Excuses fly over Which? report

Report says that most 'safe surfing' software sill leaves kids exposed to porn and racism

A survey by Computing Which? has shown that most of the software used by parents to control their offspring's online habits is ineffective and difficult to use. 

Manufacturers were left red faced after their code let though pornographic and racist internet sites, and a web page hosting hacking codes.

Of the six packages tested MSN Premium and Norton Internet Security 2005 fared the worst, and the parental locks built into Apple's Tiger operating system performed the best.

A spokesman for Symantec, which produces the Norton package, explained that its product was not a dedicated parental control tool in itself, but rather a suite of products, and as such could not be expected to perform as well as dedicated applications.

Other manufacturers were quick to defend their products. "MSN's focus is on helping to keep kids safer online, not replacing parents," said Microsoft in a statement.

"We believe that parents and children can work together to create a situation that works for their family.

"The range of tools offered in MSN Premium offer protection and flexibility in order for parents to work with their children to create a customised and safer internet experience."

Further up the chart was McAfee's Internet Security Suite which performed better but still only scored 51 per cent in tests.

"In theory it is possible for any user to uninstall parts of McAfee Internet Security Suite when logged in to Windows as administrator. This is because the ability to remove products is based on the user's Windows log-on, not the McAfee log-on," said a spokesman.

"McAfee is always working with Microsoft to improve the way our products work together. We currently suggest that users set up a Windows account for children to use which does not have these permissions."

The report from the magazine recommends safety tips such as keeping the home computer in a shared space where it can be seen by everyone, and encouraging children to talk to their parents about websites they find upsetting.

"Software can help make the internet a safer environment for children but there's no substitute for parental involvement," said Sarah Kidner, acting editor of Computing Which?

"Parents need to take an active role in monitoring what their children are looking at online so that they do not inadvertently put them at risk."