SurfControl
Encyclopedia
SurfControl Plc., was a British
software company based in Cheshire
, England
. The company provided website
filtering, e-mail
filtering and desktop security software for both enterprise
and home users.
SurfControl was acquired by Websense
on 3 October 2007. The purchase price was approximately £204 million ($416 million), including deferred compensation and stock option expense. Websense plans to continue the SurfControl business until at least 2011. On April 2, 2008, Websense sold CyberPatrol, the SurfControl parental control software product, to newly formed Internet safety software company CyberPatrol, LLC. According to Websense's quarterly report, they received $1.4 million in cash from the sale of CyberPatrol assets.
Prior to being acquired by Websense, SurfControl acquired a British
Cloud Computing
company called BlackSpider Technologies Limited
in July 2006 for £19.5m in cash.
The key feature of the SurfControl filtering software is the ability to categorize websites and then allow or restrict users access by selecting categories.
Examples of the categories are:
SurfControl also license their URL database and categorization engine to other companies such as Check Point
for use in their products and appliances.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
software company based in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The company provided website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
filtering, e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
filtering and desktop security software for both enterprise
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and home users.
SurfControl was acquired by Websense
Websense
Websense is a San Diego-based company specializing in Web security gateway software. It enables clients to block access to chosen categories of websites.-History:Websense was founded by Phil Trubey in 1994...
on 3 October 2007. The purchase price was approximately £204 million ($416 million), including deferred compensation and stock option expense. Websense plans to continue the SurfControl business until at least 2011. On April 2, 2008, Websense sold CyberPatrol, the SurfControl parental control software product, to newly formed Internet safety software company CyberPatrol, LLC. According to Websense's quarterly report, they received $1.4 million in cash from the sale of CyberPatrol assets.
Prior to being acquired by Websense, SurfControl acquired a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
company called BlackSpider Technologies Limited
BlackSpider Technologies Limited
BlackSpider Technologies Limited was a British software company founded in 2002 and subsequently acquired by SurfControl in July 2006.The Company provided Cloud Computing services for filtering email spam and other malware.-History:...
in July 2006 for £19.5m in cash.
Product range
The current product range is called the Enterprise Protection Suite, and includes products for website and e-mail filtering and user security.The key feature of the SurfControl filtering software is the ability to categorize websites and then allow or restrict users access by selecting categories.
Examples of the categories are:
- Adult/Sexually Explicit
- Advertisements & Popups
- Personals & Dating
- Proxies & Translators
- Intolerance & Hate
SurfControl also license their URL database and categorization engine to other companies such as Check Point
Check Point
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a global provider of IT security solutions. Best known for its firewall and VPN products, Check Point first pioneered the industry with FireWall-1 and its patented stateful inspection technology...
for use in their products and appliances.
External links
- SurfControl's Official Website
- Test a Site with SurfControl - Allows a user to enter an address and see what category SurfControl places the site in.
- Cyberpatrol - SurfControl's web filtering software for home users. Note: Newly formed Internet safety software company CyberPatrol, LLC acquired the CyberPatrol parental control software product, from security vendor Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN)on April 2, 2008 http://www.cyberpatrol.com/_pressrelease.asp
- Gartner analysis