Monitoring internet use at work

Leg-end_2

What is the best product for monitoring internet use? We have a few PC's at work and we want to monitor what sites are visited, how long for and how often.

We do not want to be too big brother but we would prefer is certain sites were not used. Trust is a marvellous thing but if we have a programme or software that records use we hope it will stop the 'wrong type' of sites being visited. We would of course implement this with a usage policy.

Jaffa.

You could use K9 web protection however it's free for home use only so you will have to purchase it as you are a business.

thomas01155

Your could try filtering instead http://www.opendns.com/

macman

You could be really sneaky and announce a usage policy without filtering or monitoring initially, just rely on the deterrent effect.
However it could be hard to judge in any scientific way if that was reducing abuse or not.

kevsan

I use Opendns at work as well - you can block 'certain types' of site, eg !!!!!! / file sharing etc or add specific domains to be blocked. it gives you stats as to which domains etc have been visited. - obviously this is for the whole organisation rather than an individual, but it would give you an overview to determine whether you needed to go further.

[Deleted User]

They use surfcontrol here in work. No way of getting around it ever.

MX5huggy

Another vote for SurfControl its a while since I used it but it was good. If I was looking to today I would try http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/?L=en_emea as there spam filter is excellent they do a 30 day evaluation which might be enough to see if you have a problem!

Jaffa.

So what do the DNS settings in the router actually do? Am I right in thinking this will only work properly on static IP's?

isofa

Setup your own proxy server...

Jaffa.

So all your information would first go through OpenDNS' server... Mmm

Leg-end_2

I am looking for a solution that tells me which PC is visiting which sites. A product that is suitable for a small business with 5-10 PCs. I do not think that personal/home products will do. Can anyone recommend products they have used?

I do not believe that internet abuse is that high, but it would be nice to know on quieter days in the office that not too much time is wasted on twitbook, myface, and gthatshotmail etc. I expect to see some personal use in their own time but not several hours per day.