Web Protection Categories
This section provides a brief explanation of the On the Wire Web Protection categories:
| Abortion |
| Sites whose main purpose is to inform users about abortion, including pro-choice and pro-life sites, or sites which articulate a particular philosophy toward or opposition to abortion. |
| Abused Drugs |
| Sites that provide discussion or remedies for illegal, illicit, or abused drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or other street drugs. Information on “legal highs”: glue sniffing, misuse of prescription drugs or abuse of other legal substances. |
| Adult and Pornography |
| Sites that contain sexually explicit material for the purpose of arousing a sexual or prurient interest. Adult products including sex toys, CD-ROMs, and videos. Online groups, including newsgroups and forums, which are sexually explicit in nature. Erotic stories and textual descriptions of sexual acts. Adult services including videoconferencing, escort services, and strip clubs. Sexually explicit art. |
| Alcohol and Tobacco |
| Sites that provide information about, promote, or support the sale of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products, or associated paraphernalia. |
| Auctions |
| Sites that support the offering and purchasing of goods between individuals as their main purpose. Does not include classified advertisements. |
| Bot Nets |
| Sites that are part of a bot net. |
| Business and Economy |
| Sites devoted to business firms, business information, economics, marketing, business management and entrepreneurship. Includes corporate websites. |
| Computer and Internet Info |
| General computer and internet sites, technical information. |
| Computer and Internet Security |
| Computer/internet security sites, security discussion groups. |
| Confirmed Spam Sources |
| Sites- usually IP addresses- that have been reported to be origination sources of Spam by trusted sources. |
| Content Delivery Networks |
| Sites whose main purpose is to deliver third party content, such as images, links, or text. |
| Cult and Occult |
| Sites that promote or offer methods, means of instruction, or other resources to affect or influence real events through the use of spells, curses, magic powers, satanic or supernatural beings. Includes sites containing alternative religions such as Wicca or witchcraft. |
| Dating |
| Dating websites focused on establishing personal relationships. |
| Dead Sites (db Ops only) |
| These are dead sites that do not respond to http queries. |
| Dynamically Generated Content |
| Sites that read information from an end user’s browser- typically cookies- and which generate content based on that information. |
| Educational Institutions |
| Sites with pre-, elementary, secondary, and high school educational content and information, and well as university web sites. |
| Entertainment and Arts |
| Sites that promote and provide information about motion pictures, videos, television, music and programming guides, books, comics, movie theatres, galleries, artists or reviews on entertainment. Performing arts (theatre, vaudeville, opera, symphonies, etc.). Museums, galleries, artist sites (sculpture, photography, etc.). Includes sites about celebrities and famous people. |
| Fashion and Beauty |
| Fashion or glamour magazines, online Beauty and cosmetics. |
| Financial Services |
| Sites that provide or advertise banking services (online or offline) or other types of financial information, such as loans. Includes accountancy, actuaries, banks, mortgages, and general insurance companies. Does not include sites that offer market information, brokerage or trading services. |
| Games |
| Sites that provide information and support game playing or downloading, video games, computer games, electronic games, tips, and advice on games or how to obtain cheat codes. Also includes sites dedicated to selling board games as well as journals and magazines dedicated to game playing. Includes sites that support or host online lotteries, sweepstakes, and giveaways. |
| Government |
| Sites sponsored by or which provide information on government, government agencies and government services such as taxation and emergency services. Also includes sites that discuss or explain laws of various governmental entities. Includes local, county, state, and national government sites, as well as international governmental institutions. |
| Hacking |
| Sites providing information on hacking, or illegal or questionable access to or the use of communications equipment/software. |
| Health and Medicine |
| General health such as fitness and well-being, including western and eastern methods and topics. Medical information and reference about ailments, conditions. Dentistry, optometry, and other medical-related sites. General psychiatry and mental well-being. Hospital, medical insurance. Medical procedures, including elective and cosmetic surgery. |
| Home and Garden |
| Sites covering issues revolving around the home, including maintenance, home safety, décor, cooking, home electronics, design, etc. |
| Hunting and Fishing |
| Sport hunting, gun clubs, and fishing sites. |
| Image and Video Search |
| Sites that provide resources for photo and image searches, online photo albums/digital photo exchange, Image hosting. |
| Individual Stock Advice and Tools |
| Sites that provide or advertise trading of securities and management of investment assets (online or offline). Also includes sites that offer financial investment strategies, quotes, and news. |
| Internet Communications |
| Sites that include instant messaging or internet telephony clients, or VoIP clients or services. |
| Internet Portals |
| Web sites that aggregate a broader set of internet content, and which typically serve as the starting point for an end user interested in that class of web site, such as msn or yahoo. Does not include adult web sites. |
| Spyware and Adware |
| Sites associated with spyware or adware. Sites that provide or promote information gathering, tracking, or enabling of ad delivery that is unknown to, or without the explicit consent of, the end user or the organization. |
| Job Search |
| Sites that provide assistance in finding employment, and tools for locating prospective employers, or employers looking for employees. |
| Keyloggers and Monitoring |
| Sites that provide or discuss the usage of software agents that track a user’s keystrokes or monitor their web surfing habits. |
| Kids |
| Sites designed specifically for children. |
| Legal |
| Legal websites, including sites of law firms, and sites that discuss or analyze legal issues. |
| Local Information |
| City guides and tourist information, including restaurants, area / regional information, and local points of interest. |
| Malware Sites |
| Sites that carry malicious content including executables, scripts, or viruses. |
| Marijuana |
| Sites covering marijuana. |
| Military |
| Sites that promote or provide information on military branches or armed services, including sites that discuss military topics, such as military strategy or military history sites. |
| Motor Vehicles |
| Car reviews, vehicle purchasing or sales tips, parts catalogs, auto trading, photos, discussion of vehicles including motorcycles, boats, cars, trucks and RVs Journals and magazines on vehicle modification, repair, and customization. Online automotive enthusiast clubs. |
| News and Media |
| Sites that primarily report information or include commentary on current events or contemporary issues of the day. Also includes radio stations and magazines. Newspapers online, headline news sites, newswire services, and personalized news services, also weather sites. |
| Nudity |
| Sites containing nude or seminude depictions of the human body. These depictions are not necessarily sexual in intent or effect, but may include sites containing nude paintings or photo galleries of artistic nature. This category also includes nudist or naturist sites that contain pictures of nude individuals. |
| Online Gambling |
| Online gambling or lottery web sites that invite the use of real or virtual money. Information or advice for placing wagers, participating in lotteries, gambling, or running numbers. Virtual casinos and offshore gambling ventures. Sports picks and betting pools. Virtual sports and fantasy leagues that offer large rewards or request significant wagers. Casino/Hotel/Resort sites that do not enable gambling on the site are categorized in Travel. |
| Online Greeting cards |
| Online greeting card sites. |
| Online Music |
| Sites that distribute music for download, including sites that sell music. |
| Online Personal Storage |
| Sites that offer personal online storage, including documents, photos or other individual information. |
| Open HTTP Proxies |
| Sites- typically IP addresses- that can be used as http proxies. |
| Parked Domains |
| Domains that are not active, but whose web host answers. These include domains that monetize traffic to the domain using paid listings from an ad network, or are owned by “squatters” hoping to sell the domain name for a profit. Includes sites with no content, suspended accounts, “under construction” sites, and sites that display a folder or directory listing only. |
| Pay to Surf |
| Sites that pay users in the form of cash or prizes, for clicking on or reading specific links, email, or web pages. |
| Peer to Peer |
| Sites where peer to peer clients can be downloaded or peer to peer content is hosted. |
| Personal sites and Blogs |
| Personal websites posted by individuals or groups, as well as blogs. Some content may be for mature audiences. |
| Philosophy and Political Advocacy |
| Sites that discuss or advocate philosophy and political advocacy. |
| Phishing and Other Frauds |
| Phishing, pharming, and other sites that pose as a reputable site, usually to harvest personal information from a user. |
| Private IP Addresses |
| IP addresses defined in RFC 1918, ‘address allocation for private intranets.’ |
| Proxy Avoidance and Anonymizers |
| Sites providing information on how to bypass proxy server features or gain access to URLs in any way that bypasses the URL filter or proxy server. Web-based translation sites that circumvent filtering. |
| Questionable |
| Sites that depict extreme physical harm to people or property, or that advocate or provide instructions on how to cause such harm. Also includes sites that advocate, depict hostility or aggression toward, or denigrate an individual or group on the basis of race, religion, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, or other involuntary characteristics. Includes questionable humor, or sites that promote the purchase of academic content such as term papers or book reports for the purpose of plagiarism. Also includes “get rich quick” sites that promise easy financial gains for some investment or participation by the user. |
| Real Estate |
| Sites that provide information on renting, buying, or selling real estate or properties. Tips on buying or selling a home. Real estate agents, rental or relocation services, and home improvement. |
| Recreation and Hobbies |
| Recreational pastimes such as collecting, sewing, kit airplanes. Outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, camping, rock climbing, tips or trends focused on a specific art, craft, or technique, online publications on a specific pastime or recreational activity, online clubs, associations or forums dedicated to a hobby. Traditional (board, card, non-online, etc.) games and their enthusiasts. Animal/pet related sites, including breed-specific sites, training, shows and humane societies |
| Reference and Research |
| Sites containing personal, professional, or educational reference, including online dictionaries, maps, census, almanacs, library catalogues, genealogy-related sites and scientific information. |
| Religion |
| Sites that promote and provide information on conventional or unconventional religious or quasi-religious subjects, as well as churches, synagogues, or other houses of worship. Does not include sites containing alternative religions such as wicca or witchcraft (cult/occult) or atheist philosophies (political/activist groups). |
| Search Engines |
| Web sites that enable the user to conduct searches, including by key words, images, or phrases. |
| Sex Education |
| Sites that provide graphic information (sometimes graphic) on reproduction, sexual development, safe sex practices, sexuality, birth control, and sexual development. Also includes sites that offer tips for better sex as well as products used for sexual enhancement. Sites with text or pictures advocating the proper use of contraceptives or which discuss sexually transmitted diseases. |
| Shareware and Freeware |
| Sites that offer the downloading of software that is free or free to test, or ask for a contribution to aid with development, including open source software. |
| Shopping |
| Department stores, retail stores, company catalogs and other sites that allow online consumer or business shopping. Sites that provide or advertise the means to obtain goods or services as their main purpose. |
| Society |
| Web sites that cover a variety of topics relevant to the general populace, such as broad issues that impact a variety of people, safety, societal issues, etc. These sites usually represent an area of one or more “special interests” to some segment of society, are considered benign from a policy standpoint, and are not covered by other categories. |
| Spam URLs |
| URLs contained in Spam. |
| Sports |
| Team or conference web sites, international, national, international, college, professional scores and schedules, sports-related online magazines or newsletters or fantasy sports. |
| Streaming Media |
| Sites that sell, deliver, or stream music or video content in any format, including sites that provide downloads for such viewers. Personal (non-explicit) webcams or sites with real time views of points of interest or traffic. |
| Swimsuits and Intimate Apparel |
| Sites that contain images or offer the sale of swimsuits or intimate apparel or other types of suggestive clothing. |
| Training and Tools |
| Distance education and trade schools, including online courses, online vocational training, online software training, skills training and teacher resources (lesson plans, etc.). |
| Travel |
| Airlines and flight booking agencies. Sites that promote or provide opportunity for travel planning, including finding and making travel reservations, vehicle rentals, descriptions of travel destinations, or promotions for hotels or casinos. Car Rentals. |
| Unconfirmed Spam Sources |
| Sites- usually IP addresses- that may be origination sources of Spam. |
| Weapons |
| Sites that sell, review, or describe weapons such as guns, knives or martial arts devices, or provide information on their use, accessories, or other modifications |
| Web Advertisements |
| Sites that provide online advertisements or banners. |
| Web Hosting |
| Sites that provide web hosting services to clients. |
| Web based email |
| Sites offering web based email and email clients. |
