Learn more about the SmartFilter Control List:

Consistently ranked most accurate list
Independent studies have consistently named Secure Computing as having the most accurate database with top rankings in various reports.

Why is list quality so important?
A filtering list of lesser quality may still block plenty of sites, but it will also either let more inappropriate content through, block appropriate content, or both. The result of using a less-effective filtering product is more requests for help from users, and worse, more access allowed to offensive and possibly dangerous content.

How the best database in the industry is built and maintained
Secure Computing relies on a combination of advanced technology and highly skilled Web analysts - the ideal combination for high accuracy and coverage. Secure Computing utilizes a number of technologies and artificial intelligence techniques to gather and rate potential Web sites including: link crawlers, security forensics, honeypot networks, sophisticated auto-rating tools and customer logs. Candidate sites are added to the Control List after being reviewed by our multi-lingual Web Analysts who focus their full attention on ensuring the continued quality of the list.

Web Analysts bring a wealth of experience
Our Web analyst team brings a wealth of technical expertise and cultural diversity that's unmatched in the industry. Our Control List contains URLs from 66 different countries where unique languages are spoken. Large numbers of URLs are in Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

Outstanding customer service
Have a question on how a site is categorized? Customers can either use the online URL checker - SmartFilterWhere - to determine how a site is categorized or communicate directly with the Web Analyst team. Customers receive detailed reports on how URLs in question are categorized.

Real-time updates
Updates to the SmartFilter Control List are now available in real-time, helping you keep up with the changing nature of Internet content and stay ahead of emerging Web threats.

Helps comply with CIPA requirements
Our customers use SmartFilter®, Bess® edition to achieve their CIPA-compliance goals. You can, too. SmartFilter, Bess edition effectively blocks obscenity and material that's harmful to minors, and therefore is an excellent solution to help organizations comply with U.S. CIPA guidelines. CIPA and the FCC have left it up to schools and libraries to "map" CIPA requirements to the categories of filtering vendors. Secure Computing® recommends that each school and library understand all categories available and apply a policy that best suits their school or community needs. Many of Secure Computing's customers create successful policies that rely on categories such as: Nudity, Pornography, Sexual Materials, and Extreme.

Bess also offers an Exempt feature that many schools and libraries find useful when building policy for students of differing ages and needs. This feature lets users view sites that fit into a particular Exempted category, regardless of other categories they may be in that are set to Block. For example, you may want to block nudity but allow it when it is related to health or education. Click here for more information on CIPA.

Control List categories and definitions:

Alcohol (al)
This category includes URLs that sell, promote, or advocate the use of alcoholic beverages, including beer, wine, and hard liquors.

Anonymizers (an)
This category includes URLs that enable anonymous Web browsing through an intermediary to prevent unauthorized parties from gathering personal information, but also allow users access to any Web page and bypass blocking software. Pages that provide free proxy IP addresses are also included in this category.

Anonymizing Utilities (au)
This category includes Web page language translators and Web-page-caching utilities that could be used as anonymizers, without the express purpose of bypassing filtering software.

Art/Culture/Heritage (ac)
Web sites in this category contain virtual art galleries, artist sites (including sculpture and photography), and other cultural topics, such as museums, ethnic customs and country customs.

Auction (eb)
This category includes URLs that offer access to online auctions. Online auctions are rarely monitored; therefore these sites may expose users to material that would otherwise be filtered under categories such as Pornography, Weapons, Nudity, or Violence.

Business (bu)
This category includes URLs that provide information, services, or products that help other businesses plan, manage, and market their enterprises. Also included are pyramid schemes and multilevel marketing ventures. This category may also be used as an exception to allow access to sites that have a business focus, but may belong to other categories such as Shopping/Merchandizing, Auction, Travel, etc.

Chat (ch)
This category includes sites that provide social posting and receiving of real-time messages. This includes public or private chat rooms and chat software downloads such as IRC that allow twoway messaging.

Computing/Internet (ci)
This category includes URLs that provide businesses and individuals with reviews, information, and buyer's guides for computers, and computer parts and accessories, and software, Web Hosting sites, Domain Names for Sale sites/Registrars, computer and Internet periodicals and information, tutorials, clipart, fonts, and animated gif pages.

Consumer Information (cm)
This category includes URLs that provide information that enhances consumer awareness about such topics as comparing products and businesses, regional information, transportation schedules, maps, driving directions, weather, and the availability of government services such as fire and police departments.

Criminal Skills (cs)
This category includes URLs that either provide instructions for or identify methods to promote, encourage, or provide the skills to commit illegal or criminal activities. These include bomb-making, phreaking (breaching phone security or phone service theft), consumer scams and fraud, terrorism, evading law enforcement, stalking, lock picking, passing urine tests and selling pirated material, commercial software, music, videos, or fake IDs.

Dating/Social (mm)
This category includes URLs that focus on social interaction; including online dating, friendship, school reunions, pen-pals, escort services, introductions to potential foreign spouses, etc. Many of these sites host member profiles and facilitate social interaction among the members.

Drugs (dr)
Sites in this category provide information on the purchase, manufacture, and use of illegal or recreational drugs. This includes displaying, selling, or detailing the use of drug paraphernalia, as well as tips on legal highs, such as glue sniffing, the misuse of prescription drugs, or the abuse of other legal substances.

Education/Reference (ed)
This category includes Web pages devoted to academic subject matter such as math, history, science, literature, and general reference sites like online dictionaries and atlases. Also included are home pages of colleges, universities, and K-12 schools. This category may also be used as an exception to allow access to sites that may belong to another category, such as Sexual Materials, Nudity, or Violence, but relate to an educational topic such as classic literature, history, art, or sex education.

Entertainment/Recreation/Hobbies (et)
The entertainment category includes URLs devoted to movies, television, music, hobbies, horoscopes, Online greeting cards, or amusement parks.

Extreme (ex) This category is used in conjunction with Gruesome Content, Hate Speech, Politics/Opinion, Pornography, Violence, or Game/Cartoon Violence to identify URLs that are at the outer limits of these categories, being gory, perverse, or horrific in nature. An example is child pornography, which would have both the Pornography and Extreme categorization.