Kurupira: Block Websites & Programs, Disable Internet And Track Usage

Are you worried that your kids are wasting their time on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube? They spend more time playing video games and less in School? With Kurupira Web Filter installed on your PC, you won’t need to be concerned any more. It is an application and website blocking tool that lets you easily blacklist certain URLs and your computer programs, so nobody can access them. In addition, you can control how much time your kids are allowed to spend on the internet via blocking it for a particular period of time in a day or on certain days. The application is quite handy to keep an eye on your children, so they don’t lurk around on various harmful websites, containing material about violence, pornography, profanity, online games and so on. This also prevents a number of viruses and worms from entering your PC, as such websites usually contain various malicious threats. In addition, you may also seize access to selected software on your PC, for say, applications containing your important projects, media players, games etc. Kurupira comprises straightforward usage and is quite easy to configure, too. Furthermore, it can track and show a complete history log, as well as graphical reports regarding application and domain usage...

There is quite little to commend about its conventional interface design, which looks to be inspired from some jungle environment. When launched for the first time, it asks you about your Birth year, Gender and Place of use, after which you need to setup your email and password, so nobody but you can access this utility. It sits quietly on system tray and password helps in preventing anyone from closing or uninstalling it from your PC. The Web Filter houses Web, Applications and Settings tabs to the left, each containing its own set of options. There are two methods to dismiss access; either by inputting the URLs or an applications name in Blocked list or by entering them in Allowed list. For instance, if you want to only block Google.com then enter its URL in Blocked websites list, and should you desire to allow only Google, then enter the URL in Allowed websites, and rest of the websites won’t work. You can tweak its behavior underWeb filer settings.

You may also add certain Exceptions to websites or applications, so Kurupira doesn’t intervene with those websites and programs. The application allows to import websites list from a TXT file as well, so you don’t need to enter tens of different domains, individually. If you click IM and Social network button under Webtab, it contains a predefined list of some major social networks and IMs, such as Facebook, Orkut, My Space, Sonico etc., which enables to control their access from one central location. As stated earlier, you can automate the tool to disable internet for certain period of time, which can be configured by clickingTime controls button.

Akin to blocking websites, blocking an application also works pretty much the same. In fact, is rather more lucid. For example, if you want to block Microsoft Office Word, simply enter and store Word in Blocked applications database, and the software would forbid any program containing Word in its name. Another interesting feature you will find under Applications tab is Captured screen. If enabled under Application filter settings, the program will start to take a screenshots after the pre-defined time interval, and you can manage and see those screenshots via clicking Captured screens.

Clicking Reports button enables you to see a graphical report of the total usage on selected dates. Interesting, it can track both the domain and application usage. For example, it displays a pie chart about most accessed domains/applications, Access Per Day, Blocked and Allowed websites percentage, Access per user and Blocked websites list.

Settings tab allows you to configure a few application specific options, such as change password, toggle email notifications regarding certain instances, select language and other generic options.

Verdict

Kurupira Web Filter is designed for folks who need a simple way to blacklist certain internet websites without going through the hassle of configuring advanced options in Firewall or Router’s settings. Moreover, application blocker provides an added advantage to disable various programs. The only annoyance we found is that accessing a blocked website redirects you to Kurupira search engine. It works on all versions of Window. Testing was carried out on Windows 7 64-bit.

Download Kurupira Web Filter