Fortinet was followed closely by Watchguard (97.3 percent), Websense (97.0 percent), SonicWall (96.1 percent), and Barracuda (94.0 percent).
Organizers at Untangle pitted the system performance against human judgment by Googling 50 porn search terms, which were then tested to 100 links deep.
Second place WatchGuard has questioned the methodology of the test by pointing out that savvy porn surfers can go around basic URL filtering in a variety of ways, perhaps calling into question the effectiveness of any filtering program.
However, Watchguard pointed out that its firewall protection also works against technologies used to bypass URL filtering.
“How does one interpret these results? It depends on your view on web filtering. All products performed within a small range, probably within the margin of error,” Untangle’s Dirk Morris wrote in his blog.
“If you are expecting to block all porn, all these products will not be effective, however, if you’re looking to control and monitor porn usage as much as possible, these products make great candidates,” Morris added. “Given the similar performance on this test set, other aspects should play a larger role in which to choose, like price, performance, and features.”
The Deep Throat Fight Club contest was held to coincide with last week’s RSA Conference, held in San Francisco.