|
faqs: Why can’t I access certain sites?
Paradigm Services works continuously with the MOD to provide good Internet services for its customers. Access to most sites is permitted if they do not contravene the new MOD Internet Blocking Policy, (link to the internet policy) which Paradigm Services has recently put in place. Any sites that contravene this policy will be automatically blocked by our Websense content blocking software and firewalls and an automatic message will be displayed on the screen advising the requester of the category that this site infringes.
Other reasons for inaccessibility to sites are due to: -
Requirements to download a piece of software in order to run the application
An example of a site which requires software to be downloaded is the Nat West Bank Online Banking system. The first time a user starts the online banking system a small software file is downloaded onto their PC. This downloaded file enables the user to access NatWest Online Banking securely.
When the PC software for our customer terminals was developed and tested, Paradigm Services were unaware of this requirement by Nat West, and therefore this software was not installed on the customer terminals. A link to the Nat West web site has been part of a similar Internet service that has been operating in the Balkans since November 2000 and we had not received any queries or reports of difficulties with the service prior to deployment of the customer terminals. So far Nat West is the only financial institution requiring its own software that has been brought to our notice. If your bank requires software to be installed, then please inform Customer Support so that it can be reviewed for inclusion in future updates.
In order to ensure maximum availability of their terminals, without system failures due to installation of badly behaved or incompatible software, the customer terminals were built with a very tight security policy to prevent customer’s downloading and installing new software. Unfortunately, this sometimes means that our customers are unable to take advantage of the latest software innovations.
Paradigm Services will continue to investigate the feasibility of installing this software in a future release of the PC terminals and will keep our customers advised accordingly.
Control of secondary links to unsuitable sites
It is not possible for Paradigm Services to monitor and control secondary level links to unsuitable sites and, so for the protection of our customers, access to any sites displaying these links will be automatically blocked.
Destination Internet site is faulty/down
On occasions, customers may experience inaccessibility to otherwise accessible sites. In the main, this is due to the fact that the destination site requested is currently experiencing faults and the site is down. Customers should try and access the site again at a later time/date to check on the operational situation. In these instances, Paradigm Services cannot intervene to assist.
The content blocking software has miscategorised the site
In some instances the new, upgraded, Websense 4 content blocking software has erroneously miscategorised sites, which then contravene the new MOD Internet Blocking Policy and access has therefore been denied.
In instances where this occurs the requester should advise Customer Support at Paradigm Services giving details of the correct URL address so that we can investigate, rectify and notify Websense to amend this error permanently for the future. If a URL is not provided, we will contact you to provide one, and this may lead to further delays in resolving your enquiry.
Common Fire Wall Error Messages
-
403 Access Denied
- 500 Time Out of the requested site – When this message appears, the problem lies outside of Paradigm Services as the fault is with the destination site.
|
