Is there such a thing as "bulletproof" parental control software? With one installation, I want it to work regardless of what I do in terms of adding operating systems or virtual machines to my desktop computer. For instance, have Windows 7, add Ubuntu Linux to have a dual boot system. Again, in Windows 7, add Virtual Box or VMWAre. In either of those two, add Ubuntu Linux again as a virtual machine, etc. In any case, parental controls should still block offensive web sites. This seems to indicate a DNS, router type solution, but I don't want THAT being circumvented by proxies, VPN, alternative IP addresses for virtual machines, or other network type things that I have not thought of yet in this post. I would also like my parental controls mechanism to have a user name and password.
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You need to put a linux router using iptables plus parental control software. Then put that router between your cable connection, and the rest of your network. Then if you can find parental control software for linux, it will block it from all of your network. I would suggest something like openwrt, but I don't think there is enough extra storage for parental control software.– cybernardFeb 2, 2017 at 0:13
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This looks like a good answer, but I don't have the technical expertise to fully understand it. Could somebody break this answer down into discrete steps, like: (1) Go to the store and purchase this type of router, (2) download this software, (3) install the software by doing this, (4) make the software work with the router by doing this, (5) configure the router so it applies to all new virtual machines by doing this and this, (6) set up an account with password by doing this and this, etc. The preceding is just a rough guess at what I am looking for, but basically I am looking for details– user692342Feb 7, 2017 at 4:15
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1Nothing is bullet proof unless it is under your supervision 100% of the time.– ivanivanFeb 17, 2017 at 1:25
2 Answers
The short answer is that most probably not. As the saying goes "A lock does no more than keeping an honest man, honest." Almost anything can somehow be bypassed if the blocked person is geeky enough.
Of course, you can try the best, but only a good software (probably need a special router) that uses total whitelist (that way VPNs etc will not work) in the router would really seem to do what you want.
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This looks like a good answer, but I don't have the technical expertise to fully understand it. Could somebody break this answer down into discrete steps, like: (1) Go to the store and purchase this type of router, (2) download this software, (3) install the software by doing this, (4) make the software work with the router by doing this, (5) configure the router so it applies to all new virtual machines by doing this and this, (6) set up an account with password by doing this and this, etc. The preceding is just a rough guess at what I am looking for, but basically I am looking for details Feb 7, 2017 at 4:16
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@user692342, while I understand what you are asking my answer wasn't really meant to be an "answer". What I said is that there is simply "no way" to do exactly what you wanted to do. (except using a router system with a total whitelist. But a whitelist doesn't seem what you wanted. A whitelist meant that everything everything is blocked except what you explicitly open.) Feb 7, 2017 at 4:40
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If a router with a whitelist is the only thing that works, I would interested to learn more how that would work. Would it be possible to change the whitelist in time if a person had a password to an account for a "monitoring application" (not knowing the correct term here), or would the whitelist be permanent? Feb 7, 2017 at 14:35
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@user692342, typically a whitelist would be permanent and the admin would need to add each site to the whitelist. Feb 7, 2017 at 15:03
Without knowing your use case, we have to make a lot of assumptions here but I can provide a few options that will possibly address your needs. It sounds (based on the use cases you've laid out) that the user you're looking to control is very tech savvy. For this reason, they will invariably be able to overcome any technical solution you put in place, which leads me to prefer the last solution on the list over the other two..
As Yisroel-Tech mentioned, you can configure a router to restrict a given node on your network (eg: a computer) to only allow access to explicitly-listed sites (a whitelist). For instructions on how to do this you would need to look up the documentation for your particular router. Unless it's one that came free with your internet service and is managed by your ISP, the router you have can probably do this.
If you want the monitoring benefits on parental control software, then you can use KVM via software like Mesh Commander (running on another machine; see third video) to take periodic screenshots of what's happening on the controlled computer. The method uses Intel AMT KVM, which connects to the client machine at the BOIS level so works no matter what OS is being run (or even if no OS has been booted).
The best parental control is to put the computer in a public place in the house, like the kitchen. Seriously. Anyone who is using dual-boot systems and VMs is going to be able to outsmart software blocks. In fact their mind will probably be drawn to the challenge.
