We all have found ourselves in a situation where we must block certain websites from being visible or accessible on our devices.
For instance, you might be a parent and feel some online platforms could threaten your kids’ mental health, or you could be a business manager that wants to restrict your employees from accessing unproductive and inappropriate websites.
You might not even be trying to control someone’s use of the Internet. For example, you might want to enhance your Pawn productivity and feel it would be better if you block out certain websites across your network.
Regardless of your kind of device, you can block websites, whether on a mobile phone, your own computer, or an entire network. And you could leverage the manual settings on your device, use browser extensions, or consider apps and software. There are excellent methods with easy steps that you’ll find suitable in this article.
What is Site Blocking, And Why Would Anyone Need to Block a Website?
Site blocking or ban is a technical approach by parents, schools, and employers to restrict an individual’s access to information or resources on certain websites, probably because of personal values, state laws, 0potential threats to mental health, misinformation, etc. For example, countries like Singapore and China have restricted access to specific news information sites.
Adult platforms
Adult sites are some of the most visited websites around the globe because their content quickly creeps into the minds of their users. But while these may appear satisfying temporarily to the user, visiting an adult website can create a long-term negative effect on an individual, their productivity, and even their company network can become vulnerable to hacks and attacks.
Social Media Platforms
A report on Zippia.com shows that the average employee spends 12% of their working hours using unproductive social media applications, while the average internet user spends 145 minutes on social media. These statistics go a long way to show how performance results drop when restrictions aren’t placed on certain unproductive social apps.
Deploying productivity software bans access to these sites temporarily so that you and your employees can stay focused at work.
Intruding Websites
Some websites intrude annoyingly on your space. They might just keep popping up, or it may be that you simply do not want to see them anymore. Blocking them permanently takes them out of your sight and allows you to focus on better things.
One of the most reliable ways to prevent unwanted content from entering your devices is to engage in content filtering.
What is Content Filtering?
Content filtering is screening web content to block or restrict websites or certain web pages. Such content could be materials that can compromise security policies or breach internal content consumption policies.
Content filters can manage what sites your employees are visiting or emails and web communications they access. All progressive companies have some forms of web filtering systems in place. However, what is being filtered varies in scope and shape, and many options are available for business owners and private individuals.
How Content Filtering Works
WeDeploying content filters generally means putting restrictions between specific content sources and device users or the web. For example, users request access to emails, web pages, and social media accounts. Information being received from those sources must be filtered before being authorized.
Content filters sift information through various methods to determine what data should be accessed and others to block. Traditional systems rely on firewall content filtering, but modern filtering methods deploy SaaS resources. They sift data without necessarily using extra hardware.
Some reasons to consider content filters is because;
- Assets must be adequately protected from malware attacks.
- Regulatory compliance requires filtering systems.
- Filtered content boosts productivity at work.
- Content filtering is also necessary for network performance.
What Are The Main Types of Content Filters?
To filter content and block certain websites, you can use various technologies and capabilities. You may even consider combining multiple filters for better results.
1. Email Filters
Email filters screen content being transmitted across corporate email servers or clients. IT teams usually designate a set of filtering protocols for each user. These protocols determine how messages are received and stored. Some are categorized as spam while others regarded as legit are transferred into email inboxes.
Some of the main aspects of an email checked by filters include the headers, body paragraphs, and specific keywords. The email filters will also scan attachments for potential malware. Email filtering evacuates destructive messages and the possibility of any worker clicking phishing links. In addition, these filters often leverage the global list of recognized phishers and spam sites, thereby instantly blocking content connected to flagged areas.
2. Internet and Web Filtering
Web filters utilize real-time AI analysis and block lists to determine which online resources will be blocked or allowed. IT Security teams may filter every web page or maintain access to general web content.
Web content filters can also be used by employers to prevent social media pages such as Facebook from loading. And it can even sift away unwanted content such as torrenting portals.
Many business owners manage their web filtering processes through software and hardware firewalls. As extensions, these companies may also include content filters for web browsers.
3. Mobile Filters
MDMs, also known as Mobile Device Management tools, install filtering software that applies the company’s security protocol on tablets and smartphones to sift away unnecessary data from tablets and smartphones. Filtering software may incorporate screen SMS messages along with standard web filtering tools.
4. Search Engine Filters
Search engine filters are used to determine what results a web user provides on search engines when surfing the net. For instance, as an internet user, you might want to remove older search terms, adult content, and certain locations and remove specific keywords if needed.
While some content filters might clog URLs, they may also function together with organization search tools that track internal index assets.
