I. Describe a content filter, which is a software filter—technically not a firewall—that allows administrators to restrict access to content from within a network. It is a set of scripts or programs that restricts user access to certain networking protocols and Internet locations or restricts users from receiving general types or specific examples of Internet content.
II. To content filters as reverse firewalls, as their primary focus is to restrict internal access to external material.
III. Explain to students that in most common implementation models, the content filter has two components: rating and filtering.
IV. Emphasize that the rating is like a set of firewall rules for Web sites, and it is common in residential content filters.
V. Classify how the filtering is a method used to restrict specific access requests to the identified resources, which may be Web sites, servers, or whatever resources the content filter administrator configures.
VI. Relate the most common content filters, which restrict users from accessing Web sites with obvious non-business-related material, such as pornography, or deny incoming spam e-mail.