Security Software Systems, Inc. was founded in 1997 as a software development company focused on filtering out pornographic and sexually explicit content that is available on the Internet. Once the initial "market test" product was released, the company was approached by cyber crime law enforcement agents requesting more. They want the technology expanded to monitor for, and filter out, online communications children were unknowingly having with online predators and pedophiles. With this request, the technology soon allowed the software user to not only filter content on the Internet but in all Windows applications, including Chat Rooms, Instant Messaging, E-mail, Word, etc.

In November 1999 the company released the Cyber Sentinel software, with the predator library. The product was designed so that when a child was using chat or Instant Messaging the product could monitor the conversation, and if the conversation turned predatory in nature the child could be removed from harms way, with an alert sent to a parent. In July 2001 the company released a network version of Cyber Sentinel and Policy Central to address the growing demand for protection from internal security breaches and computer misuse in the Corporate, Government and Education Markets. In October 2002 the company released the second version of both network products, thus providing the most comprehensive and flexible advanced computer monitoring and filtering management solutions on the market.

Today, Security Software Systems is a worldwide leader of advanced computer monitoring and filtering management solutions. The company's software enables organizations to monitor, filter, report and manage how individuals use the Internet, E-mail, chat, Instant Messaging and all Windows applications. The philosophy is that "if you change a computer user's behavior you will reap the rewards." The potential rewards are produced through improved employee productivity, reduced network bandwidth and mitigated legal liability from sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal lawsuits. The key to behavior modification is an Acceptable Use Policy (treated as a living document) that is modified as technology changes, and deployed and accepted by the users on a frequent basis. The company servers more than 1.5 million customers in Home, Criminal Justice, Education, Corporate and Government, ranging in size from the single user networks to 10s of thousands of users.

Cyber Sentinel is a comprehensive content filtering and monitoring solution that monitors Internet activity, E-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging and all Windows applications. With its built-in library, you can instantly filter or monitor for pornographic, sexually explicit and predatory content. This greatly reduces the risk of unwanted content being presented to a child. The user definable library also allows personal information to be entered, such as address, telephone number, school name and other information, and blocks it from being disseminated.

Study estimates indicate that approximately 70% of children online are "exposed" to pornography. When a child encounters pornographic or predatory content, Cyber Sentinel is designed to get the child out of harms way by warning them of the danger, take a screen capture of the violation (which is stored in a secure database for review by an adult), and close the application. Its E-mail notification feature alerts parents that their child's online activities have turned pornographic or predatory in nature, and they need to view the capture database to determine if their child is in any potential danger. General configuration modes are: WARN - Users screen is completely covered by warning screen; CAPTURE - A screen capture is taken and sent to the secure database for review; CLOSE - Closes the application that triggered the violation; ACTIVE - User is aware they are being monitored; STEALTH - Cyber Sentinel invisibly monitors the current user.

In addition, user configurable features such as Internet time management, site blocking, service blocking content filtering and monitoring make Cyber Sentinel one of the most flexible, if not the most flexible and comprehensive package currently available. At $39.95 it appears to be a real value.

Also available from the company is the book "Safety Monitor - How to Protect Your Kids Online." It provides a set of practical step-by-step instructions for supervising and protecting children in their online and computer experiences. It is written by Detective Mike Sullivan and is $14.95. Both, however, can be obtained for $44.95 (Offer not available for download).

System Requirements: For a PC IBM compatible, Pentium (or equivalent) at 166Mhz +; Windows 95 (osr 2)/98/ME/NT 4.0 (sp3+)/2000/XP; 32MB of RAM; 20MB Free HD Space.

Contact Information: Security Software Systems Inc., 1998 Bucktail Lane, Sugar Grove, IL 60554; PH: 630-466-1038, FAX: 630-466-7678; Info@SecuritySoft.com.