Bloxx top of the web filtering table for Celtic

“We chose Bloxx as it met all of our technical requirements at a cost that we could afford. As well as promoting sensible, safe and productive Internet use within the business, we also wanted to protect the club from legal action by keeping illicit online content away from our employees and ultimately our IT network.”

Peter Lawwell, Chief Executive, Celtic PLC

Celtic Football Club Ltd has chosen Bloxx web filter to search, track and block both offensive and inoffensive websites. It has chosen the revolutionary appliance-based solution which uses Tru-View Technology to keep online workers protected from harmful content and prevent them from inadvertently posing a risk to the IT network.

Over the years the team has brought home a host of silverware, marking the club’s presence on the world stage. Founded in 1888, the Glasgow-based Celtic Football Club has just won the Scottish Premier League for the 41st time. The club has an established global brand through appearances in the UEFA Champions League and prides itself in being the first British team to win the European cup.

With the increasing amount of online activity being conducted at Celtic FC, the club felt it necessary to seek a web filtering solution, in a bid to protect its employees from inadvertently stumbling across offensive websites, or sites that may also cause harm to its IT network. “As well as promoting sensible, safe and productive Internet use within the business, we also wanted to protect the club from legal action by keeping illicit online content away from our employees and ultimately our IT network,” explains Celtic FC IT Manager, David Howell.

The club had already trialled a Microsoft ISA based software solution, but from this decided that a dedicated appliance would be a more robust and favourable option for the club. “We chose Bloxx as it met all of our technical requirements at a cost that we could afford,” explains Howell. “Bloxx’s one-off appliance cost is a more economical option than solutions on the market including the likes of Websense, which requires its customers to pay reoccurring annual fees.”

Bloxx offers appliance based web filtering and security solutions, used extensively throughout the public and private sectors across Europe. Through its patent-pending Tru-View Technology, Bloxx is the first solution to use live analysis with contextual understanding to automatically track and classify both ‘offensive’ and ‘inoffensive’ websites – even if no one has seen the content before. Working in real-time, Tru-View Technology analyses and blocks these sites quicker, more accurately and with more web coverage than other first and second-generation web filters, which rely on manual classification and simple keyword systems.

“Irrespective of the nature of one’s organisation, surfing on the web has become an everyday tool. Similarly, the Internet is a vital member of the team for the Celtic FC workforce, as a mechanism to manage online season ticket orders, communicate with fans and act as a research tool,” comments Bloxx Director of Software Development, Paul Murphy. “The Club is the perfect example of an organisation which has recognised the dangers it can be exposed to and has taken positive action by adopting Bloxx Tru-View Technology to monitor and regulate online activity.”