Students are constantly finding new ways of bypassing school web filters, whether through proxy sites, VPNs, mirrored URLs, or even AI-assisted tools. For IT directors, it’s a frustrating game of cat and mouse that takes up your time and exposes your network to unnecessary risk.
Sometimes students are trying to avoid classwork by watching YouTube or playing games. In some cases, though, these bypass attempts are a deliberate effort to evade oversight, access unsafe content, or use unapproved communication tools. Most web filters can’t keep up with the speed and sophistication of student workarounds. That’s where Securly Filter, powered by PageScan, makes a critical difference.
Why Bypassing School Web Filters Is Risky
Circumvention isn’t just a policy violation; it’s a real threat to student safety and IT security. When students bypass your school web filter, they can:
- Access inappropriate or unsafe content that is intentionally blocked
- Invite malware, phishing, and spyware into your network
- Disrupt learning time for themselves and their peers
- Put the district out of compliance with CIPA and other protective measures
Even a single student finding a workaround can create ripple effects across your environment. It only takes one posted link or shared shortcut to expose hundreds of devices – and the data behind them.
How Securly Filter Stops Web Filter Circumvention Attempts
Most school web filters are built to block known risks. They rely on static blocklists or periodic updates to decide what students can or can’t access. That creates two problems: 1) outdated information leads to overblocking or missed threats, and 2) districts are left doing a lot of manual adjustment.
Securly Filter is different. Powered by proprietary PageScan technology, it anticipates that new and unknown sites will be encountered by students. Using a large language model (LLM) combined with field-tested algorithms, PageScan semantically analyzes web content, structure, metadata, and imagery in real time. If it finds harmful, inappropriate, or suspicious content or images in a site, it automatically categorizes that site and adds it to the global block list.
When a student attempts to access a new proxy or suspicious site, PageScan:
- Analyzes the page’s text, metadata, structure, and images
- Identifies signs of circumvention or proxy behavior
- Instantly adds the site to Securly’s global block list
This process happens instantaneously and automatically. No need for manual review or blocklist updates. Once a new site is flagged, it’s blocked for all 8.6 million+ students protected by Securly Filter.
5 Benefits of Securly Filter That Other School Web Filters Can’t Match
Securly Filter’s PageScan technology was originally developed to solve one of the most pressing problems in school web filtering: how to block harmful or inappropriate websites that aren’t already on the blocklist.
Over the past decade, PageScan has evolved to address new threats like proxy and VPN circumvention, but its core purpose remains the same: real-time protection from inappropriate or unsafe content.
Here are five key ways Securly Filter, powered by PageScan, delivers unmatched protection and peace of mind for K–12 IT teams:
1 | Automatically Blocks New Harmful or Inappropriate Content
Most web filters rely on predefined domain lists to block unsafe sites, but the internet is constantly changing. It’s estimated that 252,000 new websites go live every day, many of which contain content that’s inappropriate for students or even outright dangerous.
PageScan continuously scans and categorizes new websites as they appear, using large language modeling (LLM) to analyze their text, structure, metadata, and visual content. This allows Securly Filter to automatically block inappropriate, explicit, or unsafe content, even when the site is brand new and has never been reviewed manually.
2 | Stops New Proxy Sites Before Students Can Use Them
Students are quick to share new circumvention tools, whether through Discord, Reddit, or even word of mouth in the lunchroom. If your filter only blocks known sites, you’re always one step behind.
Securly Filter with PageScan eliminates this delay. It detects suspicious behavior and proxy indicators the moment a student lands on a site, ensuring that emerging threats are caught before they become widespread. Instead of reacting to student bypass attempts, you’re proactively shutting them down.
3 | Protects Your Students and Network from Security Vulnerabilities
Many proxy and circumvention tools aren’t just evasive, they’re dangerous. These sites often contain malicious code, phishing pages, or tracking scripts designed to exploit student devices and compromise district networks.
With Securly Filter, you get more than content filtering, you get an added layer of threat detection. It acts like a digital bouncer, blocking sites that appear suspicious or harmful, even if they’re newly created or disguised behind redirects.
4 | Keeps Students Focused and Classrooms on Track
When students are bypassing school web filters, it’s harder for educators to maintain engagement and digital discipline. Students lose focus, switch tabs, and disrupt instructional time, creating headaches for teachers and tech staff alike.
Securly Filter helps solve this problem at the source. By eliminating easy filter workarounds, it encourages students to stay within approved digital boundaries. Teachers regain confidence that classroom devices are being used appropriately, and IT teams field fewer complaints about off-task behavior.
5 | Gives Time Back to IT Teams
Keeping up with filter circumvention often means manually reviewing reclassification requests, updating blocklists, and responding to teacher concerns. These tasks are time-consuming and steal bandwidth from more strategic work.
With Securly Filter, these tedious demands become automated. Its PageScan technology evaluates and classifies new sites so you don’t have to. Most reclassification requests are now handled by the system itself, with only outlier cases requiring human support.
Don’t Let Students Outsmart Your School Web Filter
Student circumvention tactics will only get more creative. If your web filter isn’t evolving, it’s falling behind.
With Securly Filter, you can feel confident that you’ve made a smart filtering decision for your students’ safety. You’ll also get much more than just a run-of-the-mill school web filter.
Resource-constrained district and school technology teams need an efficient and effective web filter that’s designed for the requirements of K-12 education and, ideally, that makes your job a little easier. They’re finding it in Securly Filter.
Much more than a web filter, Securly Filter also helps you:
- Safely and responsibly introduce AI in the classroom
- Give families control and visibility of student devices at home
- Support holistic and proactive student wellness monitoring
- Gain visibility into edtech usage and make data-informed investments
Learn more about Securly Filter:
- See What Actual Customers Say: Read the G2 reviews of Securly Filter
- Watch a 2-minute Video: Learn how Chico Unified School District is building on web filtering to support students in crisis
- Read the Blog: Discover 5 essential features that set Securly Filter apart
- Securly Filter Product Overview: Understand all of the helpful features you get with Securly Filter