Protective DNS for keepers, enclosure systems and family WiFi
A zoo runs animal records, keeper tablets, enclosure controls for water and temperature, gate ticketing, catering tills and CCTV across acres of outdoor site. Shield checks each DNS lookup before a connection starts, so phishing, malware and C2 callbacks stop at the lookup. Visitor WiFi comes second: family-safe for children on school trips and lighter on data along the trails.
What is at stake
Where a zoo network is exposed
Enclosure controls online
Water quality, heating and lighting controllers in aquariums and reptile houses connect out for monitoring. Infected, they put animals at risk.Keeper tablets in the field
Keepers log feeds and health checks on shared tablets. One phished login exposes animal and staff records.Children along the trails
Families hand phones to children between enclosures. Unfiltered WiFi lets adult content and malicious ads reach them.
How Shield fits
A policy for keepers, enclosures, gates and visitors
- Keepers and office staffThreat defence on keeper tablets and office devices across the site's staff networks, with nothing to install on them.
- Enclosure and life supportControllers and sensors on their own VLAN, limited to the domains they report to, visible through the relay.
- Gates, cafés and shopsThreat-first policy for ticket scanners, catering and retail ePOS and card terminals.
- Visitor WiFiFamily-safe categories, Safe Search and ad blocking, with lower data use across the site.
Guest WiFi policy
- Adult contentBlocked
- GamblingBlocked
- Safe Search on Google, Bing and YouTubeEnforced
- Streaming at busy timesLimited
Allow list
bookings.examplemenu.exampleBlock list
rival-venue.exampleProof
What Shield gives a zoo
- 10 days
- earlier warning of new phishing and malware domains than standard blocklists
- 44%
- less data used on visitor WiFi with ads and trackers blocked, in Purple's own tests
- Friendly WiFifiltering meets the Friendly WiFi standard for family-safe public WiFi
- IWFfiltering meets the Internet Watch Foundation bar on visitor WiFi
FAQ
Questions we hear from teams like yours
Can we see which enclosure device made a lookup?
Yes. The relay keeps each device's internal IP visible on segmented VLANs, so reporting drills down from a domain to the controller or sensor that looked it up. You can spot a device behaving oddly before it affects an enclosure.
Do we need hardware across the site?
No. Point your routers, firewalls or DHCP at Shield, with no appliances in plant rooms or kiosks. Nothing needs installing on visitors' phones, and keeper tablets on the network are covered as they join.
Will filtering slow the WiFi on the trails?
No. Blocking ads and trackers lightens the load: up to 44% less data used and up to 62% fewer DNS queries in Purple's own tests. That matters where outdoor coverage relies on limited backhaul.
Can conservation and research staff use their own tools?
Yes. Set policy per user or group through Microsoft Entra ID or Active Directory. Research teams can reach the file-sharing and data tools they need while keeper and retail devices stay on tighter rules.
What happens if Shield goes down?
Shield runs on a dual anycast DNS network and fails closed, so an outage never leaves your networks unfiltered. Enclosure, gate and visitor networks keep their policy whichever node answers.
Other industries
Cinemas
Threat defence for ticketing, kiosks and concession tills, with family-safe WiFi in the foyer.Theatres
Threat defence for box office, show control and bar tills, with family-safe audience WiFi.Music venues
Threat defence for door scanners, cashless bars and production kit, with lighter fan WiFi.
Decide what your network reaches, free for 30 days
Tell us which networks and sites you run and who is on them. We map a policy to each one: staff, guests, students, residents and IoT. Then point one network at Shield and see what it stops for 30 days, before you pay anything. Running change control? We plan a pilot on one site with your team instead. No hardware to install.
- We map your networksA Purple expert maps your networks, your venues and the people on each, and answers your questions on bypass, outages, data handling and integrations.
- You get a policy for each oneStaff, guests, students, residents, IoT and paid tiers, each with the policy it needs.
- You prove it, then get your tailored quote30 days free on one network, or a pilot on one site planned with your team, then Shield priced standalone or as an add-on to your Access plan.
Your policy map
Tell us your networks. We map a policy to each one.
A Purple expert comes back with a policy for every network and group you run, from the team that has run content filtering since 2012 and runs WiFi for 80,000+ venues in 90 countries.