Web Safety

Introduction

Safe use of the internet is part of working and studying at James Cook University and contributes to a secure computing environment for all staff and students at JCU.

JCU has a range of customers who use our network including, commercial entities, students, staff, minors and visitor (school groups, open days etc.).

To adequately meet all the needs of this diverse group we provide baseline general internet access for all consumers that is:

Consistent with the Student Code of Conduct, Staff Code of Conduct, Copyright Policy and Digital Technologies Acceptable Use Policy.;
Provides a safe environment for certain groups (e.g. minors); and
Prevents accidental/malicious use, such as a wallboard being used to display in appropriate content (e.g pornography).

General Internet Access

We have employed industry leading firewall appliances that categorise internet sites based upon the content viewing suitability of three major groups of customers: enterprises, schools, and home/families. Each category contains websites or web pages that have been assigned based on their dominant Web content. A website or webpage is categorised into a specific category according to its content. When a website contains elements in different categories, web pages on the site are separately categorised.

Descriptions of the categories are designed to assist the reader with category comprehension only; they are not meant to depict any form of symbolic representation of the individuals who own or surf these sites.

General internet access does restrict access to some categories because its improves useability and resiliency of JCU’s corporate, research and campus further from malicious website content as well as inappropriate content, as outlined in the JCU ICT Acceptable Use Policy.

The types of website which may be blocked from time to time can fall under the following categories:

Child Abuse	Websites that have been verified by the Internet Watch Foundation to contain or distribute images of non-adult children that are depicted in a state of abuse. Information on the Internet Watch Foundation is available at http://www.iwf.org.uk/.
Discrimination	Sites that promote the identification of racial groups, the denigration or subjection of groups, or the superiority of any group.
Drug Abuse	Websites that feature information on illegal drug activities including: drug promotion, preparation, cultivation, trafficking, distribution, solicitation, etc.
Explicit Violence	This category includes sites that depict offensive material on brutality, death, cruelty, acts of abuse, mutilation, etc.
Extremist Groups	Sites that feature radical militia groups or movements with aggressive anti-government convictions or beliefs.
Hacking	Websites that depict illicit activities surrounding the unauthorized modification or access to programs, computers, equipment and websites.
Illegal or Unethical	Websites that feature information, methods, or instructions on fraudulent actions or unlawful conduct (non-violent) such as scams, counterfeiting, tax evasion, petty theft, blackmail, etc.
Plagiarism	Websites that provide, distribute or sell school essays, projects, or diplomas.
Proxy Avoidance	Websites that provide information or tools on how to bypass Internet access controls and browse the Web anonymously, includes anonymous proxy servers.
Pornography	Mature content websites (18+ years and over) which present or display sexual acts with the intent to sexually arouse and excite.
Phishing	Counterfeit web pages that duplicate legitimate business web pages for the purpose of eliciting financial, personal or other private information from the users.
Spam URLs	Websites or webpages whose URLs are found in spam emails. These webpages often advertise sex sites, fraudulent wares, and other potentially offensive materials.
Malicious Websites	Sites that host software that is covertly downloaded to a user's machine to collect information and monitor user activity, and sites that are infected with destructive or malicious software, specifically designed to damage, disrupt, attack or manipulate computer systems without the user's consent, such as virus or Trojan horse.

Reference: https://fortiguard.com/webfilter/categories

Requesting Additional Access or Reporting an Issue

Some legitimate resources may be restricted (miss-categorisation for example) and that is not the intention. We are in full support of providing access for our academic, student, corporate, colleges, guests, partners and clinical practices.

Requests to access or errors can be directed to the IT Help Desk in the first instance and we will respond as quickly as possible to your needs.

Can I check a website category?

Yes, you can. By using the below website and entering a URL or an IP address you will be able to see what category the website is listed as: https://fortiguard.com/webfilter