WebSafety NZ has taken out the prize for The Most Innovative Business in The David Awards 2011: heroes in small business initiative.

Organiser of the awards, Heather Douglas, says, “The David Awards recognise the unsung heroes in home and small businesses throughout New Zealand, the “Davids” whose tenacity, courage and ingenuity place them firmly at the forefront of entrepreneurship in this country.”

“WebSafety NZ is a worthy winner because the company is innovative in several areas, rather than just one. It is using technology to develop several niche products and demonstrating sound business principles”, says Judge Colin Kennedy. “

WebSafety NZ has developed products suited to the residential market that focuses around internet safety, while the business products appeal to those businesses looking for cost effective and unique solutions to manage internet usage in the workplace.

Visit their site at www.websafety.co.nz

WebSafety NZ Limited have launched a service not only to help businesses manage the internet within their work environment, but also help parents identify internet habits too.

‘WebAudit Lite’ is a service that takes a copy of the internet surfing log files and turns them into a readable report using sophisticated security software.

The output contains times and dates of every activity and event that took place during the time period of the log.

“Activity identified such as websites visited, searches made, web email used, pictures viewed and files downloaded paint a very clear picture of the internet habits of the user”, Owner Dean Stewart says.

“The service compliments our WebSafety Audit, but without the indepth analysis. It therefore makes WebAudit Lite affordable to anyone”.

Businesses potentially loose thousands of dollars in lost productivity due to non-work related internet surfing. Statistics show that up to 70% of staff will spend at least 1 hour a day surfing the internet on sites such as social networking, shopping, games and joke sites. Often this behaviour goes on for months before it may be detected.

“A customer contacting us for the WebAudit Lite is sent the file path to the required log files. Once they send us a copy we then run the file through our software and produce the results for them. It’s quick and easy”, he explains.

WebSafety NZ believes the WebAudit Lite product has huge potential for smaller businesses to get on top of internet usage in the workplace and save them money.

For more information see: www.websafety.co.nz/webauditlite.php

WebSafety NZ Limited has created an eBook entitled “One Step Ahead: Empowering Parents in today’s World”.

The 10-chapter book contains relevant material on how to be safer when using the internet.

The company owner and author Dean Stewart said “We wanted to create an affordable eBook that would benefit many people, regardless of whether they have children or not”.

Mr. Stewart said he is concerned that many users still don’t understand the importance of limiting personal information online, and hoped the eBook will address this.

New Zealand has been targeted by overseas scammers for some time, and we are now seeing scams being carried out via the telephone. One of the chapters contains information on scams, and simple tips to identity a scam.

Other chapters in the eBook cover topics such as privacy settings on social networking sites; passwords; identity theft; web browsers; resources for parents; safe sites for kids; email and tips on keeping your computer safe.

To download a free chapter and purchase the eBook visit their website: www.websafety.co.nz/shop.php

WebSafety NZ is concerned that many parents are turning a blind eye when it comes to the subject of cyber safety.

Over a 12 month period they ran several Internet Safety seminars presenting to parents on the subject of cyber safety. Owner and Director Dean Stewart says “Although the seminars were well marketed by the schools, attendance remained poor.”

The company offers a service of installing cyber safety software on home computers and teaching parents how to use the software. Stewart remarks that this service has also been under utilized.

“I’m concerned that a lot of what children are exposed to on the internet is either not known or understood by many parents”, he says.

WebSafety NZ recommend that while educating parents and their children on the dangers of the internet is the first step, installing monitoring software remains an essential tool for a parent to understand how their children use the internet.

Children are engaging in social networking and creating profiles on sites such as Facebook as young as 6 years old. Facebook require an individual to be at least 13 to create an account. However, children often lie about their age.

Dean Stewart said that younger children are more likely to give away personal information freely when asked, and are not mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions. Monitoring children’s internet surfing is recommended by WebSafety NZ from the age of 5, or as soon as they start using the computer.

CHRISTCHURCH - WebSafety NZ Limited, a Christchurch based company specialising in software to manage the internet, are educating parents on cyber safety and helping them install parental software on home computers.

“Until now, there has been few resources parents can call upon, to help them install parental software in the home”, said Dean Stewart, WebSafety NZ’s Owner & Director.

Stewart explains that parental software is not only able to block types of sites selected by the parent, but also records all internet activity. “We believe education is the key to teaching parents and children about the digital world we live in today. Parental software allows us to reinforce that education”.

Children are using the internet at an ever younger age. Parental software forces ‘safe search’ in search engines, ensuring young children don’t come across inappropriate material accidentally.

Issues facing children such as cyber bullying and the lack of understanding around privacy can be identified by implementing parental software. WebSafety NZ ensures parents understand how to use the software they install, before leaving their home.

WebSafety NZ Limited, a Christchurch based company specialising in software to manage the internet, are making it affordable for small businesses to make large gains in managing cyber slacking in the workplace.

“Small businesses have the same concerns as larger businesses, but just don’t have the budget for in-house IT staff”, said Dean Stewart, WebSafety NZ’s Owner & Director.

“Businesses are able to quickly identify internet abuse in the workplace by requesting an ‘Internet Audit’”. Mr. Stewart explains that an internet audit is done on a ‘per machine’ basis. “We run a file through security software and produce data in a readable format”.

The company analyses the data and compiles a report for the customer. Mr. Stewart says that they often find poor performance is related to long periods of non-work related internet use. In some cases they find the trend has been going on for many months.

WebSafety NZ help businesses tackle the ever changing landscape of technology, by developing robust Acceptable Use polices. The software products they install are designed for non-technical people to manage.

Businesses see a fresh approach in what WebSafety NZ offer. Internet auditing provides businesses with a snapshot of what their employees are doing on the internet. It’s then a matter of deciding whether an Acceptable Use policy is sufficient, or implementing one of their software solutions

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