$Date: 2003/07/15 10:06:56 $
(c) Copyright 2003 John Leach <john at johnleach dot co dot uk >
I designed and developed the MinervaNET system for ECSC Ltd. The MinervaNET project is a system to prevent pupils in primary schools from accessing inappropriate web content. It does this by using a white list, rather than a conventional black list filtering system. The white list is manually maintained by school teachers and MinervaNET staff.
A Linux server with the Squid web proxy is installed at each school, within a cache hierarchy. The parent cache enforces the white list using an external ACL, which is maintained via a PHP and PostgreSQL web interface.
Teachers log into the system and suggest sites, specifying target age group, curriculum subject area and a description. This site is then vetted by a 2nd party and added to the list. The site list is browsable in a Yahoo-style category layout.
HtDig is used to index and search the sites (access to most search engines, such as Google with it's built in cache feature, is denied for obvious reasons).
Plans to extend the system included automatic policing of the white-list, looking for suspicious keywords (by statistical analysis), use of images and search engine ranking, plus matching against a known black.
$Date: 2003/07/15 10:06:56 $
(c) Copyright 2003 John Leach <john at johnleach dot co dot uk >