Reply to post: Re: Is that not a challenge?

Re: Is that not a challenge?

To be honest, there's not much you can do about it anyway. No filter will ever be perfect.

But the alternative is "no internet access at all" which is then a problem for everything from visitors to contractors to just general contingency if the computers go down.

As someone who does operate a workplace wifi network, including guest access, I can also tell you - it means nothing. The system is for a school and it blocks ALL access to dodgy stuff, everything from Facebook to porn (kids definitely shouldn't be trying to get the latter, but also they shouldn't be able to just join the guest network and bypass our Facebook blocks!).

You know what flags the most? Contractor's mobile phones during the holidays (contractors are rarely allowed on-site in term-time, and certainly not allowed to use their mobiles when they do because of the basic child protection rules). They come on-site, can't get 4G, they need to send an invoice, check a spec, download a manual, access their corporate intranet, etc. So they ask to join the guest wifi, and bam... all their background stuff hits the filter and sets off alerts. It's not at all unusual for someone to instantly be blocked because of the number of alerts, the maintenance team bring them to the IT office, they show us their phone and the second we unlock it there's a browser with a dozen porn tabs in the background and significant history.

Sure, it shouldn't be there. Sure, you can't block everything. But it's also not necessarily the best thing in the world to just block all wifi access (they'll just do it via 4G anyway... at least going via the Wifi you can make them accountable for it if it's something really dodgy).

To be honest, with something like Parliament, I imagine there are a thousand reporters who "just want to submit their story" but aren't able to just connect to 4G from inside the massive stone walls, so they give them a guest wifi. And I don't imagine the average tabloid journalist is averse to having a phone full of porn.

Fact is - there's a block in place. This lets you record traffic, see trends, get alerts. This lets you detect and investigate the illegal stuff immediately (I should hope!). While providing a useful function to guests, and not being a way to "bypass" restrictions on the normal network (because then you'll just have everyone join the guest wifi to do their "classified" work).