.
Most companies have a web filter - a computer or appliance that sits in-line with all incoming and outgoing internet connections and blocks packets to and from restricted sites. Sites are restricted based on company preferences and databases maintained by the filter vendor.
You type in "pRono.com," the DNS tells you where to go, the web filter sees your computer's packets heading that way, stalls them while it check's its settings and database, finds out you're not supposed to be there and redirects you to a "bad boy" page on it's own web server.
Typical commercial web filters run a couple thousand bucks USD and can even sniff out internet proxies (ways of routing your computer's packets through a site not on the banned list but ultimately to one that IS on the banned list).
Some home routers (Belkin, Netgear) have simlar features using a limited database and no custom settings.
Jeez! A couple thousand! That's insane! Then again it's worth it I suppose, otherwise you'd have idiots like me on Break.com having an "el-oh-el"
Thanks, I was always curious as to how that was handled. Like I said, when it comes to administration I'm a know-nothing.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
Most home routers have this option, and have done for years. I have an old (more than five years) Netgear RP114 that allows you to enter a URL that is blocked at the router. You can set up specific times/days for blocking, and can even have it mail you when someone tries to access the banned URL.
Most people just never look through the more esoteric features in the manual, but it's probably all there, and is meant for exactly the sort of thing the OP was asking for.
This is true, but typically beyond what a home user can figure out on routers I've used from Zonet, Netgear, Linksys, etc. Heck, most home users don't even know how to figure out their router's IP address and leave the default login and password. The ones that spout about filtering have a web service (remote) that you pay for and use a nice obvious login to configure.
Edit: I should add that IP blocking is generally totally ineffective compared with classified blocking. Seriously, does myspace.com rely on a single IP address? I doubt it. Also, there are countless myspace-like sites. A good filter has something like "social networking" as a class in its database (or porn or violence, etc.) and you can block them all with one click and then add exceptions if needed.
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Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
That's why they have simple web configuration tools. I know that when I log into my router, I just click "advanced -> content filter" and it's right there on the keyword tab to enter a domain or keyword. They couldn't have made it much simpler even five plus years ago.
Like everything to do with computing, it doesn't matter how simple you make it, the majority of people seem determined not to "get it". For exactly this sort of thing, it's completely trivial to block a website like MySpace from the rest of the family, if the parent can be bothered to read the manual. You don't need subscriptions or expensive equipment, just a little reading up on the product you bought which already has this feature.
It's probably a lot simpler for your hypothetical dumb home user to do this than set up proper admin/user privileges on a PC, manually edit hosts files, lock down browser and desktop settings, etc.
heh...good point
So to our thread starter almighty, do you have a router? Know how to log into it?
many routers have a very simple option to block websites, for example from mine:
though obviously this can be bypassed by getting off the router running straight through the modem, i think it would be simpler having a talk with her. Theres options in myspace accounts to block viewing/messaging unless they're on a friends list so she wont be getting oogled at by every horny person that happens by.
though obviously this can be bypassed by getting off the router running straight through the modem, i think it would be simpler having a talk with her. Theres options in myspace accounts to block viewing/messaging unless they're on a friends list so she wont be getting oogled at by every horny person that happens by.
There are endless ways to circumvent any blocking you do, the simplest being: using a computer somewhere else. And if you make the limits too strict, you're actually encouraging her to do so.
The risk is quite low, and the behaviour encountered won't be much different from what she can and will encounter outside, in real life.
The risk is quite low, and the behaviour encountered won't be much different from what she can and will encounter outside, in real life.
Not to mention -- as bad as MySpace is (and it's probably the worst) -- most social networking sites get just as bad -- especially around teens. I've seen horrible things on Livejournal, Deadjournal, deviantart, Flickr, Facebook... basically, anything open to the public (or even pseudo-private like Facebook was for years). Besides which, if you cut her off spontaneously from MySpace, you're cutting her off from genuine friends at the same time -- a move hardly likely to be seen as anything but hostile. I think this would be a good time to double check that you've raised her well, and talk to her like the semi-adult she is. If something gets really bad, you could contact MySpace or their ISP about offensive (illegally offensive) posters. However, I do remember saying an awful lot of fucked up things to girls throughout my life, especially when I was a teenager. Bear in mind that some of this will just be guys being dumb. You can't protect her from that forever -- unless you teach her to protect herself!
PS: I hope I don't seem dismissive. You've every right to be concerned -- in fact I'd say you're obligated to be! But no router filter could have stopped me from being with my BBS buddies -- and without having been raised somewhat well (and my mom being very open and honest with me), my every youthful moment could well have been at risk (speaking of the real world, moreso than the internet world, back then). So, I wanted to share my personal take on this.
PS: I hope I don't seem dismissive. You've every right to be concerned -- in fact I'd say you're obligated to be! But no router filter could have stopped me from being with my BBS buddies -- and without having been raised somewhat well (and my mom being very open and honest with me), my every youthful moment could well have been at risk (speaking of the real world, moreso than the internet world, back then). So, I wanted to share my personal take on this.