allot optenet parental control: solution brief

© Allot Communications. All rights reserved. May 2012

Allot and Optenet Parental Control

Solution Brief

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Allot Communications Solutions

Solution Brief: Allot and Optenet Parental Control

© 2012 Allot Communications. All rights reserved. 2

Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 3

Motivation.................................................................................................................................................. 3

The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution – Overview .......................................................................... 3

Scope ................................................................................................................................................... 3

Capabilities .......................................................................................................................................... 4

Functional Architectural ........................................................................................................................ 6

Allot Service Gateway ..................................................................................................................... 6

Optenet MIDAS™ ............................................................................................................................ 6

Optenet GIANT™ ............................................................................................................................ 7

Monitoring and Provisioning Mechanisms ............................................................................................ 7

Benefits ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

Summary................................................................................................................................................... 8

About Allot................................................................................................................................................. 8

About Optenet ........................................................................................................................................... 8



Introduction

Consumer pressure and legislative directives – together with acknowledged social responsibility – have

led a wide range of service providers delivering broadband network, DSL, cable, and mobile services to

actively seek effective resolution of the frightening issues arising from uncontrolled Internet usage by

children and teenagers. The implications of access to inappropriate content are all very real and have

led parents to demand effective and easily-deployed solutions. Parents need tools through which they

can control their children’s Internet usage – on smartphones, Tablets or PCs – while allowing them to

provide equitable breath of usage.

Motivation

Parental Control applications must contend with the burgeoning number of potentially dangerous

websites and a host of related features.

Harmful and illegal content is spreading rapidly over the Internet, due to new technologies, higher

connection speeds, and a lack of unified regulation.

Penetration of mobile broadband technologies and the proliferation of devices such as smartphones

and tablets, expose children and teenagers to inappropriate content. Parents have almost no

control over their children’s cyber behavior.

Security threats including phishing, malware, and spyware are becoming very common, even in the

relatively closed mobile environment.

Today, most available parental-control solutions involve client-based software. However, the need for a

network based solution becomes evident when we consider the present situation:

Parents encounter difficulties to control, adjust limitations and receive information.

Users, even children, are becoming very knowledgeable and can learn how to bypass regular

client-based web filters.

Maintenance of client-based software is simply too complex for most people to contend with and

requires considerable resources on the part of the operator.

Regulations in many countries require service providers and telcos to take responsibility for

blocking harmful content.

The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution –

Overview

Scope

The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution ensures that children and teenagers have suitable

communication flexibility while providing active parent involvement over how and when various services

are available.

The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution is a network intelligence solution which acts as a single

centralized policy enforcement point within the network and can substantially improve an operator’s



competitive edge by enabling a feature-rich parental control solution. It fully ensures that a broad range

of home and mobile devices have secure and controlled browsing helping to make the Internet safe for

children.

Capabilities

The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution gives service providers a set of real-time tools to develop a

comprehensive package that allows parents to monitor their children’s Internet activity and take actions

by blocking unwanted access or limit usage during pre-determined periods.

URL filtering based on website categories: The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution includes

a database of millions of web sites (URLs) organized into a wide range of easy-to-use and logical

URL categories such as gambling, sports, pornography, ecommerce, news, entertainment, etc.

Parents can activate categories according to their personal outlook in regard to the scope of

browsing they wish to provide to their children. Children are prevented from accessing selected

categories of websites.

Real-time content filtering: The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution includes real-time

technology based upon artificial intelligence that continually updates thousands of addresses and

genetic algorithms. A high level of effectiveness is achieved with a minimal error rate.

File blocking: In addition to filtering web pages, the Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution can

block various file types such as MP3, MPEG, AVI, EXE, and ZIP based not only on the file

extensions but also the digital fingerprints.

Blocking by protocol / application: The solution facilitates selective blocking of protocols such as

P2P, chat, instant messaging, etc. and/or applications using protocols such as eMule, MSN,

Webmail, etc.

Flexible rules policy: Additional rules (undesirable categories) can be incorporated into the

classification database of the Parental Control Solution. The user can then select the desired rule to

be used for the specific, monitored minor.

Multi-policy controls: The Solution supports the configuration of a number of parental control

policies (e.g. age-15, age-12), with each policy containing one or more classification categories. In

addition, parents can set detailed rules within the scope of the service provider-defined policy.

Online content inspection and filtering for uncategorized URLs: In cases when a website is not

available in the database, the Solution uses a dynamic categorization technique (i.e. content

inspection) to evaluate the category to which the website belongs and to apply the appropriate

policy rules.

Thwarting bypassing enforcement: The Parental Control Solution provides capabilities to prevent

bypassing of the enforcement system by precluding use of anonymous IDs and access to web sites

by IP address rather by DNS name.

Access control and QoS combined with DPI: Allot offers high-performance quality of service

(QoS) and access control that is both flexible and scalable. Allot’s Deep Packet Inspection engine

analyzes data packets in real-time, searching for applications and protocols that do not comply with

the subscriber’s access rules in order to decide whether to drop or pass the relevant packets.



Additionally, QoS options can be defined for application-related traffic to allow differentiated SLA

traffic prioritization or rate limiting.

Scheduled filtering: The Allot-Optenet Solution supports the definition of time-based filtering

policies for individuals or groups of users.

Opt-in and Opt-out: Parents can choose to temporarily opt out of the system at any time. The

parental control policy can be reactivated after a configured time or at a specific time of day.

Custom whitelist/blacklist management: Operators can create and import custom lists of

acceptable or unacceptable websites according to government regulations. Individual users are

able to configure their private filtering lists.

Multiple add-on security services. The Allot-Optenet Solution can provide additional security

services to allow the delivery of a “clean Internet pipe” to subscribers. The Solution includes an

extensive range of tools to combat phishing activity, web-based viruses and malware threats, as

well as effective protection against malicious content.

Cloud-based filtering service: The Allot-Optenet Solution can be delivered over the cloud,

eliminating technological and financial barriers in terms of value creation and the ability to scale. By

virtualizing complex data management involved in the filtering processes, operators are distanced

from unnecessary complexities and given the ability to painlessly leverage technological

developments.

Self-care portal: The Solution provides a user self-care portal, based on unique multi-tenant

technology, such that a user can customize permitted or restricted categories for their own parental

control policy. By using the self-care portal, parents can easily set rules, adjust them, if needed, and

receive usage reports.

This end-user portal can be customized with the operator’s look and feel and/or be integrated with

any operator’s end-user portal.

Online unblocking service: The solution provides an online revision and unblocking system. If

users do not agree with the categorization of a specific website, they can request that Optenet

review the content of the website and consider re-categorization. The process involves less than

fifteen minutes. Optenet notifies the user by email of its decision.



Functional Architectural

The components of the Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution are described in the following sections.

Figure 1: Parental Control Solution Architecture

Allot Service Gateway

The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution is based on the Allot Service Gateway layer-7 steering

mechanism which facilitates surgical redirection of relevant traffic, which has been pre-classified to a

certain policy, based upon subscriber identity (not only an IP address). Relevant web traffic, that has

been specifically pre-selected as requiring parental control as part of the traffic policy, is steered to the

Optenet MIDAS™ web filter.

All traffic, related to parental control service users, is filtered according to browsing behavior and video

streaming in the following fashion:

The Service Gateway automatically identifies traffic that belongs to a user who has subscribed to

parental controls (based on the identification of the subscriber’s service plan).

The Service Gateway steers only the subscriber’s web traffic to the Optenet MIDAS web filter. The

rest of the traffic is forwarded to the Internet.

The subscriber’s web traffic is analyzed by the Optenet MIDAS web filter which decides whether to

block access to the requested content or to forward the traffic to the Service Gateway and then to

the internet.

Optenet MIDAS™

Optenet MIDAS™ (Multicontent Inspection and Dynamic Analysis System) is an intelligent data analysis

system that enables Optenet to classify multilingual and multi-format web content. Optenet MIDAS™

adds traces to numerous types of data (text, images, videos, etc.) present in web pages and e-mails,

and uses machine learning techniques to build multidimensional models that make it possible to classify

target content.

The Optenet MIDAS™ system is made up of three main parts, each responsible for one facet of the

process. This division of tasks makes it possible to conduct an intelligent analysis in real time without

increasing latency, thus leaving the output of the main system unaffected.



Analysis of multilingual and multi-format content. The Content Analysis Engine performs

statistical compilation of traces from the raw content.

Multi-content inspection. The Multi-Content Learner performs an inspection process which

involves the automatic creation of models that condense information relevant to the traces and the

relationship between them.

Automatic content classification. The Automatic Content Classifier makes use of the generated

models and the analysis results from new content to classify it in an effective and efficient manner.

Optenet MIDAS™ makes it possible to understand the structure of Internet content at a very deep level,

with unrivalled efficiency. The result is a content filtering systems that conducts real-time analysis in

order to respond to the challenges that the dynamic character of Web 2.0 creates for security system

administrators.

In short, children can access a truly “clean pipe” which transparently protects them from cyber-criminals

and inappropriate content. Furthermore, web threats such as spyware, Trojans, viruses, worms, and

phishing are fully handled without the need of additional software or impacting quality of experience.

Optenet GIANT™

Optenet GIANT™ (Global Intelligence Acquisition Network for Threats) continually receives inputs from

internet sources, including honey pots, probes, spider networks, crawlers, link topology analysis, etc.

and thus provides real-time, on-line content analysis and threat detection.

Monitoring and Provisioning Mechanisms

The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution allows subscribers to remotely configure their children’s

profiles through a user-friendly web-based GUI. It provides access to particular websites based on the

following parameters:

Time of day: e.g. access is allowed from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Access will be blocked at other

times.

Number of hours per day: e.g. maximum number of permitted hours per day is 4.

Permitted applications: e.g., Instant Messaging and P2P applications are not allowed.

Blocking website categories: e.g., adult entertainment, extreme violence, gambling, racism, etc.

are blocked.

Blocking specific URLs: e.g., access to www.illegal.com is blocked.

URL whitelist: access to specific sites only is allowed. Access to all other sites is blocked.

Allow access to specified websites: e.g., access only to www.disney .com.

In addition, The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution has a twofold reporting mechanism. It alerts the

child when access is not permitted, and that a particular service is suspended or restricted. The child is

always a part of the solution and is thus encouraged to take responsibility for usage. Allot’s Solution also

delivers text-based notices (SMS messages) to parents about commencement of service restrictions

due to attempted violations. This permits parents to deal with such issues in an edifying and didactic

manner.

http://www.illegal.com/



Operators can also provide extensive non-real-time reporting on usage of a child’s account via a

comprehensive monitoring tool. Parent can view details dealing with attempts to access restricted sites,

applications, etc.

Benefits

New revenue streams through the Parental Controls service offering.

Improved public image and increased customer loyalty, reducing subscriber churn.

Compliance with growing regulations requiring operators to provide network-based parental controls

services.

.

End-to-end filtering and security services combined with per-subscriber QoS.

Seamless implementation requiring no software or equipment in customers’ premises.

Centralized network-based solutions. Reduces maintenance costs enabling a pay-as-you-grow

model according to the number of subscribers.

Reduced service deployment and operating costs by improved VAS performance through layer-7

steering capabilities.

Summary

It is quite common today for fourth or fifth grade children to have mobile phones. These children are

incapable of understanding the implications of these devices. Parental restraints provided within the

scope of The Allot-Optenet Parental Control Solution enables parents to decide on the nature and limits

of content and applications that can be used and viewed by their children based upon time of day,

permitted/restricted applications, permitted/restricted website categories, etc. Allot delivers effective

content filtering based upon age groups, nature of content, and usage controls.

About Allot

Allot Communications Ltd. provides intelligent IP service optimization and revenue generation

solutions for fixed and mobile broadband operators and large enterprises. Allot’s rich portfolio of

solutions leverages Dynamic Actionable Recognition Technology to transform broadband pipes into

smart networks that can rapidly and efficiently deploy value-added Internet services. Allot’s scalable,

carrier-grade solutions provide the visibility, topology awareness, security, application control and

subscriber management that are vital to managing Internet service delivery, enhancing user experience,

containing operating costs, and maximizing revenue in broadband networks.

About Optenet

Optenet is a global IT security company and provider of high-performance content filtering solutions.

Optenet’s technology protects more than 120 million end users around the globe, including customers of

many of the world’s leading ISPs and mobile operators, as well as employees of global enterprise



organizations. With over a decade of security expertise, Optenet leads the industry with the most

advanced technology for dynamic content protection providing the highest rate of accuracy with

unparalleled protection against Web 2.0 threats. As a socially conscious organization, Optenet is

committed to eliminating illegal content on the Internet, protecting children, and supporting government

agencies and non-profit organizations that share the same goal.

www.allot.com [email protected]

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