Web Filtering
If you could choose between an appliance that just sees web traffic or one that comes with an IPS, traffic shaper, VPN concentrator, web filter and firewall for the same price which would you choose?
URL Filtering
Today’s Internet-savvy users are spending more and more time on their favorite social networking or using the latest hot new personal application.
Stand-alone URL filtering solutions are insufficient control mechanisms because they are easily bypassed with:
- external proxies (PHproxy, CGIproxy)
- circumventors (TOR, UltraSurf, Hamachi)
- remote desktop control tools (Yoics!, RDP, SSH)
Controlling user activity requires a multi-faceted approach that implements policies to control web activity and the applications that are commonly used to bypass traditional security mechanisms.
Why Palo Alto for web filtering:
- No per user license fees
- Unlimited licenses
- Multi-function capability
- Threat scanning
- Centralized management lets you view and control multiple sites locally
- 76 categories and more than 20 million URLs
- seamless integration with Active Directory, eDirectory, or LDAP
- Real time logging with customized reporting
Fully integrated URL filtering database enables policy control over web browsing activity, complementing the policy-based application visibility and control that the Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls deliver.
- Block access to non-desirable web sites to reduce security, legal and regulatory risks.
- Reduce malware incidents by prohibiting access to known malware and phishing download sites.
- Tailor web filtering control efforts with allow list, deny list and database customization.
- Facilitate SSL decryption policies such as“don’t decrypt traffic to financial services sites” but “decrypt traffic to blog sites”.
Palo Alto Networks’ next-generation firewalls identify and controls more than 950 applications, irrespective of port, protocol or SSL encryption or evasive characteristic. Once identified, the application identity, not the port or protocol, becomes the basis of all security policies, resulting in the restoration of application control. Acting as the perfect complement to policy-based application control is an on-box URL filtering database that provides control over non-work related web activity. By addressing the lack of visibility and control from both the application and web perspective, enterprises are safeguarded from a full spectrum of legal, regulatory, productivity and resource utilization risks.
