- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 2000/XP
- Date added: January 24, 2006
- Total Downloads: 149,212
- Downloads last week: 1,244
- See full specifications
A newer version of K9 Web Protection is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 227 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
For a free Internet filter, K9 Web Blocker does its job well, providing a broad collection of options for customizing your remote Web supervision needs.
To run the program, you must register on the Web site to get the free activation code. The control panel is accessible only through the Internet. Uninstalling requires removing the app from the Task Manager, then using its password to delete it from the Windows Control Panel, and finally, rebooting. Because the password gets sent to the e-mail account of the person who registered the program, it's possible that an enterprising user could disable K9 on a shared computer.
Despite those drawbacks, K9 comes with a handful or so of predesigned filters and an option to customize. With more than 50 categories for organizing Web sites, and the keyword-free proprietary K9 rating system, the Web monitoring and blocking aspects of the software functioned well. K9 also has categories for blocking sites that have been detected as potential malware threats. Equally impressive, and a little bit scary, was the log that detailed not just blocked Web sites but also every Web site visited.
K9 Web Blocker is a good, free program for those who are concerned solely with Web surfing, but the lack of a chatware filter leaves some holes for predation.
Publisher's description
From Blue Coat Systems :K9 Web Protection is easy-to-use Parental Control and Internet filtering software that helps parents protect their children online. K9 Web Protection has the ability to block adult, porn and other offensive content, prevent spyware infections, and monitor visited sites on any Internet access connection (AOL, MSN, Yahoo, and SBC). Based on commercial-grade Web filtering controls from Blue Coat Systems, K9 Web Protection is unique among content filters and it's free for home use. K9 can be configured as a porn blocker, a spyware stopper, a gambling filter or various other configurations based on our 54 Web categories.
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User reviews of K9 Web Protection 2.0.46
- Average user rating: 4.1 stars out of 227 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 12 user reviewsSee all 12 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Version: K9 Web Protection 2.0.46
"EASY, RELIABLE, FREE AND WORTH THE SEARCH."
Pros: -ALLOW/BLOCK URL SPECIFIC
-BASIC/ADVANCED MODES
-REAL TIME PROTECTION
-EFFECTIVE
-EXTREMELY CUSTOMIZIBLE
-MY NEW BEST FRIEND
Cons: -YOU NEED TO REQUEST "KEY" THAT IS SENT TO YOUR EMAIL
-YOU NEED TO BE ON THE INTERNET TO CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS IF NEEDED.
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2 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Version: K9 Web Protection 2.0.46
Pros: This Software is very good indeed. It has many feature.
> Excellent Blocking
> you can choose what TPYE you want to block
>High Security, i.e., Cannot Skip the Fileter, Break, Pass.
>Its is highly silent, Does not take a place in the start up, like other, so it doesnt effect the comp. speed.
>It has Dynamic Real-Time Ratingâ ¢ (DRTR), Even filers unrated pages, that means no fooling!(makes the internet a lil slow)
Cons: >You need to authorise for it. u need a id and they will send u a password to start. (No Spams)
>(With the older Version) sometimes messes up your internet totally, and den no matter what u cant get on the internet.
>Have to renew ur subscripton every month, which is totally free.
In my recommendation, Use it very carfully!
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Version: K9 Web Protection 2.0.46
"The perfect filtering program for home use! And it's free too!"
Pros: I have tried many different filtering programs, and this one is by far the easiest to use with the highest quality results! In addition, it's free and not limited in any way!
The filtering that is used is supposedly the same database that they use for their corporate customers. However, you don't have to download an entire database - you only need to get the categories for the sites you visit.
I have been mostly impressed with the quality of the ratings. In the past, filtering software has gotten kind of a "bum rap" because it would either overblock or underblock. K9 Web Protection does a really good job of balancing the two - and I have never been mis-blocked (granted, I've only been using this for a few months now...so there may still be time to find errors)
It also has outperformed other programs that I have used in the past - such as NetNanny, CyberSitter, and ContentProtect. You can't even tell that K9 is even running most of the time... I'll never spend $40 again buying a filtering program!
I'm really glad that something like this exists and that there are people out there that really care about us protecting our families from all the evil stuff that's out on the Internet. Bravo!
Cons: It's not quite as full featured as some of the others - it's especialy lacking in its reports. The interface is a bit clunky as well.
Also - unless you allow k9support@bluecoat.com through your spam filters, most of them will catch their email with your license key. They don't spam you, but you need to make sure and let their email through.
All-in-all, the shortcomings that it has are by far outweighed by the strengths of the product.
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Version: K9 Web Protection 2.0.46
"Near-perfect accuracy, unbelievable security, and FAST!"
Pros: I've been using K9 for six months now and love the program. I've tested quite a few filters in the last couple years (NetNanny, CyberPatrol, CyberSitter, ContentProtect, CyberSentinel), but NONE of them even came close to my expectations until I found K9. The others always seemed to block too much or too little. There really was no balance, so I got too annoyed to keep them on my computer.
K9 is completely different. It is customizable to fit my needs. I can block or allow any category -- and its accuracy is dead-on. There is a place in the interface where you can argue a site's rating if it is wrong, but I've never needed to use it.
K9 is built solid. I have tried to get around it (deleting files, shutting it down, editing the registry) and I just can't get past it! A word to the wise -- don't try to disable it improperly because it will "lock" the internet instead of leaving it wide open. I had to contact K9's tech support to get it back up and running after I tried to bypass K9's filtering -- it was great! I finally feel like my kids will be safe on the internet when I am not around.
Lastly, I like how small K9 is. The entire installer is under a quarter of a megabyte and it doesn't bog down the system like all the other filtering products. I end up putting it on almost every computer my friends and family ask me to fix because it also stops spyware traffic (it cuts down on my "family tech support" time if you know what I mean).
Great job K9 team!
Cons: There is still a list of features I want in K9. I have emailed the Blue Coat company to request them and every one of them are planned for future releases of the software. I can't wait!!!
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Version: K9 Web Protection 2.0.46
"It protects computers as well as people."
Pros: I first thought that this was just for people with children, but seeing that there also spyware protection categories I installed it on my home PCs. One of them then barked at me (this is what K9 does when it sees a bad request) as it was booting up and sure enough my computer had previous been infected with spyware. K9 helped identify and remove it, so I have K9 on all the machines now and am protected and trouble free.
- See all 12 user reviews Write review
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