| Version | 9 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Solid Oak Software |
| Release date | Nov 9, 2008 |
| Date added | Nov 16, 2003 |
| Os requirements | Windows 95, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows, Windows XP, Windows NT |
| Requirements | None |
| Total downloads | 72,233 |
| Downloads per week | 1 |
| Price | Free to try |
Description
Cybersitter gives adults the ability to limit children's access to objectionable material on the Internet. Parents can choose to block, block and alert, or simply alert them when access to these areas is attempted. Working secretly in the background, Cybersitter analyzes all Internet activity. Whenever it detects activity that the parent has elected to restrict, Cybersitter takes over and blocks the activity before it takes place. The program's intelligent "content recognition" system even recognizes and filters brand new sites that contain objectionable material. Cybersitter also offers selectable blocking of WWW, Newsgroups, Chat, Mail, and ICQ. If desired, Cybersitter will maintain a complete history of all Internet activity, including attempts to access blocked material. Password-protected, Cybersitter is easy to deactivate or reconfigure by the parent, and virtually impossible for the child to detect or defeat.
Review
This application offers fairly decent parental filters for online access, but some competitive features are overlooked. Cybersitter only works with Internet Explorer and Netscape to block access to objectionable material on the Web, P2P file sharing, FTP sites, instant messages, and if necessary, all access to the Internet. You can configure the program to use Cybersitter's search engine and schedule allowable access times. The program filters search attempts and Web sites according to a default list or user-defined keywords. You'll also appreciate the blacklist that effectively shuns both URLs and phrases listed. What's more, it includes a whitelist of sorts, with one simple click, the only sites accessible are the ones you've specified. Though you won't find application blocking, screen captures, or a full keylogger feature, Cybersitter can log chats, sites visited, and any violation attempts, all of which can be sent to your e-mail. Its user-friendly interface is password-protected though the 10-day trial disables this feature. While it isn't exactly feature-rich, this software will provide parents a fractional set of parental-control tools.
