CyberPatrol allows parents to block websites, or even pages within websites, based on two criteria:

1. based on the information they receive in their reports
2. based on pre-selected categories.

Cyberpatrol lists 14 categories for blocking, including pornography, violent sites, those affiliated with drugs and more.

Unfortunately without screenshots parents may need to actually check suspicious websites manually when their URLs don't reveal the nature of the site to see if the site it something permissible in their family or that needs to be blocked.

We wish SpectorSoft would take a similar approach with Spector Pro and eBlaster, as doing so would radically improve their software's blocking capabilities.

Cyberpatrol also lets parents devise a "whitelist" of pre-approved sites.

Whitelisting is a very restrictive, Draconian blocking technique. It means kids are then only able to visit the approved sites.

If you only put three sites in the list, only those three sites may be visited; all others are blocked. Period.

Typically, this type of blocking is best only for very young children or in business situations where employees only need access to a limited number of sites.

Here is where CyberPatrol does well: it offers the option to add user profiles, then configures those profiles based on the age and level of website monitoring desired.

Parents can choose from:

1. Child
2. Teen
3. Mature Teen

And then select the type of website monitoring desired, the pages to be blocked, or create a whitelist of they'd like.

This is a smart option for parents whose kids share a single computer or family PC.

0 CyberPatrol's IM/Chat recording program is called "ChatGard."

ChatGard blocks out bad words on IM, whether they're sent or received, and prevents the transmission of a home address, phone number, or any other personal information that might be dangerous to reveal.

Unfortunately it doesn't actually record the Instant Messages/IMs, nor does it allow parents to block certain IM/Chat friends.

Parents can choose to block all Instant Messaging if they want but only for programs that parents have placed on a list.

Tech-savvy kids can, of course, get around this blocking just by downloading a lesser known IM client.

ChatGard does have its shortcomings, but even still, chat blocking is an important feature, and that part is implemented reasonably well.

We just wish it recorded the chats.

While CyberPatrol offers so many useful parental control software tools, we're surprised they don't offer any sort of email recording.

It's one thing if CyberPatrol had email recording but left out email attachment capture, but unfortunately, it doesn't monitoring email at all.

Since parents often, rightly so, like to record emails to make sure that what their child is sending and receiving is appropriate and that the person they're sending to or receiving from is parent-approved, this feature's absence is sad to see.

And, considering the sexually explicit spam that's out, too, email recording has become a very important way to make sure your child isn't reading inappropriate materials, even if by accident.

Keyloggers record every key typed on the PC in question.

Originally keylogger software (and keylogger hardware, too, for that matter) gained notoriety as a "password stealer," but keyloggers really serve so many other purposes than just as a password stealer.

Sure, keyloggers do allows parents to see the usernames and passwords used to access inappropriate sites, but they can also provide parents with copies of data that's typed and then erased, for example in Microsoft Word.

Additionally, keyloggers can also perform a "last line of defense" of sorts, capturing things that might otherwise go missed like things that are typed into web pages or web-page based chats that aren't done through conventional instant messaging clients like MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo Messenger or other similar programs.

There are no screenshots available to parents who purchase CyberPatrol, something we hope they'll remedy in next year's suite.

Screenshots give parents a means of visually monitoring their child's Internet activities.

When screenshots aren't offered, parents usually have to check out suspicious websites themselves, to see what kind of materials their kids are seeing.

This is an extra step that many busy parents just don't have the time to take.

Cyberpatrol does a great job with setting computer usage limits. In fact, both the controls and the level of fine-grained control available in CyberPatrol's time limit controls is one of the best ones in any parental control program we reviewed, regardless of cost.

It might seem a bit daunting at first, as it scans your computer for available programs, but once you get down to the task of granting access to certain programs, chances are there are only a handful your child needs access to. The rest can be left in the default setting, which is blocked.

For each individual account, parents can create a weekly schedule that arranges the times not just Internet access is allowed, but access to any program is allowed, in half hour increments.

Their system allows fine-tuned control of access to absolutely any program on the system, so kids can be allowed to run Microsoft Word or Calculator after a certain time, but blocked from Internet access.

This is great for parents who don't want their kids to have unrestricted or uncontrolled access to the Internet at night, or when mom and dad are at work.

It's also useful for kids who are only allowed a certain amount of gaming time, or for those times when kids need to share a single PC.

Remote monitoring is one of those parental control software tools that we think of as a "must-have" for parents.

With remote monitoring parents can check in on their kids' Internet use from anywhere - at work, from another state, even from another computer in the same home.

Unfortunately CyberPatrol's remote monitoring is very minimal, and won't be useful enough for many parents.

There's a remote-access feature that's hidden by default, but it only works within the local network, so parents who aren't working within those parameters won't be able to access their child's computer data unless they return to the PC in question.

CyberPatrol offers a basic stealth mode that might fool younger kids.

Unfortunately it's not designed to be truly "invisible," and older kids will most likely easily discover they're being monitored early on.

For parents who really want to know what their child is up to online--particularly if their child is computer savvy or older than eight or nine or so, true stealth is a must, which is why we suggest WebWatcher and Spector Pro, which we believe are the two best parental control programs today.

CyberPatrol's tech support is good but not great.

They feature on online "knowledge base," designed to help users with common software glitches and problems.

Otherwise parents need to fill out a form, and wait up to 3 days for a response.

In the presence of market leaders like WebWatcher, Spector Pro, and eBlaster this is a bit of a weak spot for CyberPatrol. We'd like to see them do better.

While CyberPatrol offers parents some good computer monitoring features, when we compare parental control software we find that while CyberPatrol does serve a need in the market--especially in budget-conscious families with smaller children, there's still room for improvement.

First and foremost, why no recording of emails?

With all of its careful management of website blocking and monitoring, not to mention Instant Messaging monitoring and blocking, why leave emails completely out of the picture?

There are also no screenshots, leaving parents to look at suspicious websites themselves, which might be more than busy parents want to deal with.

Some parents just might not want to take the extra time to make sure each website or webpage is what it says it is.

CyberPatrol doesn't feature a keylogger, nor does it monitor search history.

For concerned moms and dads who want to know what their kids are looking for, or who need to catch the usernames and passwords used to access inappropriate sites, that these tools are missing is a sore spot.

CyberPatrol also doesn't monitor social networking sites.

In today's Internet community social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Friendster are important spaces where kids express themselves, but also where they can encounter cyber bullies, sexual predators, and other cyber criminals

It's also not uncommon for kids to post inappropriate photos or materials about themselves, and top quality parental control software programs really should include an option to monitor social networking sites.

Finally, CyberPatrol doesn't really offer remote monitoring.

It has a very limited remote-access feature that's hidden by default, since the company considers remote monitoring to be an advanced feature.

However, like Spector Pro, the remote monitoring only works within the local network, so it isn't all that "remote" after all.

That said, for $39.95 to monitor up to three computers, CyberPatrol does have it's place in the world of parental control software.

CyberPatrol is useful for setting time limits, for customizing different levels of computer monitoring, and for basic parental controls, even if it doesn't offer the more powerful features that many parents need for older kids whose Internet use could be harder to uncover, and more dangerous to boot.

In those cases we suggest WebWatcher or Spector Pro, for their more advanced and pro-active parental control features.