Web filtering for home: the ultimate guide to protecting your family from digital threats

FlashStart® protects your home from an ever increasing number of cyber threats.

The Covid19 pandemic has led to a sudden rise in the use of Internet from home. This post explains how home web filtering helps you navigate safely and how FlashStart® protects your home from an ever increasing number of cyber threats and blocks potential cyber attacks.

1. FlashStart® online family protection: the new requirement for a constantly connected life

When we think of home intrusions, we usually picture physical break-ins. Today, however, there is another dangerous point of entry to our houses we must consider: the home Internet network, a point where all the devices that need an Internet connection to be functional become the potential target of cyber attacks.

Indeed, like never before, we are now constantly connected to the Internet and the Covid19 pandemic has taken our internet use to a completely new level. While once we used to turn off our laptops and leave them in the office, now they are inside our houses, constantly turned on, sending, receiving and sharing information.

Home networks, however, are not as safe as the ones inside companies or schools, where malicious content is blocked thanks to advanced threat protection softwares. As such, they have become a preferred target of cyber criminals, who want to exploit the vulnerabilities of home users.

FlashStart® is the online family protection software that prevents you from being the target of costly cyber attacks. Start your free trial now and verify how many threats FlashStart® can automatically block on a daily basis.


>> FlashStart is leader in competitiveness ? Request prices


1.1 The FlashStart® home internet filter

FlashStart® offers a service of content filtering for home that is fully cloud-based. This means that you will be able to enjoy a safer navigation with no need to purchase additional hardware or install softwares that require numerous and lengthy updates. Request a quote now to understand how you can protect your network with this cheap but reliable home web filtering tool.

1.2 How does the FlashStart® home web filter work?

The FlashStart® home web filter acts like an Internet checkpoint: every time the user wants to access a website, the checkpoint sends a message to the FlashStart® cloud, which is a repository of deny lists. Deny lists are lists that contain the details of the websites that need to be blocked. FlashStart®’s deny lists are updated daily thanks to a continuous scanning of the web for new threats. Click here for more details on FlashStart®’s cloud-based filter.

If the website that the user wants to access is included in one of these lists, the system will deny the access and a message will appear on the screen. Otherwise, the user will be redirected to the requested website. FlashStart® guarantees almost zero latency, so the user will not even notice that a check is going on. Start your free trial now and find out how easy it is to navigate safely.

1.3 FlashStart®: the home web filtering tool you can customize

FlashStart® has a wide range of deny lists organized in macro-categories. Some categories, like Malware&Threats, are automatically blocked by the software to ensure that a basic layer of protection against worms, trojans, cryptowalls and phishing attempts is always guaranteed.

Other categories, like adult contents, ads and distracting contents, are pre-set as blockable but it is up to the user to decide whether to block them or not. In this is way, the FlashStart® home Internet filter can be set up by the users so as to satisfy all their needs and desires. You can request a quote now and start customizing your family internet filter with a few and easy steps.

Do you have any questions or doubts? Our support service is available 24/7 and we can answer your questions in Italian, English and Spanish.


>> FlashStart protects you from a wide range of threats and prevents access to malicious websites ? Start your  free trial now


2. FlashStart® content filtering for home

Home Internet providers and MSPs usually provide some basic “family settings”. These, however, are generally limited to pornography and illegal terrorist sites. There might be also an option for drugs and alcohol, but it may end up preventing you from checking the menu of a restaurant. So you will eventually turn it off.

The FlashStart® family Internet filter is the ideal solution for today’s constantly connected families, where children are busy with online learning and parents with telework. It is the solution of web filtering for home that will give you peace of mind: your network in general will be protected from cyber attacks and you will be able to exercise the parental control you deem suitable over your children. Start your free trial now!

2.1 Home dns filter for telecommuting

In March 2020 the CISA sent out an alert on the cyber vulnerabilities of working from home versus the office. CISA is the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the cyber agency of the American Department of Homeland Security. According to it, the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic resulted also in a new wave of cyberattacks against employees working from home.

CISA highlighted especially the problems linked to the use of VPNs – Virtual Private Networks – which enable employees to secure a connection to their organization’s network and access the files remotely. (Source: https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/487542-hackers-find-new-target-as-americans-work-from-home-during-outbreak)

While the use of VPNs makes it possible to continue working without going to the office, these networks represent a way-in for hackers. A well-prepared phishing attempt is all they need to make users click on a link that will lead to the automatic download of a malicious software. Once this software is installed on the employee’s pc, the hacker will be able to access his company through the VPN and collect precious information in order to ask for ransom.

The FlashStart® home dns filter blocks phishing attempts, thus drastically reducing the chances that employees working remotely may become the entry point for a cyber attack against the company. Convincing employees of the importance of a web filtering for home is particularly important when telework is something new for the workforce and workers are not yet able to recognise an Internet threat. If you have any questions about the benefits of the FlashStart® home dns filter contact us!

2.2 Family shield dns for parental control

The Covid19 pandemic has dramatically increased also the amount of time spent by children in front of their computers. Classes have moved from actual walls to online rooms where kids log-in and the exchange of materials happens through educational platforms. Kids are often unaware of the risks linked to the Internet. This is why it is essential to have a family shield dns system. For more information about the risks connected to online learning you can click here.

FlashStart® not only allows parents to feel safe because of the home web filter, it also permits them to exercise wider parental control and prevent children from being exposed to undesired contents. The family internet filter can be the same for all the devices connected to the home network but it can also be more stringent for specific profiles.

So if you feel your children are spending too much time on social media, you can block them outright or establish specific times during the day when the kids can access them. Request a quote now and enjoy the peace of mind granted by this solution of content filtering for home.

2.3 Covid-related threats

The pandemic has itself represented a favoured topic for cyber criminals and concerns about Covid19 have become as contagious as the virus. The number of articles available on the topic is countless and so is the number of users looking for information about the development of the health crisis.

As a result, cyber attackers have exploited this topic to their advantage. For example, an attack targeting Italy consisted of an email sent by an alleged Doctor Marchetti working for the World Health Organization. The email had as an attachment a file that supposedly contained information and counter measures for the disease, while it was actually a malicious document. (Read here the article )

A family shield dns can protect all family members and connected devices from such threats and FlashStart® developed a deny list specifically targeting the threats linked to the Coronavirus pandemic. Start your free trial now!


>> Has your organization been hit by a ransomware attack? ? Read our article and find out what your options are


3. Best practices: a short guide to reduce the risks of a connected life

Knowing the threats you face is always the best starting point in order to prepare against them. Since we are all the possible targets of cyberattacks, here are some steps we can take to lower the chances of losing our data or being asked for ransomware:

»  Train employees, students and family members on the risks connected to the use of the Internet and on how to recognise threats and avoid them.
»  Scope the VPN access to what is strictly necessary for the user, make multi-factor authentication mandatory and instruct employees to avoid downloading or saving files on their personal laptops or clouds.
»  Implement protective technologies, including an anti-virus / anti-malware software and a system of web filtering for home.

Decrease the chances of being the next target of a cyber attack: request a quote, configure the online family protection as you need it and start using the FlashStart® home Internet filter straight away!


You can activate the FlashStart® Cloud protection on all Routers and Firewalls to grant the safety of your desktop and mobile devices and of your IoT devices on local networks

Reading time 3 min
Laura BartoliniHead of marketing
As chief marketing executive, my mission is to create impactful activities and campaigns that resonate with our audience, stimulating engagement and promoting brand loyalty.

View all posts by Laura Bartolini

As chief marketing executive, my mission is to create impactful activities and campaigns that resonate with our audience, stimulating engagement and promoting brand loyalty.
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