Students hack school web filters

Tech-savvy students continue to find ways of working around school web filters to access blocked content, web filtering service Bloxx warned this week.

Schoolchildren are using anonymous proxy services to bypass website blocks and access violent material, dangerous information, and inappropriate content, Bloxx said.

“Students are increasingly finding new subversive ways to access web content that is typically blocked or restricted by their education facility’s web filter,” said Eamonn Doyle, Bloxx chief executive.

Bloxx believes the risk of the web’s “dark side” having a negative influence on students “dramatically increases” when they are able to view any website.

“It is imperative that Internet access is properly regulated in an education environment,” Doyle said.

Web filters must be technologically advanced enough to “protect and defend students from accessing inappropriate or dangerous content through anonymous proxies,” he added.

Bloxx Tru-View technology monitors and blocks web pages in real time, even if they’ve never been used before, ensuring students are protected even when using anonymous proxies.