Your group should have web content filtering in order to stop web browsers from viewing web sites that are hosting malware, viruses, and ransomware and stop them inadvertently installing malicious software onto their business network or individual devices.
Using this you can prevent cyber attacks and disable web pages that result in productivity-draining activity in the office. Other issues such as potential complaints to the Human resources due to improper web usage and the use of bandwidth draining platforms can also be prevented using web content filtering.
Choosing the Correct Web Content Filter
A range of different types of web content filters enable content control and prevent cyberattacks. This can be a hardware type solution that is put in place on site on an existing device or a cloud based solution that is hosted digitally off site. Which of these you choose should be based on your group’s specific needs.
The most important things to consider are compatibility, flexibility, and scalability should be the main three areas you research when choosing your solution. Here we will outline the things you need to include when you make your final decision.
Key Aspects of a Web Content Filter
- Compatibility: You need to recognise if a cloud- or hardware-based solution is what will work best on your network. Solution vendors will be able to arrange APIs that connect seamlessly with your current network, billing and management software.
- Scalability: You should be able to grow or cut your filtering capacity based on the development of your group. Having done your initial research to find the ideal solution you want something that should work indefinitely, not something that you will have to replace in five years’ time.
- Granularity: based on the size of your group, the refining aspect of your Internet content filtering solution may also be required. Flexible, or granular, web content filters allow different permissions to be set according to department, user group or individual member of staff.
Internet Filtering Solutions
The three standard methods used to prevent access to specific web pages are blacklists, category filters and keyword filters:
- Blacklists: Blacklists are openly available online include directories of web pages that are associated with malware, pornography or other inappropriate content. You can also whitelist some websites for certain individual or groups of web sites
- Category filters: The majority of web content filters allow you to enable preventing the access to specific content by category. This means you can disable access to websites known to host malicious content.
- Keyword filters: This permits a greater degree of refinement in relation to what level of access you allow to web content. Thresholds can be established that will trigger a website block when a certain density of a specific keyword is present on a website.
Using these three tools most groups will be able to implement the correct type of web content filters to match the needs of the business.