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Internet-Content Filter Increases Productivity and Reduces Liability Risks for Small Businesses

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

The new CS-8 Pro Internet-content filter from Comsift increases productivity and lowers liability risks for small businesses by reducing improper and illegal use of the Internet.

The CS-8 Pro can stop pornography, online gambling, Instant Messaging, non-authorized email, shopping sites and third-party advertising at the Internet gateway.

The industrial-strength appliance integrates a highly evolved content filter with firewall, router and monitoring functions. Employees cannot access the Internet except through the CS-8 Pro. All requested information is filtered through the CS-8 Pro before being delivered to the employees' computers.

"Many office workers spend a significant amount of time online doing things that don't have anything to do with their jobs," said Chuck Roedel, CEO of Comsift. "CS-8 Pro silently stops these distractions before they reach the users' computers. This increased focus on the business at hand typically improves the bottom line.

"Additionally, by blocking illegal and questionable content, the product reduces liability risks," he added. For example, allowing employees to view pornography sites could leave a business open to a sexual-harassment suit, Roedel explained. Also, downloading and distributing copyrighted material (including software) could violate copyrights. The CS-8 Pro can help protect businesses from these pitfalls.

Easy, Effective Management Tool

The CS-8 Pro, with eight configurable filters, is designed for organizations that have different filtering needs for different users.

A multi-tiered filtering system with 98 percent accuracy stops only the websites with inappropriate content. The filter first checks the requested web address with its internal blacklist, which is updated regularly. Then the filter checks every word and phrase in context and compares the result with an internal list of "good" and "bad" words and phrases. This sophisticated content filter can tell the difference between "breast cancer,""chicken breast" and the latest porn-star's breasts. All this is done in a fraction of a second; the user perceives no delay.

The rules-based firewall lets the manager determine what can and cannot come into or out of the network. This protects the network infrastructure from both external and internal attacks.

The CS-8 Pro is integrated with MS Active Directory. This enables the product to automatically read an existing database of hundreds of user names in seconds, eliminating database set-up time and preventing duplicate usernames.

Extensive monitoring capabilities provide both a high-level view of network usage and granular details on each individual's use. The manager can use this information to determine if access policies need to be changed.

"I can look at a report, and know who was on the computer at a given time and what they tried to access," said Lloyd Green, technical director of Arizona Charter Schools in Phoenix and a beta user of the CS-8 Pro. "We changed the viewing habits of the users in a week. We needed to change the culture, environment and habits, and we did it."

Pricing and Availability

The CS-8 Pro, which is available now, expands the ComSifter product family. The CS-1 (with a single filter) and the CS-8 (with eight filters) have been used for several years by a large number of schools, libraries and other organizations.

The CS-8 Pro is $998 including the standard weekly download plan. There is no seat licensing and pricing is independent of the number of computers in the network.

All units come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, a one-year hardware warranty, and web and email support. Academic and reseller pricing is available.

About Comsift, Inc.

Founded in 2003, Comsift, Inc. is a private, women-owned business that was founded by parents who were concerned that existing school and home-filtering approaches were not protecting their children from inappropriate content on the Internet. From this successful foundation, Comsift has expanded its product line and technology to address the needs of business owners and users. For more information about the San Jose, CA-based company, phone 866-875-1254, email sales@comsift.com or visit the company's web site at www.comsift.com.

Note to Editors: A diagram illustrating how the CS-8 Pro filters Internet content is available at www.comsift.com/filteringcs81.htm

 For More Information:  Kay Paumier Communications Plus 510-656-8512 Contact via http://www.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=9F6FD34969F4931F  

SOURCE: Comsift, Inc.

Source: MARKET WIRE

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