Government spends $9.5m on school computer protection

1.00pm

The Government is spending $9.5 million to help schools combat hackers, block objectionable websites, and reduce spam emails.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard said contracts had been signed with four providers to give state and state-integrated schools a choice of free products and services.

Telecom and Watchdog will provide "managed" Internet services to most schools while SurfControl and IBM will provide software for e-mail and content filtering for those schools wanting to manage their own services.

Managed Internet services include:

* a firewall which screens all inbound and outbound traffic protecting computers from outside breaches;

* blocking computer from accessing inappropriate websites;

* filtering emails to prevent sending or receiving offensive material and oversize attachments; and

* managing spam and junk emails.

Mr Mallard said the spending would help teachers.

"By having a safer Internet connection teachers will be able to focus on the important role of educating our students rather than having to waste time manually monitoring and controlling the online environment," Mr Mallard said.

- NZPA