You don’t need me to tell you that the Internet is a really important part of our lives today.
The numbers say it all. On average, we’re currently spending 28 hours per week on the Internet; and people whose jobs are entirely digital rack up even more time.
And no wonder—the web enables so much. Communication is instant. Research is sped up. Ideas are sparked. The positives are many, and the opportunities are nearly endless.
But it can also be a dangerous place. Roughly 1% of all websites, or 18.5 million, are known to carry malware that can infect your device upon visiting. And there’s the added threat of radical, criminal, and adult websites to contend with; spreading dangerous messages that could harm visitors of any age.
Even before the lockdown, all kinds of organisations relied heavily on their connectivity to function; which is why so many are acquiring or switching entirely to mobile alternatives, now that fixed-lines are facing installation delays or are inaccessible. But mobile connectivity is a tool; and like any tool, it’s got to be used responsibly. Companies need to fulfill their corporate responsibility to their employees, investors, and customers—and to do that, they need to make sure their connectivity isn’t being used to access harmful web content. Failure to do so can lead to disciplinaries and disruptions for some businesses, to full-on legal inquiries for others.
For those that can’t afford to take that risk, content filtering is a godsend. Companies can use it to make sure they provide a safe browsing experience, protecting their users—whether they’re employees, customers, students, or otherwise—from websites with dangerous material or possible malware.
Here are our top examples of how mobile content filtering can keep organisations safe at a time when connectivity and digital integrity matter most.
Meeting legal requirements as a government
The first use that comes to mind is keeping devices and users safe in organisations where Internet compliance is legally required. And there are many where that’s the case.
Take government facilities, for example. Because of their official nature, they’re held to incredibly high standards when it comes to Internet compliance and web safety. So whether it’s an office, a community centre, or a homeworker’s home Mi-Fi, the consequences of unregulated browsing are steep. If their connectivity is abused and used to browse radical or criminal content, they’ll have to reorganise their employees, face investigations, and have their integrity as a branch questioned.
That’s why content filtering is a must for government bodies—it protects them from dangerous, costly situations and keeps their most sensitive data safe. They can use it to meet their mandatory requirements with ease, and apply it wherever it’s necessary to protect their own employees if it’s an office, or any civilian users they might have in a public space where the connectivity is their responsibility.
Keeping students safe and focused
Schools are another organisation who need content filtering in order to run. The line between online and offline is more blurred than ever, and while this opens up plenty of brilliant opportunities for kids, it also comes with its own risks and challenges. Students today are growing up while having to navigate a very complicated digital world, and so parents look to schools for assurance that their kids are being kept safe as they learn to do so.
Online safety is a big part of the safeguarding commitment that schools make, and content filtering makes it possible to uphold that standard. Administrators can use it to ensure no student is exposed to radical or adult content while using the school’s mobile network to browse, accidentally or otherwise.
In addition, teachers can customise their content filter so that students are unable to abuse their mobile connectivity by binging on social media or playing online games at lunch and after school; reducing data costs and keeping kids focused on their studies.
All of this is especially relevant, considering the current need for strong remote connectivity in education. Students still need to be safeguarded while using school mobile devices at home; and content filtering makes that a simple task.
Reducing costs and protecting devices for businesses
Both SMEs and enterprises are finding themselves in positions where they need a mobile workforce; whether this is for solution-specific purposes, like keeping a fleet of vehicles connected for telematics and booking software, or simply keeping employees connected as they travel to remote locations or work from home.
Content filtering allows network administrators to ensure that company employees stay on task by monitoring their data usage on mobile devices, and automatically blocking irrelevant sites that reduce productivity and drain bandwidth—meaning they can make sure their employees don’t waste data or company time.
It also keeps company devices safe by blocking websites that force malware onto a user’s device; so employees are protected from phishing scams, malware, and the like.
And the best part is, with the right content filtering solution, businesses can cover their whole network; so there’s no need to budget for licenses on a per-device basis, which means businesses can enjoy significantly reduced costs.
Addressing the need for safe connectivity
We built Pangea Protect, our new mobile content filtering solution to address the growing need for safe, secure connectivity. It offers all the best qualities of top-notch content filtering that are usually reserved for fixed-line solutions: a proactive, intelligent AI that analyses content across the web and blacklists threats, real-time reporting and stats on how your connectivity is being used (including when websites are blocked), and totally customisable filtering options so you can be as specific or general as you need.
Working at a mobile network level, it goes a step beyond expensive mobile device management—taking the SIM out of one device and putting it into another doesn’t circumvent the filter’s security measures, so you won’t need to spend on licenses per-device.
Adding value effortlessly for our telecoms partners
Last but not least, Pangea Protect works as a seamless add-on to all the services that we already offer. For our telecoms partners, this means extra value, differentiation, and an easy boost to your revenue—you can offer the content filter to your current customers who would benefit from the protection, or use it to open conversations with companies who have to meet mandatory web-safety requirements.
Take 4G mobile backup, for example. If a school’s broadband goes down, it may have a backup line in place to carry it through the outage; but is that line compliant? If not, they could end up facing serious repercussions—easily avoided with content-filtered 4G mobile backup.
Or if an organisation with sensitive data to protect, like a government body or hospital, needed to set up a temporary pop-up facility and couldn’t afford to wait for a fixed-line installation; Instanet coupled with the content filter would be the answer to both their rapid deployment and web safety needs.
Get in touch
I’m really excited that we’re able to provide a solution that brings peace of mind to so many businesses, especially now when connectivity, digital integrity, and web safety are more important than ever.
If you’re looking for a way to ensure your connectivity is used as you intended, or you know someone who’d benefit from mobile content filtering, give us a call! We’ll take you through how the tech works and get you set up in no time.
Contact us
Comments are closed.