Companies looking to take more control of their employees' Web usage may want to check out GFI's new WebMonitor software. Its access control plug-in for Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server allows administrators to monitor the sites users are browsing and what files they are downloading - in real time.

GFI WebMonitor 3, formerly only available as a lightweight freeware tool, will now be offered as a commercial version which can scan all downloads for viruses, perform proactive content filtering - such as preventing access to adult sites - and block files based on type, among other new features. GFI WebMonitor also supports add-ons which enable it to identify and block malware including Trojans, adware and spyware.

GFI WebMonitor installs on ISA Server 2000 and ISA Server 2004 as a Web filter and is apparently transparent to the user, making it useful to control users' browsing habits and ensure legal compliance - in a manner that will not alienate one's network users. It enables administrators to check and instantaneously stop any traffic that could compromise the company's network security, open it to legal liability, or jam the corporate bandwidth.

'Many companies exercise some control over users' Web browsing habits - not only to ensure productive use of the Internet but also to safeguard users from objectionable sites and to ensure that downloads are virus-free,' said Andre Muscat, GFI Product Manager. 'The traditional full-blown Web proxy filters are cumbersome to install/administer and expensive to buy, while log file analysers are awkward to use and do not allow for real-time monitoring and blocking. A tool like GFI WebMonitor provides instantaneous Internet access control in an easy-to-use and highly affordable manner.'

GFI WebMonitor 3 now includes a new real-time online adult content filter, which checks sites for the presence of objectionable material such as pornographic images, offensive words and links to adult-oriented sites. If a site is found to be offensive, ISA Server blocks access to it.

Through the joint capabilities of Yahoo! SafeSearch and GFI WebMonitor, one's site filter list is automatically updated whenever a user tries to access an adult site - even if this site is not yet in the existing filter list. The user's access to this new site is blocked all the same. As this list management is done automatically, administrator time is thereby freed up.

GFI WebMonitor is bundled with BitDefender anti-virus software. However, it is also available in multiple virus engine format via its support for the optional Kaspersky anti-virus engine. All HTTP (Web) and FTP (file transfer through HTTP proxy) traffic entering and exiting ISA Server are scanned for viruses and infected files are blocked. The Kaspersky engine also catches other forms of malware such as Trojans, adware and spyware. Anti-virus updates are carried out automatically as definition files become available.

When a user browses a Web site that an administrator wishes to block, this can be done by adding this site through GFI WebMonitor to an ISA Server 2004 URL set used by the access blocking rule. All the rule properties of a standard ISA Server 2004 rule can be applied (including the ability to exclude certain users, time restrictions and so on).

GFI WebMonitor 3 analyses filetype signatures to define the 'real' filetypes of the objects being downloaded, giving the administrator the possibility to block undesired real filetypes and to recognise other types as dangerous - even for traffic disguised as harmless content (by definition in the HTTP header).

BIOS, Sep 02, 05 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Networking