What Is Content Filtering? Definition, Types, and Best Practices

Content filtering is defined as the screening and exclusion of access to email or web pages that are undesirable. Content filtering solutions operate by stipulating content patterns and including text strings or image aspects. If these patterns are matched, the software labels the content objectionable and proceeds to block or flag it somehow.

Table of Contents

• What Is Content Filtering?
• Types of Content Filtration
• Top 8 Best Practices for Content Filtering in 2021

What Is Content Filtering?

Content filtering is the screening and exclusion of access to email or web pages that are undesirable. Content filtering solutions operate by stipulating content patterns, including text strings or image aspects. If these patterns are matched, the software labels the content objectionable and proceeds to block or flag it somehow.

Web content filtering, also known as content filtering, is a set of solutions that monitor and restrict access to web content that can be deemed inappropriate, offensive, or risky. Corporations make use of content filtering through firewalls. While not common, home computer owners also use content filtering solutions. At home, content filters protect young children from age-inappropriate content, while the corporate world uses this solution to block access to specific types of content.

How Content Filtering Works

Many leading internet firewalls offer content filters as a built-in feature, either as hardware or software. The dual advantage of content filtering is cybersecurity and the implementation of company policies related to the usage of corporate information systems. For instance, these filters will block dangerous sites (cybersecurity) and inappropriate social networking sites (as per company policy).

Today, corporations strive to create safe workplaces with minimum disruptions. Content filters play a significant role in the achievement of this goal. At the workplace, inappropriate or illegal content should not be accessible, as this could create a liability for the organization and compromise employee well-being or system integrity. 

For instance, pornographic content could easily lead to sexual harassment and a hostile or demeaning work environment, while spam websites pose a high risk of transmitting malware onto work computers. Other examples of malicious content include websites with hateful or violent content that may compromise employee safety and the company’s image and social networking sites that tend to hamper the productivity and efficiency of employees.

Content filtering solutions project a clear demarcation in terms of company policy around these issues by blocking access to harmful websites at the workplace. This also helps demonstrate the intolerance of the organization for illegal, objectionable, or otherwise inappropriate content in general.

Also Read: 10 Best Password Managers for 2021

Content filtering channels

The efficacy of content filtering can be maximized by deploying such solutions across channels, including:

• Email: Today, and especially during remote working conditions, email is the primary mode of communication for most organizations. Emails are also heavily targeted by spammers and are among the most likely mediums for malware and other undesirable content. Content filters maximize the safety of emails through a variety of methods. These solutions scan the content of the email. If specific words, phrases, attachment types, or other content is detected, they place the email in the recipient’s junk folder or even mark it ‘undeliverable’ and bounce it back.
• Web: The internet is the lifeblood of corporations worldwide, and content filtering solutions help keep a company’s resources secure by filtering web traffic according to a set of predefined rules.
• Program files: Not all employees are tech-savvy. Sometimes, an employee may try to download and run a program that is malicious in nature. Content filtering works to block such program files before they can harm the user’s system or the company’s network.

The aim behind implementing content filters is to block access to content that may be deemed objectionable. Such restrictions are applicable across levels—from a single home user blocking spam to the government of a country applying regulations nationwide. Sociopolitical and ethical issues aside, the scope of content filtering is vast, and these solutions can serve as a step toward robust personal, organizational, and national cybersecurity.

Also Read: What Is a Firewall? Definition, Key Components, and Best Practices

Types of Content Filtration

The internet, aptly known as the ‘information superhighway’, is a boon for knowledge transfer. However, it has never been a truly secure medium for the dissemination of content. The casual user of the internet is always susceptible to bad information, malware, and other harmful elements. Therefore, content filters must be used to protect the people and systems browsing the internet.

Content filters help employers, system administrators, governments, and personal users protect themselves and their dependents from unwanted material. Due to the wide scope of applications, there are different types of content filters, most of which can be customized to meet the needs of specific users.

Types of Content Filtration

1. Server-side filtration

Server-side content filters manage web traffic for every user of a specific network. The provider or administrator will install server-side content filters on a central server that links to all computers on the network. Such content filtering solutions are useful for monitoring internet usage in large organizations. 

Since these solutions are server-based, they allow administrators to create one set of rules for filtering content and apply it to all users on the network. Unlike ISP-based filtration, complete control is retained by the company, making customization dynamic and straightforward. 

Assigning different levels of access to different classes of users becomes very easy in server-side content filters. Many solution providers offer prebuilt content filters that only require minor tweaks at the organizational level.

2. Client-side filtration

A client-side content filter is installed on the end user’s system. However, the end-user may not be able to modify or uninstall it. This restriction is usually achieved by password-protecting the program or restricting the capabilities of the end-user system through admin privileges. 

By restricting the operations of the client-side filter, the administrator can rest assured that the client will not be able to bypass its restrictions. Client-side filters are well-suited for home use. 

They are also apt for business environments that require filtration for specific computers. However, it becomes tedious (or, in some cases, close to impossible) to manage client-side content filters as the size of the organization increases.

3. ISP-level filtration

For far-reaching content filtration, an internet service provider (ISP) may restrict web traffic based on rules set by an organization or government. When the ISP implements content filtering, these restrictions affect every user. 

The ISP can filter inappropriate web traffic as well as monitor chat and emails. Like other types of content filters, ISPs too can dynamically block or unblock services as the guidelines get updated. Based on the service provider policy in force, ISPs can allow clients to pick the types of content to be filtered for specific user classes. 

However, it should be noted that delegating content filtering to an ISP removes direct control and elongates the modification process in case changes are required.

4. Search engine filtration

With remote work becoming the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, solutions such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 for Business enable organizations to control user activities without the need for a VPN or client-side software. By taking control of employee web traffic, employers can implement additional security filters remotely. 

When these filters are turned on, search engines will only display results that are in line with company policy. Further, inappropriate content that is not explicitly blocked by the organization but deemed harmful by the solution provider may be blocked as well. 

However, it is worth noting that search engine filtration is not the same as URL filtration. While there may be a certain level of overlap among the two, employees who already know the URL of a website that is not specifically blocked may still be able to access it without having to use a search engine.

At the home level, some search engines such as Kiddle and Wacky Safe offer filters that are oriented towards kids. The search results of these providers are pre-filtered to ensure that they are appropriate for children. 

Such content filters are beneficial as they allow kids and other dependents to browse the internet without supervision while ensuring that they stay away from websites that are known to contain unsafe or inappropriate content.

Also Read: What Is Browser Isolation? Definition, Technology Components, and Vendors

Top 8 Best Practices for Content Filtering in 2021

Over the last two decades, the internet has played an increasingly fundamental role in the daily operations of businesses across the world— a trend that peaked in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic relegating humanity to working from home. Jobs that were previously thought to be impossible to do remotely soon shifted online in their entirety.

With children—even preschoolers and toddlers—attending school and submitting homework online, as well as entire organizations moving to a ‘work from home‘ model, the need for content filtering solutions has never been higher. As corporations increasingly adopt digital transformation solutions, technology, especially the internet, is considered a core requirement for business growth in increasingly dynamic and competitive markets.

Content Filtering Best Practices for 2021

It is undeniable that the internet improves organizational processes by reducing costs, enhancing speed, and boosting productivity at levels that have never been seen before. However, some organizations, especially those who have been driven to adopt it due to the pandemic, may view remote work as a necessary evil, as distracting or malicious content ends up compromising deliverables and impacting cybersecurity and productivity.

Further, as most corporations and even smaller businesses go remote, the use of the internet sees lots of employees move out of their comfort zone since most companies have a workforce that comprises people from different generations, which entails completely different work dynamics, online behaviors, and levels of technological awareness. This means that different employees will access different types of non-work-related content, either voluntarily or otherwise, making content filters a vital requirement.

Additionally, organizations and industries that deal with sensitive information, such as healthcare, demand a high degree of control over how data is stored, shared, and operated upon. Such requirements are much more difficult to enforce in a remote setting. This is another application in which content filtering solutions can be useful. 

By leveraging content filters, corporations across industries, size segments, and geographies can manage the use of the internet by their workforce efficiently and secure the corporate environment, whether remote or in-office. Content filters also enhance productivity, personalize corporate control over each employee subclass, and keep the organization and its employees safe in an increasingly online world.

Below are the eight best practices for content filtering in 2021.

1. Remote deployment

The world may have come to a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but most companies are still operating through the work from home model. Many organizations shifted to remote working conditions before they had a chance to implement content filters on employees’ systems. In these cases, remote deployment of content filters has seen its popularity increase manifold during the global lockdown.

Three prominent trends in remote deployment of content filters include: 

• Client-side instruction (guiding employees to install content filters by themselves)
• Remote takeover (IT personnel assuming remote control of employee systems to set up content filters)
• Switching service providers (moving toward platforms that offer in-built content filters, such as Google Workspace)

2. Internal communication

Internal communication may have had a certain importance in the pre-COVID-19 era, but after work from home and lockdown became a part of our daily lives, its importance has further skyrocketed. Email and virtual meetings have replaced in-company functions like HR, and IT departments quickly adapt to the new normal. 

Unfortunately, this has led to unscrupulous elements wanting to hijack internal communications for nefarious purposes, and this is where content filtering solutions come into play. As hijackers continue to try and impersonate HR or IT representatives to infiltrate office systems and steal sensitive data, content filters can help block these attempts and ensure that the integrity of the company’s systems is not compromised.

3. Liberal work policies

With the pandemic only showing a moderate decline globally, companies that would have never imagined allowing employees to work from home are today considering a shift to a permanently remote work model. In the case of work from home, it becomes nearly impossible to account for every second of an employee’s time during work hours, which has led to numerous companies adopting new, more liberal work policies that focus on output instead of the process. 

This, in turn, has led to many employees not following the same level of cybersecurity hygiene that was the norm during the pre-COVID-19 era. Systems are left unlocked and unattended, company laptops are loaned to friends and family for personal use, and sensitive information is on the screen for anybody to see when passing by. 

This, of course, has the potential to severely compromise the security and safety of the company’s systems and databases—a bleak scenario that can be averted through the installation of cutting-edge content filters that prevent users (and their proxies) from accidentally or deliberately compromising company assets. 

This can be achieved by implementing a set of filters that block access to adult content, weapons, drug information, intolerance, trafficking, piracy, and malicious content universally. As flexibility becomes the norm, institutions must adopt content filters that ensure system integrity without damaging productivity. 

Let us look at a case study. 

A financial institution has an administrative network that is segmented in nature, where departments having access to sensitive customer information require greater restriction might need two standards for content filtration—one for those who have access to sensitive information and another for those who do not. 

It is noted that blocking only ‘known’ risk factors can be deadly, as the internet is immeasurably vast and new threats are only one false click away. On the other hand, blocking everything that is unknown is bound to restrict access to a resource that is critical for the completion of a project. 

For such a company, the content filter solution will need to be ‘smart’ and ‘dynamic’ in nature, determining whether to allow or block access to a specific online resource based on several factors (ideally in real-time). In this case, the company management will need to carefully evaluate the available content filtering solutions to achieve a perfect balance between security and productivity.

4. Category-based filters

Gone are the days of content filters that had one long list of ‘blocked’ content and allowed everything else. The content filtering solutions of 2021 come with category-based filtering that gives organizations the option to restrict specific categories of websites, such as religious, entertainment, gambling, adult, gaming, banking, online shopping, and so on, for specific user classes. Such solutions offer a dynamic approach toward policy implementation and ensure highly efficient control over how employees use the internet.

With these solutions, IT departments no longer have to build a list of restricted websites from scratch or follow other outdated approaches to content filtering. Instead, companies can focus on creating access policies that are secure and permissive and focus on blocking malware and other malicious content without hampering productivity.

By leveraging specialized category-based filtering solutions, professionals responsible for controlling and managing internet use in organizations see several benefits, including the elimination of the need for intervention by analysts for maintaining access lists. This technology is also built to hinder sabotage attempts by anyone with vested interests who tries to circumvent the company’s policies.

5. Schedule-oriented access

Companies understand that when employees work remotely, they need distraction after a certain period of continuous work. Schedule-oriented content filters minimize the harshness of cybersecurity policies by allowing users to have ‘daily usage quotas’ for specific non-work-related purposes, as well as specific timings for otherwise blocked websites to be accessed freely.

For instance, most companies, regardless of industry or position, block social media access from corporate networks. However, as remote work has become the norm, some companies are adopting schedule-based content filters that allow social media to be accessed by employees at specific intervals or for a certain number of minutes per day. Such solutions enable organizations to implement restrictive policies without hampering employee morale or compromising on their productivity levels.

However, network administrators for companies where bandwidth is important should note that some entertainment websites, such as YouTube, can drain processing power and slow down the network. In such cases, prioritizing business-centric access or setting usage guidelines may be helpful.

6. URL filtering

URL filtering is a subset of content filtering that has seen an upward trend in 2021. Using URL filtering solutions, organizations can protect themselves from web-based threats and monitor and control employees’ web activity in a simple way. URL filtering works through the creation of ‘allow rules’ that work with business applications. 

An administrator can review the different categories of URLs and block those that are classified as malicious or exploitive. For companies that cannot afford large-scale content filters but still require a solution for their remote employees, URL filtering is a straightforward way to minimize exposure to online threats without restricting employee access to the required content.

7. Microscopic control

Sometimes, an employee or team might need access to content that is restricted outright for the entire organization. For instance, a digital marketing manager may want to monitor the brand’s online performance through a non-work account, but the company does not allow social media to be accessed over the corporate network under any circumstances due to the vertical that the company operates in. On the one hand, this is a legitimate business requirement, while on the other, cybersecurity and regulatory compliance are sacrosanct.

In organizations that use traditional content filters, this situation would likely be resolved by excluding the executive from the filters entirely. However, this opens a new box of threats, especially in the age of work from home. So what is the solution? Content filters that offer microscopic control over each employee, team, group, and department—without compromising cybersecurity. 

By setting this access to expire within a specific period of time, such as a day, week, or month, exceptions to company policy can be made on a case-to-case basis without exposing the organization to the threats that come with removing content filters for specific employees entirely.

8. Operational reporting

2021 will see many companies continue to encourage or mandate employees to work remotely. At the same time, these organizations are likely to adopt content filters to ensure a safe and productive work environment. However, management teams must know how effective their content filters are. At the same time, IT managers would want to understand what content employees access regularly to update company policy with new restrictions or allowances.

To meet client expectations, content filters have started rolling out intricate automated reporting systems that present graphical and textual data to enable companies to effectively track the online activities of employees at all levels: individuals, teams, departments, and even organization-wide. These reports can be generated on-demand as well as emailed at specific intervals. Most content filtering solutions also offer real-time data for perusal by management, IT, and HR teams.

Also Read: What Is Application Security? Definition, Types, Testing, and Best Practices

Takeaway

In the post-COVID-19 world, only the most dynamic businesses will thrive. Policy writing has become a matter of experimentation as employees work from home, and human nature compels them to circumvent established guidelines to access online content during work hours. 

Creating an effective policy is only half the battle won. Most organizations, especially smaller ones, neglect strict enforcement and end up leaving company systems open to risk and not addressing productivity leakage. Content filters help create an environment of accountability, transparency, and productivity, without the need for punitive action by a human supervisor.

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