18 Mar 2009, 0026 hrs IST, ANI

MELBOURNE: With virtual assaults going on the rise, a software firm has introduced a new software programme to block out cyber bullies. NetBox Blue, the firm, has added the Cyber Bullying Prevention Engine, which can block, quarantine or report offensive emails. It is already being used by many private schools.

“A lot of the schools were saying to us they needed to lock down the use of email, for the students, trying to prevent them from receiving inappropriate content and anything related to bullying,” News.com.au quoted chairman John Fison as saying. Schools can implement a dictionary of words that are frequently used by cyber bullies, and the email is intercepted before it reaches the intended victim. “You can imagine some of the words that might be in that,” Fison said. “It (the program) can quarantine it, it can reject it, forward a copy to administrators, it depends on how the schools are setting it up.”