Bitdefender BOX Functionality

2> More informative logs/reports and whitelist/blacklist functions (focusing on Parental Control):

Issue: The logs that are provided are sometimes too minimalistic. Then, to take action on those reported incidents, the whitelisting/blacklisting options are also inadequate or non-existent. The logs need to be more detailed as to what sites are being visited, what URLs are offenders, where bandwidth is being consumed and what actions can be taken to open or restrict as needed. To put this a step further, there is no way to manually identify and categorize URLs that are ‘unknown’ to the BOX’s built-in category list for parental controls.

Scenario: There are times where a child has a device that has been assigned to them with parental controls. If there is a violation, the logs only tell you what category has been violated, not the URL. Bitdefender support will tell you to check the URL they’re visiting on the device, but this isn’t always possible. If the child has a mobile device and is using an app that requires internet connection, they may be blocked from areas the app needs to function properly, or vice-versa, the application could be connecting to a URL you would like to restrict. A real scenario involved a child that has a reading application the school board issued for online books. The application was being partially blocked from the internet because it was violating a rule. Since several rules were violated around the same general timeframe, there was no way to figure out which one it was in the log. Through trial-and-error, the category “Entertainment” was found to be blocking the reading app. However, since the logs don’t show a URL, there was no way to whitelist the connected domain for that application to work. Instead, the entire category of “Entertainment” had to be unrestricted. This takes away from the BOX being effective when protecting the child using parental controls. Looking at thing the other way, there are no longs to see what domains have been visited thought the day or a report of bandwidth usage to identify who or what is slowing down your internet. Example; if an older child(ren) have not been violating any parental restrictions put in place, but you can’t figure out who or what is causing a bog in the internet connection, you currently have no way to see what’s going on. You may be unaware that they’ve set up an FTP server, P2P box, Plex or maybe just have a resource-heavy game or application. 

Solution: For the first issue, where parental control logs only show the violated category and not the URL, that should be an easy fix. When there is a violation, include the URL in the log. Then the parent can take the appropriate action. For the second issue, where there are no logs on bandwidth usage, a list of accessed URLs or a way to blacklist any of them, this needs more report logging and parsing as well as a new blacklist feature. There should be a way to see what device is using bandwidth, what URLs it’s accessing with the category it’s listed as, and what time(s) of day the usage peaks. If this is something the parent should chose to block, there needs to be a blacklist to add the offending URL to. If it’s something the parent feels should already be filtered as it could be a child visiting an new/unlisted ****** site that Bitdefender has yet to see or categorize, the parent should be able to see that it isn’t categorized and should submit a suggested category to Bitdefender for review while then being prompted to blacklist it locally until Bitdefender reviews the submission. In both the blacklist or whilelist scenarios, there should be no limitations on what is added to the list. Example; you should be able to submit wildcard subdomains (*.domain.tld) as well as any path beyond the domain itself (*.domain.tld/site/stuff/etc). For a user-friendly approach, Bitdefender BOX should prompt the user to optionally remove anything else in the URL that may be superfluous (queries, parameters, fragments, etc.).

3> Pause/delay internet/network access to new devices on the network.

Issue: When any device is added to the network, it is immediately granted normal access. However, you may not always want this. There is no way to pause/delay internet/network access until the device is known and/or reviewed.

Scenario: There are many scenarios that could creep up where this function would help. I’ll share a handful of experienced situations. One situation could involve a child trying to bypass the parental control feature with a new device. They could join the device to the network and, if the parent isn’t paying attention or misses the one notification of a new device, it can go on being unrestricted and unnoticed. This can sometimes occur unintentionally with some Apple devices that like to change their MAC address’. Another scenario could be if a user shared the home password instead of the guest password to a friendly neighbour (or acquaintance). Then the password was shared with others in the same neighbouring household (separate house, but within WiFi range). There is no feature to put a pause on this and explicitly ask for individual permission/access when each device joining the network. That scenario can be mirrored if you talk about an individual who may be weak with their WiFi password. A final scenario would be a household that is sublet between owner and renter. The owner of the house may offer their internet connection as an option with a type of honour system. Obviously, there is risk associated with this, but it’s a real-life situation. There is no way to pause/delay new devices until there has been approval.

Solution: Offer an optional function users can enable, AFTER the initial setup, that can pause/delay internet/network access to any new device found until is has been reviewed and approved as a known/accepted device.