Frequently Asked Questions

What is Closed Loop Collaborative Filtering™?

Closed Loop Collaborative Filtering is ContentKeeper's closed circuit system designed to collect, analyze, categorize, edit and distribute web site URLs worldwide. ContentKeeper units in the field poll the ContentKeeper Data Center hourly to receive control list updates of newly discovered and processed URLs. During this process, any new suspect URLs discovered locally are encoded, encrypted, compressed and sent back to the Datacenter for anonymous submission to our AI (Artificial Intelligence) analysis and categorization engines.

Sites that are confirmed to fall into one of the control categories are added to the control list updates and collected automatically by every ContentKeeper unit in the field. This means that when a ContentKeeper user in New York (for example) browses to a new URL, which is found to contain pornographic content, ContentKeeper Web users in Sydney, Australia will have the benefit of that update usually within two hours of the discovery being made.

Closed Loop Collaborative Filtering™ Technology is also utilized to help maintain and edit the existing control list. ContentKeeper administrators worldwide have the ability to instantly block, un-block and re-classify any sites locally. Locally re-classified sites are sent to the ContentKeeper Data Center for manual review and Control List correction, if necessary.Closed Loop Collaborative Filtering™ ensures that ContentKeeper's control list is the most relevant, highest quality and fastest growing list available.

Can a single URL fall into more than one category? If so, can it be blocked in a single category, and not blocked in the others? Or is the URL blocked regardless of whether the category as a whole is blocked?

URLs can be classified in several different categories. For example, www.playboy.com is categorized under "Adult Content" (i.e. pornography), Entertainment, and Shopping, due to the different functions of the website.
Regarding the blocking of such URLs, there are some major rules ContentKeeper Web applies when filtering on multiple policies or across different categories:

• Global Policy: The Global Policy takes precedence over all others, and is applied in the first instance. The aim of the global policy is to allow administrators to roll out minor changes across all policies when needed, without having to individually change every policy, which can be both tedious and error prone. In the case of www.playboy.com, if "Adult Content" is blocked in the Global Policy, then it will take precedence over other policies where "Entertainment" and "Shopping" are allowed, for example.
• Least restrictive - most restrictive: ContentKeeper Web then applies policies in the order of least restrictive to most restrictive. What this means is, if a URL or category is allowed in one policy and blocked in another, it will be allowed, assuming all else is equal (see "Default Policy")
• Definitive Units: ContentKeeper Web then applies policies with the most definitive units (for example, filtering based on individual names and single IP addresses), followed by less definitive units (such as groups, networks etc.)
• Deafult "Catch All" Policy: The Default/Catch-all Policy is applied last.

Is it possible for users to circumvent ContentKeeper filtering?

No. In the recommended configuration, the ContentKeeper appliance is located in your network in such a way as to ensure that all network traffic to and from the Internet passes through its control. Any attempts to bypass the filter are blocked and logged as an access violation. ContentKeeper is rated for full Gigabit support.

What does a ContentKeeper Web filtering subscription include?

The subscription includes:

• Automatic hourly database updates.
• Automatic operating system and software upgrades.
• Hardware and software support.

What is the CK-AI "Seek High" database? And why is it better than other rating systems?

The CK-AI "Seek High" database is the ContentKeeper Technologies brand name designation for the Artificial Intelligence based process by which the filter list of URLs is classified into various categories. Manual reviews are taken of exceptions and out of range sites to ensure the database is completely accurate.
The CK-AI database outperforms all other rating systems because:

• No organization can guarantee 100% human review of all sites. There are often more that 40,000 new sites each day coming on stream, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. To try to keep up using human classifiers would cost far more than users can justify.
• The CK-AI engine, together with human classification and review, allows ContentKeeper to address the enormous load of new URLs generated daily efficiently and effectively. This way, only URLs that cannot be classified solely using the AI process are reviewed and classified by our experienced Classification Team. This ensures the accuracy and longevity of the solution and assures users that the system can never be overloaded.
• Employing a combination of AI and human classification methods is more efficient and accurate than human, machine or keyword rating, which can each be error-prone individually.
• Sites are rated by parent URL rather than IP address.
• Rapid turnover of newly disocvered and classified URLs (hourly).
• Simple, clearly defined categories.
• Strong review process.

How does ContentKeeper Technologies comply with the Australian Broadcasting Authorities (ABA) directions on filtering?

The ABA maintains definitions of prohibited Internet content, according to Australian legislation introduced in 1992 and a variety of legislation introduced in recent years. The ABA provides direction to ISPs and manufacturers of Internet Industry Association (IIA) approved filtering products to include a facility to block a specialized list of ABA prohibited sites. This facility must be included in all relevant applications.

ContentKeeper Technologies is compliant with the policy guidance provided by the ABA, and the regulations set out by the ABA are allowed for in the detection rules across several of the defined categories. The ABA list is directly loaded into a specialized ContentKeeper category. Updates to this confidential list are provided regularly to ContentKeeper Technologies and disseminated to all appliances immediately.

How do I manage ContentKeeper?

ContentKeeper is managed via the Administrator's Console accessible via any web browser.

What is the purpose of an "Included IP Address" in the Excluded/Included IP Address page?

The "Include IP address" function assists the administrator to identify activity more easily, as there are only two defined choices effectively reducing the chance of confusion. Also, it is convenient to specify either Included IP Addresses or Excluded IP Addresses, depending on how many of each you may need to enter into the system.

What is the "Other Rules" function in the Policies section used for?

The "Other rules" function is a feature to assist in the evaluation, implementation and customization of ContentKeeper. One option relates to whether or not users filtered under a particular policy appear in the Internet activity reports generated by ContentKeeper Web. The "Other Rules" function can also be used to run ContentKeeper Web in silent mode for a particular individual, group of individuals or subnets etc, allowing you to audit their activity before you formulate filtering policies. Some organizations apply filtering in stages, and do so by transparently monitoring sections of their organization before implementation.