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April 14 2006

Vodafone Deploys Solution to Protect Minors from Pornography and Prevent Illegal Internet Content on Mobile Phones; Prevents Malware and Enables Premium Content

Blue Coat(R) Systems has announced its SG series and AV series appliances can be deployed by mobile operators to prevent minors from receiving pornography on Internet-enabled mobile phones. The solution, deployed within the mobile operator's network, also enables protection against viruses, spyware and other malware created for the mobile handset; protects against illegal child pornography; enables premium content services; and accelerates content.

Blue Coat is the content filtering provider for Vodafone worldwide, protecting children and those with policy requests from accessing inappropriate content and services. Vodafone live! provides access to a range of information and entertainment content from world-leading brands. The content standards of this service are based on Blue Coat's appliances and Blue Coat WebFilter to provide a "safety first" service. This service is being rolled out to all of Vodafone's 17 operating companies worldwide.

Mobile operators can combine Blue Coat appliances with its popular onboard WebFilter database for accuracy, speed and comprehensive filtering of Internet content. WebFilter incorporates Dynamic Real Time Rating (DRTR(TM)) technology that can categorize "on the fly" new Websites as they are being requested and then block or allow them accordingly. Operators can block access to adult content until they can confirm that the user is over the legal age.
 

Content filtering at the individual subscriber level is ultimately what every mobile operator wants to achieve. The Blue Coat platform is unique in that it understands the concept of an individual subscriber by simultaneously correlating information from the operator's subscriber database, RADIUS attributes and customer details contained in the Mobile Subscriber ISDN (MSISDN). Once the MSISDN is associated with a user, policy can be applied to the session in accordance with factors, such as whether the customer is a minor, an adult or a corporate user. The service also employs the Internet Watch Foundation child pornography list to keep all customers from accessing illegal content.

"As full Internet access becomes available on mobile telephones, operators have a mandate to protect minors from pornography and harmful content-and all users from illegal child pornography," said Craig Hick-Fraser, vice president, service providers, for Blue Coat Systems. "Mobile operators also need a solution in place to defend against future viruses and malware that will specifically target the mobile handset. Blue Coat is now fully proven as a solution for mobile operators to meet today's challenges of content filtering, content acceleration, security protection and the ability to create future services."