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The Number of Web Sites Promoting Anorexia and Bulimia Has Increased 470% Since 2006, According to Optenet Research
MIAMI, September 24 /PRNewswire/ --
- Analysis of nearly three million random URLs also reveals that over
one-third contain pornography
Optenet, a global IT security company and provider of high-performance
content filtering solutions, today announced the results of a report showing
that adult content on the Internet -- including pro-anorexia and bulimia,
racism, violence and child pornography -- has significantly increased since
the end of 2006.
The report utilizes Optenet's unique traffic analysis and classification
engine for dynamic traffic, which combines artificial intelligence with
traditional content filtering technology to categorize Web site and Web 2.0
content. The report tracks Internet content trends since the end of 2006,
based on a random sampling of nearly three million Web sites from around the
world. Key findings include:
- Pro-anorexia and bulimia Web sites have increased by 470 percent;
- Pages associated with violent content increased 125 percent;
- Web sites promoting racism experienced a 70 percent increase;
- Pro-drug Web sites increased by 62 percent; and
- Content related to child pornography increased 18 percent.
Originally founded 10 years ago as an Internet service provider dedicated
to creating a safer Web experience for minors, Optenet evolved into a
security vendor that provides content security technology to service
providers and enterprises worldwide. The company has a long track record of
protecting minors online and now makes it easy for service providers to
extend that same protection to their customers. Optenet has helped to create
a number of child safety initiatives, including Securenet, a European network
of child sexual abuse hotlines, NetProtect II, Sift and Infonet, programs
that aid in the production of filtering and online classification systems.
All of these efforts have been endorsed by the European Commission's Safer
Internet Program. In addition, Optenet's latest project, Selecta, uses
language analysis techniques and tools to automatically classify Internet
content.
Optenet is also affiliated with NGO Protégeles and the International
Association of Internet Hotlines, INHOPE.
"Due to the rapidly increasing amount of dangerous and illicit content on
the Internet, people need to take serious measures to protect their families
and businesses," said Joel Silberman, vice president North America, Optenet.
"It is no coincidence that pro-anorexia and bulimia sites have increased 470
percent and that personal Web pages have similarly increased 455 percent. As
the Web continues to evolve from commercial to social, it is more vital than
ever for parents and managers alike to categorize, monitor and control online
activity."
The Optenet study showed that although pornography as a total percentage
of Internet content has actually decreased slightly since 2006, it still is
by far the largest category of content on the Internet, representing 35
percent of all Web sites. Online shopping represents the second biggest
category (10.5 percent), followed by travel (7 percent), advertising sites (6
percent) and sports (4.5 percent).
The entire report is available at:
http://www.optenet.com/mailing/pdfs/TrendReport.pdf.
About Optenet
Optenet is a global IT security company that provides high-performance
content filtering solutions to service providers and large enterprises
worldwide. Optenet's technology protects 75 million end users around the
globe, including the customers of many of the world's leading ISPs and mobile
operators, as well as employees of global enterprise organizations. For more
information, visit www.optenet.com
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marta Gomez Mark Daly
Optenet Davies Murphy Group
+1-305-249-7505 +1-781-418-2411
communication@optenet.com optenet@daviesmurphy.com
http://www.optenet.com http://www.daviesmurphy.com
Web site: http://www.optenet.com
http://www.optenet.com/mailing/pdfs/TrendReport.pdf






