1. Your Network & GALILEOFilters, Proxies, Popups & more Technology Leadership Conference October 27, 2004 Katie Gohn, GALILEO Support Specialist Philip McArdle, GALILEO Services Coordinator

2. Purpose of our presentation: • To discuss the elements of the GALILEO system that can be affected by filtering and security software, proxy servers, and browser configurations. • To provide information to help network administrators, librarians, and individual users avoid problems.

3. What we’ll cover in this presentation: • Browsers • Cookies, popups, security/privacy settings • Proxy servers • Authentication, caching, filtering • Desktop filtering/security software • Keyword blocking, site blocking

4. Resources in About GALILEO • GALILEO exceptions list for proxy servers • http://www.usg.edu/galileo/exceptions_list.phtml • Browser specifications & settings • http://www.usg.edu/galileo/browser_help.phtml • Guidelines for use of filtering software • http://www.usg.edu/galileo/filtering.phtml

5. Browsers & GALILEO • Cookies • GALILEO system does not require users to accept cookies, but many vendor databases do • GALILEO recommends setting browsers to accept first- and third-party cookies • First-party cookies originate from same domain as the site you’re viewing • Third-party cookies originate from another domain • MSIE sometimes mistakes first-party for third-party when frames are involved

6. Browsers & GALILEO

7. Browsers & GALILEO • Popup blockers • Does your browser have one? • Internet Explorer 6: • XP Service Pack 2 adds popup blocker • Google and Yahoo! toolbars add popup blockers • EarthLink, AOL, and other ISPs offer popup blockers • Other browsers with popup blockers: • Netscape 7.1 and 7.2 • Mozilla suite and Mozilla Firefox • Safari • Opera

8. Browsers & GALILEO • When does GALILEO open new windows? • When opening a database under the GALILEO banner causes authentication problems • When the content of a new page doesn’t include a clear path back to GALILEO • In some instances, blockers will perceive new GALILEO windows as popups and suppress them. • Databases opening in new windows usually aren’t affected, except Express Links.

9. Browsers & GALILEO • How do I avoid problems with popups? • Add items in GALILEO exceptions list to popup blocker’s allowed-sites list or • Turn off popup blocker while using GALILEO

10. Browsers & GALILEO • Other browser issues: • High IE security settings can interfere with homepage access. • Browser should be set to check for new versions of stored pages regularly.

11. Proxy servers & GALILEO • A proxy is a service that sites between web servers and clients (i.e., users’ workstations); it receives requests from clients and makes requests to servers on their behalf. • Primary purposes include caching, filtering, usage tracking, and remote resource access.

12. Proxy servers & GALILEO • When a proxy makes requests to GALILEO and vendor databases on behalf of a client, the client appears to have the IP address of the proxy server. • This can be beneficial in some cases: for instance, to facilitate remote access. • This can be harmful if GALILEO does not recognize your proxy server’s IP address.

13. Proxy servers & GALILEO • Use GALILEO’s exceptions list to prevent your proxy server from proxying on-site users’ GALILEO requests. • List may be employed centrally on server or in each workstation’s browser settings. • Allows GALILEO’s and vendors’ servers to authenticate by workstation IP address. • Ensures that caching, filtering, and other services do not interfere with functioning of GALILEO system.

14. Filtering software & GALILEO • Keyword-blocking software • Screens the text and sometimes URL of web pages; if text contains certain words or phrases, user is not allowed to view web page. • Contents of GALILEO databases may include words and phrases prohibited by software; may cause error messages, incorrect search results, or other problems. • Examples: ClickSafe, CyberSentinel; Bess (optional)

15. Filtering software & GALILEO • Site-blocking software • Determines whether the URL of a web page is on a list of sites the manufacturer or administrator has already decided are inappropriate. • Examples: WebSense, CyberPatrol, Bess

16. Filtering software & GALILEO • Both types of filtering software can be inaccurate: neither can ensure that all inappropriate sites will be blocked or that all appropriate sites will be accessible. • Use GALILEO’s exceptions list to exclude GALILEO and its databases from both types of filtering.

17. Internet security software & GALILEO • May include firewalls, popup blockers, and other devices that interfere with GALILEO. • If software allows user to create a list of “allowed” sites, use GALILEO exceptions list to ensure that software doesn’t interfere with GALILEO sessions.

18. Resources in About GALILEO • GALILEO exceptions list for proxy servers • http://www.usg.edu/galileo/exceptions_list.phtml • Browser specifications & settings • http://www.usg.edu/galileo/browser_help.phtml • Guidelines for use of filtering software • http://www.usg.edu/galileo/filtering.phtml

19. Questions?