Okay
Microsoft Live Safety - Xbox
- Company
- Microsoft
- Version
- OS:2.0.16203.0
- Devices supported
- Gaming Console
- Price *
- free of charge
- Language of interface
- arabic, chinese, czech, danish, dutch, english, french, german, italian, japanese, korean, norwegian, polish, portuguese, russian, slovak, spanish, suomi, swedish, turkish
- Test date
- SIP Bench III, 1st test cycle, Summer 2013
EFFECTIVENESS
Microsoft Live Safety only offers to block or allow the access to Internet, it does not offer any filtering feature therefore no effectiveness tests could be performed.
USABILITY
Installation of the tool: Microsoft Live Safety is part of the Xbox OS Therefore the installation process was not tested with regard to usability.
Configuration of the tool: The configuration is not comprehensible. There is no way to influence the amount of information. It is difficult to find the parental control option for internet.
Usage of the tool: Microsoft Live Safety only offers to block or allow the access to Internet. There is no reporting or special blocking message.
Usability of the installation process: n/a
Usability of the configuration process: 2.3
Usability of the usage of the product: 0.9
Overall score for usability: 1.8 out of 4 points
FUNCTIONALITY
Parental control functionalities embedded with the device
The console is provided with a family security functionality which allows the PARENT to determine the settings both for the OFFLINE and the ONLINE features. Here are presented only the online features managed by the embedded tool: It is possible to enable or disable the internet access via browser. But there is no filtering option for content.
For other functionalities the parent can determine his/her own child/teenager levels of protection through the Xbox LIVE Settings panel, protected by a password.
SECURITY
The basic parental control function is available by default on Xbox. It is difficult to by-pass it. As the tool does not offer any filering feature, the security tests were not applicable.
DETAILED FUNCTIONALITY
| Area of need | Functionality | Specific issues | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management | Management of User profiles | Create several profiles | No |
| Remote Management | Manage on various devices | No | |
| Monitoring | Remote access to monitoring | No | |
| Filtering Customisation | Topics | Customisation of Filtering Topics | No |
| URLs White List | Restrict Browsing to White List | No | |
| Default White List | No | ||
| Modification OR Creation | No | ||
| URLs Black List | Creation of User's own Black List | No | |
| Keywords | Keywords | Default Black List | No |
| Default White List | No | ||
| Creation of a User's Black List | No | ||
| Creation of a User's White List | No | ||
| Time | Time Limit Settings | Set a specific time frame or web access duration | Yes |
| Blocking Message | Type | Ask for unblocking by parents | No |
| Redirect to safe resources | No | ||
| Usage Restriction | Web | Block Access | Yes |
| Monitor Access | No | ||
| Safe search | Availability | No | |
| Social Networks | Block Access | No | |
| Monitor Usage | No | ||
| Personal data Provision | Block | No | |
| Streaming | Block Access | No | |
| Monitor Access | No | ||
| P2P | Block the application | No | |
| Monitor Downloads | No | ||
| Skype | Block chat | No | |
| Block video chat | No | ||
| Monitor | No | ||
| Prevent new Contact | No | ||
| Windows Life Messenger | Block chat | No | |
| Block video chat | No | ||
| Monitor | No | ||
| Prevent new Contact | No | ||
| Block email client and/or webmail access | No |
DETAILED USABILITY FINDINGS
| Yes / No | |
|---|---|
| I: installation in 3 steps or less | Yes |
| I: choice of installation for beginners or advanced users | n/a |
| C: different degrees of strength for the filtering | No |
| C: different content criteria for the filtering | No |
| C: option to transfer filter configurations between target users | n/a |
| C: option to transfer filter configurations between devices | No |
| C: overall comprehensible configuration | No |
| C: overall conformity with user expectations | No |
| C: overall easy to learn | Yes |
| U: alert message in a child friendly language | No |
| U: option to customise the reaction in case of blocking | No |
| U: overall easily operable and comprehensible reporting | n/a |
DETAILED SECURITY FINDINGS
| The Tool prevents the user from by-passing the filter by: | Yes / No |
|---|---|
| Using the IP address instead of the URL | n/a |
| Using an alternative browser | n/a |
| Changing time and date settings* | n/a |
| Disabling or uninstalling the software without a password* | n/a |
| Closing the filtering tool trough the Task Manager | n/a |
| Using a proxy instead of a direct connection to the Internet | n/a |
| Accessing the web-pages through the Google Cache | n/a |
| Reaching a website through translation sites | n/a |
| Renaming a blocked application | n/a |
| Using Safe Mode | n/a |
| Filtering Content personalised by user | n/a |
| Filtering Content evolving through time | n/a |
| Filtering Multimedia content | n/a |
| Filtering outbound content | n/a |
