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Business Profile: Filtering Out Internet Concerns posted on Thursday, 18 December 2008

Whether it is the company employee or a child at home, many concerns abound over computer users accessing inappropriate material on the Internet. One local company has stepped in to filter away the problem.

By Dave Thomas

Whether it is the company employee or a child at home, many concerns abound over computer users accessing inappropriate material on the Internet. One local company has stepped in to filter away the problem.

Phantom Technologies was founded by Paul Martini (CEO) and Peter Martini (COO) in 2002 and incorporated in 2004, when it released its debut product, the iPhantom security hardware.

When installed, the iPhantom created an instant bidirectional AES encryption, gateway antivirus, and anonymous feature, providing the ultimate secure connection for both desktop and road warriors. In 2005 Phantom Technologies released the iBoss Web Filter (http://www.ibosswebfilters.com) hardware which is now the company’s focus.

According to Peter Martini, Phantom Technologies' mission is to create robust web filters that are operating system independent, simple to navigate, providing the latest in web filtering technology and making it available to all sectors including residential, small business, and medium to large corporations.

"We seek to push the envelope in functionality and ease of use while utilizing a no per seat license model, making it a cost-effective solution," Martini said. All hardware and firmware engineering design is proprietary to Phantom Technologies and engineered in San Diego.

Martini noted that Phantom Technologies has experienced double digit growth year over year since its first product release. "iBoss Home is currently the best-selling hardware with a focus on parental control," Martini noted.

The web filtering offering from Phantom Technologies has grown in popularity as Martini notes the company is the only web filtering producer to offer solutions for both small (under 25 users) along with medium/large corporations. "Many businesses, franchises, and governments have multiple locations with some locations with as little as 10 employees and larger locations with employees in the thousands," Martini said.

With the iBoss solutions, businesses are able to install the iBoss Pro80 for the smaller locations and the iBoss Enterprise at the larger locations, managing them through the innovative iBoss remote management portal. The portal allows employers to control and access each location without the need and cost of setting up VPNs.

"Deploying our central report manager allows them (employers) to view web reports for all locations from one central location," Martini said. "This allows companies to reduce overhead substantially by removing the need for extra bandwidth, network equipment, VPNs and the cost of maintenance."

Kevin Dunlap, ITO at Riverside County Economic Development Agency (EDA), noted that after a great deal of research and product testing, "We found iBoss from Phantom Technologies the best solution for our remote sites. It is cost-effective and low maintenance, providing the least obtrusive option of anything we tested. We have peace of mind knowing our employees and the public they serve are protected from unwanted and unproductive Internet usage."

Another user from Washington State noted, "In my opinion, iBoss stands alone and above everyone else in the software/hardware business. They are 10/10 on every product or service dimension that matters. We have used the iBoss and found that it reduced our overhead and increased our insight on what is going on within our network."

With an ever-changing technological world, Phantom Technologies has made sure to stay on the pulse of the latest evolutions.

"Since the Internet is constantly changing and new technology being introduced daily, we are constantly staying on top of the latest trends," Martini commented. "From new online games, chat programs, social sites to proxies which are designed to circumvent web filters, we continually release firmware to update iBoss Filters to keep up with these new programs to allow companies control access."

Martini noted one such example of keeping ahead is the company's newest release of the patent-pending iBoss Desktop Recorder, scheduled to be unveiled in January. The offering allows an administrator to set thresholds which will when crossed, record the employees' desktop for the set amount of time (i.e. any 10 violations to an adult site within 2 minutes record for 5 minutes).

According to Martini, the feedback the company received this year from new customers is that in 2008, the amount of bandwidth used has seemed to double from last year. More employees are utilizing the Internet at work to stream videos, music, share files. Martini said some of these companies originally did not feel they needed to control access but now have no choice. Since the cost of bandwidth is increasing, they are seeking new ways to cut cost due to economic conditions.

"Adding a web filter is a very effective way to cut costs by limiting the amount of activities allowed on their network," Martini said. "With these new programs, they are hitting their peak in bandwidth." Martini also points out that besides the bandwidth cost, the legal liabilities in not having a web filter at the work place are extensive. "It can be compared to allowing unrestricted cable TV access at the office," he added.

Potential employer libabilites are also a concern, as displaying explicit content on a computer can create a hostile workplace, especially if viewed by other employees. The U.S Supreme court has ruled that employers can be held responsible when employees use the Internet inappropriately.

Among some recent facts provided by Martini:

* 70 percent of all Internet porn traffic occurs between the hours of 9–5 - SexTracker

* 27 percent of Fortune 500 companies have faced accusations of sexual harassment due to employee Internet activity

* Hhalf of all workers said they'd been exposed to sexually explicit material by co-workers -MSNBC Sept 2004

* 28 percent of employees visit 10 or more non-workk related sites a day - 72 percent read news; 40 percent shop; 37 percent search for another job; 34 percent check stocks; 28 percent coordinate social events -Vault.com.

Parents are also attempting to become more in-tune with what their children are viewing on the Internet. However, even the best filters in the world still require one thing that not all parents do well - supervision.

"Even with the best filters in place, nothing replaces parental supervision," Martini said. "Speak to your kids and remind them of the danger of the Internet. Remind them not to answer any unsolicited emails or chat requests and to let you know when these occur. Keep kids' computers in main areas of the home like the kitchen or living room and avoid leaving computers in a child's room."

Phantom Technologies has unveiled a number of security features to make things safer for children using the Internet, including the iBoss Home, which brings the same security of the company's business appliances but in a smaller scale.

With features such as Sleep Schedule, which allows a parent to set times to cut off Internet on a schedule, safe search enforcements, which prevents kids from circumventing safe search features on search engines, proxy detection to prevent circumventing the iBoss by using proxies, domain extension filtering, which allows parents to keep kids from surfing foreign domains and ultimately the company's simple check box categories, which allow parents to check those categories of Web sites they do not want kids accessing, parents have a number of tools at their disposal.

"Since homes now have multiple computers and wireless laptops, the iBoss also enforces all these rules to all devices on the network, wired or wireless," Martini remarked. "Last, since the iBoss is a hardware device with no software, it makes it more difficult to bypass as compared with software parental controls which run on the local computer."

With all these innovations, Phantom Technologies is not standing pat.

Going into 2009, Martini said the company is seeking to expand its market share within the large corporate networks and government sectors.

"New nationwide retail distributors are in line to distribute the iBoss Home and iBoss Pro 80 for 2009," Martini said.

2009 will be a big year for iBoss Web Filters. New releases include the first parental control focused N draft router, allowing parents to filter their entire home, and wired and wireless computers utilizing amazing wireless speeds.

The company plans to officially release:

* iBoss Desktop Recording (patent pending) feature for its iBoss Enterprise models; and

* iBoss EI (Enterprise Integration) features, which allows for quick and smooth deployment of the company's Enterprise units in existing complex networks.

With much accomplished and much more on the horizon, Phantom Technologies is primed to continue its role of filtering in a safe and positive experience on the Internent for users.

Phantom Technologies LLC
5703 Oberlin Dr. #106
San Diego, CA 92121
(P) (858) 623-9107
www.phantomtechnologies.com
www.ibosswebfilters.com

Posted by bizSanDiego: San Diego Business News