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Entered CNET Catalog: 07/04/2001
SKU: CYB2K
Manufacturer: Solid Oak Software, Inc.
Manufacturer description
CYBERsitter 2000 is a winner of PC Magazine Editors' Choice award for 2000! More and more parents, educators, and others concerned with what material children have access to on the Internet are turning to CYBERsitter for Internet content management. CYBERsitter is by far the most technologically advanced filtering product on the market today. CYBERsitter gives parents the ability to limit their children's access to objectionable material on the Internet. Parents can choose to block, block and log, or simply alert them when access is attempted to these areas. CYBERsitter includes databases in numerous categories of web sites you might want to restrict access to. Working secretly in the background, CYBERsitter analyzes all Internet activity. Whenever it detects activity the parent has elected to restrict, it takes over and blocks the activity before it takes place. If desired, CYBERsitter will maintain a complete history of all Internet activity, including attempts to access blocked material. Password protected, CYBERsitter is easy to deactivate or reconfigure by the parent, and virtually impossible for the unauthorized users to detect or defeat. Because the Internet changes almost daily, it is important to keep all your Internet software up to date, especially CYBERsitter. As new Internet programs become available it is necessary to make modifications or improvements in CYBERsitter to keep up with this fast moving market.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/11/2001
Service for one
CyberSitter's greatest fault is its one-filter-fits-all philosophy. There's no way to customize different settings for different users; you must either play by the same rules as your kids or set up windows profiles for each person who uses the computer, then go into Cybersitter's advanced security settings and tell it which profiles to exclude from filtering. This process is much easier in both Net Nanny and Cyber Patrol.
On the bright side, CyberSitter offers superior filters. You can opt to filter up to 25 types of sites, including those devoted to wrestling (if you object to violence) and Pokémon (if you object to nonsense). (CyberSitter automatically blocks five default categories: sex, drugs, violence, hate, and illegal gun sites.) If someone hits a forbidden link, the program either issues warnings and stops you cold or redirects the browser to CyberSitter's family-friendly search engine. And although you can specify certain URLs you don't want the program to block, you can't view the list of restricted sites. The program's newsgroup and chat filters are an all-or-nothing proposition, too; you can't block some and allow others.
Snoop Loggy Log
You can set CyberSitter to record your kids' Web activity in a log and to e-mail you daily reports. However, these dense, single-spaced logs record every URL your browser touches, including banner ads, so you'll have to pore over them to glean anything useful. And, unlike Net Nanny, the program offers no way to log activity with filtering turned off, so you can't give your kids free rein, then check up on them later.
However, just in case Junior has already been hoarding porn on your hard drive, the program's System Snooper can scan your hard disk for objectionable content and let you delete what it finds. Keep in mind, the Snooper's definition of objectionable is broad. Among the files it identified on our disk were pages from a nursery rhyme site, stories from News.com about wireless handhelds, and the Disneyland Ride Lyric Database. (The word devils appears in "Yo Ho, a Pirate's Life for Me.")
The program also ships with a list of forbidden words and phrases, although we were often baffled by its oversights. For example, CyberSitter bleeped the F word from outgoing or incoming e-mail but failed to censor other naughty words in e-mail or chat conversations. It was, however, the only program that managed to lock us out of all the unsavory chat rooms and newsgroups we tested.
Half empty or half full?
For spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child parents, CyberSitter offers the strictest parental Web controls. It's especially attractive if you have younger children, but you and your teens may chafe under its restrictions.
CyberSitter's greatest strength is the scope and breadth of its site filtering. None of the programs we tested performed particularly well on our blocking tests. But using its default settings, CyberSitter blocked nearly 50 percent of the objectionable sites we picked out--far more than either Net Nanny or Cyber Patrol. CyberSitter did miss an FTP porn site and some sites that contain hate speech, and it blocked possibly inoffensive sites: Gay.com (a lifestyle portal), Peacefire.com (a site highly critical of filtering tools), and Iwannaknow.org (sex education for teens). Worse, in our tests, CyberSitter took forever to block certain sites, even on a fast DSL. 
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3
User Rating: 
2/10
RUN, don't walk away from this software!!!
Pros: Good filtering options
Cons: Expect stress... This software has destabilized all of my browsers and even my programs. I can't even look at pictures I took at a recent Christmas party without it crashing (and I have it set VERY loose!)
User Rating: 2/10
Not recommended and almost impossible to get rid of
Pros: able to block categories of programs
Cons: doesn't work as advertised
I've contacted support twice now and they still tell me to run the same uninstall program I've been running, yet the icon still sits in the system tray and limits computer access.
User Rating: 2/10
A major annoyance on my XP computer, causes frequent IE shutdowns & prevents access.
Pros: It does filter and prevent access to adult-only sites.
Cons: It also prevents access to many OK sites & emails, and causes frequent abrupt shutdowns of IE, even when "inactive". Can not get any customer support or refund.
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CyberSitter 2001 specifications
- General
- Category Networking applications
- Subcategory Network - remote access / login control
- Language(s) English
- License pricing Standard
- Localization English
- Software
- License Type License
- License Qty 1 user
- License Pricing Standard
- Platform Windows
- Package Type Retail
- System Requirements
- OS Required Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 , Microsoft Windows 95 , Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition , Microsoft Windows 2000 , Microsoft Windows 98
