Tracking visited websites through my router?

[kiro_swan]

My kids use the internet while I am at work and every time I come home the history tab is emptied which makes me suspicious. I am curios if there are any programs out there that can check what my kids are doing while I'm gone. Also I don't want to hear a bunch of 'Why not just turn off the Internet while your gone?' or something. Obviously that isn't my questions so saying something like that isn't really answering anything. I also checked the router and there isn't a log system anywhere on it already.

[Kirk]

To my knowledge there's not a way to do it through your router, however, if you're worried about ways to block against certain websites there are a number of internet security programs (Norton, McAfee) that will block against a number of website categories (pornography, gambling, dangerous) as well as having the ability to block websites with certain words that you might not want them to visit.

You can also install a free program from xxxchurch.com (a Christian anti-pornography website) that will email you (whoever you set as your 'accountability partner') when porn is viewed.

Have you tried talking to your kid(s)?

If so, have a guy do it. It's really not something that will help, at least in the long run, to have a female talk to you about.

I urge you to make sure that they do have a conversation with someone about it because it's really not something that blocking bad websites will stop. There are ways to find that stuff anywhere- magazines, in school. There are also a number of ways that you can get around a website blocker- such as using google images to search for inappropriate things.

[Steve B]

They may just want to avoid you finding out that they are wasting time on Twitter, MySpace or some other site you have complained about in the past ..

It's also possible that they have set their Browser to auto-delete History anyway (especially since the BIGGEST threat to a kids privacy is their own brother / sister ....)

You could setup your own Proxy Server (or install software like Net Nanny) ... however this implies 'Guilty without trial' .... (as well as being more illogical actions of grown-ups)


I think that perhaps what you want to do is 'suggest' to your kids that the capability of monitoring their access exists .. and thus modify their behavior (if it needs modifying) ..

How good are you at deception ???

Make sure the kids are nearby and then start a conversation with your wife that goes along the lines of "Do you think our internet connection is secure ? Only the Internet company rang me up at work today and said they were conducting a security audit and noticed some odd activity on our connection .. something about "inappropriate use" ???" ...

You can then wander off into a discussion about WiFi Security (WAP, WPA, hacking etc) and how the neighbors might be able to 'tap into' the Router .... and end up saying something like "I'll phone them back and ask them to monitor what's happening " ...

A while later you can follow up with "The internet company said that they were recording all web site visits due to some new Government Directive anyway ..... but they want to charge me £10 for sending a daily log .. I don't think it's worth it, do you ? we can just change the WiFi passwords ever so often and that should stop any unauthorised access ..." ...

If you still have concerns you can move onto "OK, that's it, the Internet company rang me again about "inappropriate use" .. . I'm going to install monitoring software and find out who's hacking our connection ..." .. and that allows you to start changing all sorts of security settings that might have side effects (such as preventing the kids accounts ability to delete history)


All of the above assumes you want to avoid getting into "I didn't do anything wrong" and "it wasn't me it was my brother /sister" conflicts ... and also want to teach them the lesson "To avoid getting caught, stop doing it as soon as some-one starts investigating"...

[Anelly]

The first application is All-Spy Keylogger http://www.all-spy.com that can record all websites, chat conversation, downloaded application etc in complete stealth mode. The recorded information is organized in reports and sent to a specific e-mail address.
The second application is Application Blocker http://www.applicationblocker.com that can block websites, applications etc (it's more a parental control software).
Good luck.