Previously I’ve shown you how you can use DNS to block pornographic websites for free. It is quite powerful but there are loopholes on the IP addresses. However, if a person tries to use proxy/anonymizer sites to try bypass OpenDNS and view the porn sites, the proxy sites can also be blocked.

It is not totally flawless but it is free and considered a very good way to block porn websites. There are still ways to get porn pictures into the computer. An example is a friend can email porn pictures to your Gmail which you can open without restrictions. You can also use proxy tunneling softwares to bypass the block and access any porn websites. If you’re using OpenDNS and still worried about adult pictures being displayed to your children, you can harden the protection by installing a free software which is able to identify and block pornographic images from displaying in any e-mail client or web browser.


PicBlock is able to protect yourself and others from accidental or intentional exposure to pornographic images on the Internet. Unlike traditional porn blocking tools that limit your choice of image search engine or rely on constantly outdated URL blacklists, PicBlock blocks porn by detecting the amount of flesh tones in images. To supplement objectionable image detection, PicBlock also analyzes page content for sexually explicit keywords in multiple languages, resulting in a powerful, two-pronged approach to filtering out pornographic content.

PicBlock features include:

Detects objectionable images in web pages, e-mail messages, iTunes album art – any HTTP-based content

Supplemental filtering for objectionable words in dozens of languages including Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and many others.

Facial recognition helps reduce false positives by identifying whether a questionable image is actually a person’s face.

Customizable filtering sensitivity levels

Administrator password to limit access to PicBlock’s configuration

Lets authorized users unblock images incorrectly blocked

Maintains a list of safe sites as a result of an unblock action

Keeps a protected log of all block/unblock activity

Is tamper resistant, even for computer savvy individuals

Enterprise installation options for mass distribution

Silent Mode for stealth filtering

Is easy to install, configure and operate

Best of all, it’s absolutely FREE for personal use!

PicBlock is not really fool proof as well because simply killing picblock.exe from Windows Task Manager will disable it. To beat this, you’ll need to enable “Disallow Internet access if PicBlock isn’t running” from Settings. I recommend you to run PicBlock in silent mode, meaning it will be hidden and the only way to launch PicBlock settings again is by pressing the configured shortcut key (by default Ctrl + F1). Make sure you’ve set the PicBlock administrator password and check at the necessary options at the Security tab.

Combining both free PicBlock software and OpenDNS service, it will highly prevent kids online from accidentally being exposed to porn.

[ Download PicBlock ]