Anyone uses K-9 Web Protection?

[althetrainer]

I have K-9 web protection on our son's netbook. He normally could use Youtube (safe mode) and go on Facebook without problems. But today I finally set up a FB account for him then we kept getting this K-9 Https block messagse while we were testing his Facebook account. I know it's some sort of block to social networking but I just don't understand why he never had this before (I had used his computer to go to my FB page). Here is the message from K-9:

You attempted to reach 69.171.248.16, but instead you actually reached a server identifying itself as *.channel.facebook.com This may be caused by a misconfiguration on the server or by somthing more serious. An attacker on your network could be trying to get you to visit a fake (and potentially harmful) version of 69.171.248.16.

You should not proceed, especially if you have never seen this warming before this site.

What do you think of it?

[aemi]

Congrats on using protection for your kids.

you could disable K-9 to filter https. Don't remember exactly where is that option. However, what that does, (kinda obvious) is won't filter anything that starts with https (notice the s). So for eg if you block the category "alcohol", it will block all the websites that don't require a secured connection. But if a website starts with https, it might as well be from the alcohol category, cause K-9 won't care about it and won't block it.

Another way would be to add *.channel.facebook.com to the allowed websites list.

Not related but worth mentioning, is that you should block all the searches that you can think of related to "how to hack k9" etc. If your kid is running as an administrator and has good knowledge of computer (or finds the way on the internet), he could disable the K9. This is not the K9's fault, rather than limitations by Windows architecture. And I am talking here about the latest version as of July 19. The safest way would be to give him a standard user windows.

Also you could add opendns.com for added protection. If there are only a handful of sites you want to block, use K9+opendns+hosts file.

I can give you even more options, but that's not what you asked :D

Let me know if you need further assistance.

[althetrainer]

Thank you for your quick reply. I did try to disable that part of protection for just 15 minutes to see what it was. That was when I received the warming message from K-9. It sounds scary that some website or viruses can redirect his quest to a harmful site. Do you know anything about this *.channel.facebook.com? Is that a legit url for FB? If so I will be more than happy to allow access for him.

I understand what you mean... when kids get older they will try to have a taste of freedom. So far I am still in control of all his emails and social network accounts. I will keep an close eye on what's going on to prevent any incidents in the future.

[aemi]

It looks legit to me.

Lets see:
1)
According to http://www1.k9webprotection.com/support/check-site-rating

Review Page: channel.facebook.com (check another site)
This page is currently categorized as Social Networking

2) The IP address of facebook.com is 66.220.149.11 .

Also the following IP address ranges belong to Facebook:
66.220.144.0 - 66.220.159.255
69.63.176.0 - 69.63.191.255
204.15.20.0 - 204.15.23.255

Source : about (http://compnetworking.about.com/od/traceipaddresses/f/facebook-ip-address.htm)
I hope the article is old as this IP address, 69.171.248.16, doesn't match.

I would go ahead and say it's probably ok, Facebook might have some trouble with their SSL. On the other hand, I am running K9 and I am not getting that error. Maybe we get connected to different servers...

[althetrainer]

Ah thank you very much! I tried it again and realized it only popped up when we used "Dogbook" - the reason our son wanted to be on FB. I will allow it but will keep an close eye on the going-ons.

[MrsPotato]

Ah thank you very much! I tried it again and realized it only popped up when we used "Dogbook" - the reason our son wanted to be on FB. I will allow it but will keep an close eye on the going-ons.

Wow.
I'm rather shocked at the lack of trust you have in your child. I can barely believe parents go to this extent ....You're creating a monster. Just wait til he gets old enough to do what he really wants.

[kenj]

Actually without knowing their family situation, I don't think you have the right to comment... Some parents take an active interest in their child's growth and development.

UNLESS, you actually do know their family situation - then I shouldn't comment!!

[aemi]

Wow.
I'm rather shocked at the lack of trust you have in your child. I can barely believe parents go to this extent ....You're creating a monster. Just wait til he gets old enough to do what he really wants.

Without being disrespectful, your post shows lack of... I will stop there, don't want to be rude.

[althetrainer]

Wow.
I'm rather shocked at the lack of trust you have in your child. I can barely believe parents go to this extent ....You're creating a monster. Just wait til he gets old enough to do what he really wants.

May I ask if you even have children?

Our son is only 10 years old and of course this is our responsibility to keep a watchful eye on him. The only reason he wanted to be on FB was for dogbook so he could post pictures of his dogs to share with other dog owners. My husband has a FB account that he no longer uses so I didn't have to create a fake account for our son. But that doesn't mean I don't have to keep an eye on what's going on.

You don't think we should know what our children are doing? My son did a blog in an international student site last year and his blog was picked "blog of the month". I linked my email address to his account so everything came through could be filtered by me. More than once there were older women 18+ emailed him asking to be his friends. Seriously? My son was 9 and what did a 18 year old woman (some were even older) have in common with a 9 year old boy? I am not saying they all bore ill intentions but as a parent shouldn't I be careful? Do you not watch the news and read the newspaper?

One of our neighbors shares your attitude. I have witness, many midnights, police came to their door asking if they knew where their children were. These young men often got into troubles because their parents "trusted" them fully and allowed them to do whatever they wanted when they were kids. As a parent I will tell you this is our job to guide our young children so when they are old enough to make decisions they will make the right ones.

[aemi]

althetrainer, good point there. For those who doubt that you have to take responsibly for what your kid is doing on the internet, I would suggest them to watch some documentaries about the dangers of internet.

[ssbtech]

Just curious, not being judgemental, but when those questionable emails came to your son via the blog post did you share any of them with him?

[infamouskid]

honestly i am a father of 4.
and when they get to the age of using computers and utilizing the web i myself will probably be using some sort of netnanny or censorship method like opendns.
you can say whatever you want but there is no way in hell i am going to expose my kids to everything on the web. as a parent it is my right to know what is and what is not good influence for my child.
and as adults you all know what kind of limitless information is on the web as well as predators.
all it takes is one bad click and bam their view on things can change fast.
take some of the beheading videos of those journalists for instance...would you want your son or daughter walking up to asking what all this is about? thinking this is normal... or looking at some kiddie porn. heck even normal porn?
that stuff can really mess up kids in the head and put a lot of pressure on them as they grow.

[ssbtech]

Then on the flip side they don't know how to react safely or maturely when they're finally exposed to it. For example, in order to remain safe and protected from child predators they need to not only learn how to identify questionable messages, but also be able to ask the parent questions about those messages.

I understand the need to shelter and protect children, but I also feel that excessive sheltering can eliminate the opportunity for some important life lessons.

[infamouskid]

Then on the flip side they don't know how to react safely or maturely when they're finally exposed to it. For example, in order to remain safe and protected from child predators they need to not only learn how to identify questionable messages, but also be able to ask the parent questions about those messages.

I understand the need to shelter and protect children, but I also feel that excessive sheltering can eliminate the opportunity for some important life lessons.

what?? that sounds so ***** .
that's like saying.... we don't need child gates or barriers in our homes for toddlers because they deserve free movement... they just need to know they have to ask if they can go up and down stairs by themselves.
that is completely asking for trouble. you cannot expect kids to do and act as adults. kids can't help being kids much like human nature. that doesn't mean we let them learn things by removing the only things keeping them safe just so they can learn their lesson. if you had your way of thinking about this kind of stuff go public do you know how many kids would be dead right now?
there is a reason we have child warning labels and rating systems. the internet is called the wide open web for a reason.
i do not believe in internet censorship but i do believe every parent has the right to control what is allowed to be seen by their child online and what is not.
until kids are at the age of maturity it's both parent and teacher and governments responsibility to keep them sheltered and protected from any danger even online. until they can fend for themselves and make the proper decisions responsibly.
that's why we have laws to protect them and that is why we have parent teacher nights and special task forces to deal with crap done to kids.
having some control over your kids is better then no control. any parent will tell you that unless that parent is a complete moron and does not care.