CFS

Filtering and Control
Organizations of every kind assume substantial risks and costs when they provide Internet access, particularly when those connections are used to access sites containing information or images that are inappropriate, illegal or dangerous. Unrestricted Web access can result in excessive non-productive Web surfing, creating tremendous losses in productivity. SonicWALL Content Filtering Service (CFS) provides the ideal combination of control and flexibility to ensure the highest levels of protection and productivity. SonicWALL CFS prevents individual users from accessing inappropriate content while reducing organizational liability and increasing productivity.

SonicWALL CFS allows enforcement of User Level Authentication (ULA) by requiring individuals to log on to the corporate network with their username and password. Administrators are given complete control over who may or may not access the Internet, further enhancing organizational control, protection and productivity.

This innovative solution uses Cerberian's comprehensive URL database to instantly sort questionable or inappropriate sites into categories. The network administrator applies policies to each category, enforcing the desired levels of access for groups and individuals. Approval or denial of access can be made by category, individual, or time of day. This flexibility allows organizations to easily maximize productivity while protecting users and the organization against objectionable content.

When a network user requests a URL or Web site, SonicWALL CFS captures that destination and checks it against its immense database. If the user does not have permission to access this type of material, denial is enforced. The entire process, from request to denial or permission, takes only a fraction of a second. Driven by a powerful new rating and caching architecture, SonicWALL CFS is an enterprise-grade service that rates and filters millions of URLs, IP addresses and Web sites. Ratings for acceptable Web sites are cached within the SonicWALL appliances for instantaneous access.

Administered through an intuitive interface, SonicWALL CFS enables filtering and control to take place directly over a LAN, WLAN or VPN. The innovative rating and caching architecture and remarkable speed of SonicWALL CFS combined with the power and scalability of SonicWALL appliances delivers an integrated, easy-to-use, manageable solution for networks of any size.

Content Filtering Service Architecture

SonicWALL CFS user
Distributed SonicWALL CFS ratings data base
Local ratings cache of acceptable sites
Set URL polices to block objectionable or counter productive Web sites
Reports using SonicWALL ViewPoint or GMS

Features & Benefits

Granular content filtering allows the administrator to block all pre-defined categories or any combination of categories, and to apply these policies on a granular level. User Level Authentication (ULA) and Single sign-on (SSO) can be used to enforce username and password logon. CFS can block potentially harmful content such as Java,™ ActiveX,® and Cookies, as well as schedule filtering by time of day, such as during school or business hours. CFS also enhances performance by filtering out IM, MP3s, streaming media, freeware and other files that drain bandwidth.

Dynamically updated rating architecture cross references all Web sites as they are requested against a highly accurate database categorizing millions of URLs, IP addresses and domains. The SonicWALL appliance receives ratings in real time, and then compares that rating to the local policy setting. The appliance will then either allow or deny the request, based on the administrator’s locally-configured policy.

Regulatory reporting and compliance is supported by direct integration with SonicWALL’s award-winning Global Management System (GMS) and SonicWALL ViewPoint™ reporting package. SonicWALL ViewPoint™ reporting software along with SonicWALL CFS can allow management to easily run detailed or “at-a-glance’ graphical reports on real-time or historical data.

Easy-to-use Web-based management enables flexible policy configuration and complete control over Internet usage. Administrators can enforce multiple custom policies for individual users, groups or specific category types. Local URL filtering controls can allow or deny specific domains or hosts. To more effectively block objectionable material, administrators can also create or customize filtering databases.

Scalable, cost-effective solution controls content filtering from the SonicWALL network security appliance, eliminating the need for additional hardware or deployment expenditures from a separate dedicated filtering server.

High-performance Web caching and rating architecture allows administrators to easily and automatically block sites by category. URL ratings are cached locally on the SonicWALL appliance, so that response time for subsequent access of frequently visited sites is only a fraction of a second.

IP-based HTTPS content filtering allows administrators to control user access to Web sites over encrypted HTTPS. HTTPS filtering is based on the categorical rating of inappropriate Web site types, such as Gambling, Online Banking, Online Brokerage and Trading, Shopping and Hacking/Proxy Avoidance.