MICS is a filtering computer which sits between your computers or network and the Internet and shields them from attack. All traffic going to or from the Internet passes through the MICS where it is filtered. How much filtering is done depends on which options you have selected.
More technically:
Network filtering is the process of analyzing information as it is passed between computers to insure that it is valid traffic. Valid traffic is accepted, invalid traffic is rejected.
MICS is not designed to replace your Internet service, but to enhance it. With new viruses, worms and Internet threats being discovered daily, the only safe computer is one that is monitored and updated. Many companies, families, and individuals who use the Internet have neither the time nor the skills to adequately monitor an Internet connection. MICS provides a cost effective way to provide that monitoring and safety.(links to stories about viruses, worms, etc)
MICS also allows multiple computers to use the same dialup line. For casual Internet browsing, a single 56K modem line can support two to six computers, while simoultaneously providing connectivity for sending and receiving email.
Absolutely. It is especially important to have protection if you are using a high speed access service. The combination of high speed access and an 'always on' connection means your computers are open to attack and abuse 24 hours a day. Crackers look for computers with high speed connections in order to use your bandwidth to attack other systems
A basic MICS acts as a firewall between your ocmputers or network and the Internet. It blocks any attempts from any program on the Internet to connect to your computer or network. Connections from your computer or network to the Internet are passed through without filtering.
Rossberry Consulting can configure your MICS to also provide:
MICS provides local control of filtering, unlike other solutions which force you to depend on others to make your filtering decisions. You can allow or deny certain types of activities based on your values, not someone elses. By acting as the only path onto the Internet, MICS also makes circumvention of the filtering more difficult.
MICS uses a combination of the proxy software redirection plugins to provide filtered, controlled and logged web access. The combination of software allows the administrator to control who connects to what sites and when they are allowed to do so.
For instance, a company could restrict access to CNN during all but the lunch hours, except for the finance department who needs access to CNNfn throughout the day. Or a parent can restrict access to game sites until a child's homework is completed.MICS comes with a default database of pornographic and objectionable sites which can be customized for your uses. The database is automatically updated twice a week. Filters based on the presence of particular objectionable words are also included. This list of words can be modified at will. All blocked requests can be logged.
While not a part of filtering, MICS can automatically collect email from multiple accounts. The accounts can be at more than one provider and for any number of people. Once collected, the messages can be presented to the user with MICS acting as the email host.
If MICS is collecting the email, then it can provide automatic blocking of SPAM and UCE. This is done through utilization of online resources listing known spammers.
MICS can also filter email messages for viruses, worms and other malicious attachments. This partially relieves the support staff of the burden of updating scanners on each desktop machine.
Intranets are mini Internets which are internal to a company's environment. They can be used for sharing common information, news, file templates, etc. A MICS host can provide the platform to setup an Intranet site.
On top of the other filtering, MICS can be configured to aggressively monitor all network traffic for content and to only allow known safe content. This is a level beyond the basic filtering described above, since it looks into the actual types of requests being made. For instance, basic filtering will pass all requests to port 80. Advanced filtering would deny an request to download a password file, before the web server even saw the request.