The joy of the internet. The information age. The benefits are too innumerable to list. But with the good, the bad invariably follows. Viruses, hackers, and spammers all came out of the woodwork. As computer-literate parents we were aware of these risks, chat rooms, unsolicited pornography or worst. We made it a point to be present when our 9 year old was on the web.

But as our work load for this site increased, and several computers running at once we found that we could not monitor her every moment. How could we make sure she was safe? We needed a “filtering software” program. A program that would block offensive material from coming in and deny access to sites deemed off-limits. In short…Bsafe Online.

Bsafe offers professional grade filtering software. Since it is “server based” the software resides on the web and not on your hard-drive; your internet speed will not be slowed down. You have the option to set up different filter criteria for each computer, i.e. one computer can be set for maximum filtering and the other for reduced. Profiles can be set up for each user on the computer with filters following each. Password verification allows access to a blocked site or filter modifications. In addition you can control Peer to Peer, Messaging and Chat Rooms. Sites can be added to or deleted from a white list.

Bsafe offers an internet history reporting option so you know where your kid has visited on the web or tried to. Since it is server based there is no way to go in and try to delete or change the history (even for an experienced hacker). It is tamper proof. Our daughter would be protected and we felt more comfortable giving her access to the web since we could view her history of internet accesses.

In addition to its filtering software, Bsafe has expanded into the computer protection arena. Bsafe has partnered with Sophos, the renowned and much awarded anti-virus company. Called the “Bsecure suite,” they offer anti-virus, firewall and intrusion detection, pop-up and spyware killer, and spam filtering.

We downloaded Bsafe’s free trial version and found that the anti-virus software features automatic updates without slowing you down. Bsafe also updated more frequently than Norton and took far less time to scan. It caught stuff that Norton didn’t.

Additionally, the firewall software blocks hacker attacks, warns you of intruders and even prevents Trojan Horse and Worm attacks and keeps a log of suspicious activity.

The pop-up and spyware killer contains updated lists of pop-ups and blocks cookies and Spyware. It offers a child window blocking feature, has a Control (Ctrl) Key override to allow needed pop-ups and contains block/unblock options.

Since we’re skeptical, we did our research, comparing Sophos to McAfee and Norton, going to non-partisan virus review sites. Based on what we discovered, the Sophos/Bsafe software was the obvious winner. To read the Virus Bulletin review Click Here. To read the Veritest review Click Here.

B Safe’s Internet Content Filter retails at $49.95/year. Protect up to 3 additional computers for $10.00. But the real enchilada is the All-In-One Security suite. For $69.95/year you get not only the content filter but also Sophos anti-virus, firewall, pop-up and spyware killer ($39.95 value), and their spam filter ($39.95 value). Additional computers are protected at $10.00 each. Be sure to ask their tech support about any special promotions. We got our additional computers protected for free. Can’t beat that.

Their tech support is very good, however it was not unusual to have to wait 20 minutes to get in. Once in though, they gave us all their attention. None of that “I’ve only got three minutes to deal with your problem” stuff. When we emailed a question, we actually got a response.

They currently offer a free 10 day trial. Go their site, log in, download, and start protecting your family and your computer. Again, we use and recommend the Security Suite… more bang for the buck. They do ask for a credit card number for the trial; however they do not credit your account until day 11. If at anytime during the trial period you decide to cancel, click “cancel my account” and your card will not be credited. We checked our bank statement to make sure this was the case and it was. During the trial period you have full access to technical support to answer any of your questions; this is also where you can add extra computers or ask about special promos.

Thanks to Bsafe, our computers are not only protected but so is our family. Now we have no problem letting our daughter surf away…though one of us is still in the room.

Click on logo to begin your free trial.