Re: Access to Porn sites?

["Boyd, Daniel" <dboyd () BERRY EDU>]

We used to block porn sites (and gambling also, I think). When we decided to do this we expected pushback, but got zero 
when we flipped the switch. We initially conducted a stealth trial of the filtering system, fully prepared to explain 
our decision if needed, but heard crickets from our community, so we just left it enabled and moved on. When we 
installed our current perimeter firewalls, we stopped blocking porn. I don’t recall the reasoning behind the decision.

I have to agree with those who express concern over porn sites being vehicles for malware and the like. The already few 
instances of totally pwned machines from malware infections dropped to near zero after we blocked porn sites. I can’t 
remember when we last had to reimage a machine because of mass infections.

I’m not anyone’s morality police, but there are credible reasons to simply block porn, gambling and similar sites 
beyond “they’re bad”. These sites will make money any way they can, legal or otherwise.

Besides, if a user is determined to surf these sites, they’ll do it on their own devices, with their own bandwidth.

Dan


Daniel H. Boyd (94C)
Director of Information Security
Office for Information Technology
Information Security Advisory Group Chair
Berry College
Phone: 706-236-1750
Fax:     706-238-5824

There are two rules to follow with your account passwords:
1. NEVER SHARE YOUR PASSWORDS WITH ANYONE (EVEN OIT!!!!)
2. If unsure, consult rule #1



From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> On Behalf Of Babak Oskouian
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2019 7:08 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: [SECURITY] Access to Porn sites?


CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Berry College organization. Do not click links or open attachments 
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Hi All,

We at Mills College have been kicking around the idea of blocking access to porn sites on our network. Needless to say, 
we have gotten some push back. Our plan (if it is green-lighted) is to use the built-in "adult" filters that our Palo 
Alto firewall provides.
I am curious as to how many of you block porn sites, and if you do and especially if you use a Palo Alto device, have 
you had to do a lot of fine-tuning of your filters to eliminate false-positives?

Thanks.

Babak


Babak Oskouian, Ph.D. | Campus Network Engineer | Information Security Officer

Mills College | 5000 MacArthur Blvd | Oakland, CA 94613-1301

Office: Stern Hall 007; Phone: 510-430-2224<tel:510-430-2224>

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