Should Companies Restrict Web Access?

Need to restrict internet access in your network? In this tutorial you will learn how to block websites using a free trial of BrowseControl, CurrentWare’s web content filtering software.

With BrowseControl you can…

Block websites based on URL, category, domain, or IP address

Schedule unique internet restrictions throughout the day 

Assign custom policies for each group of computers or users,

and enforce internet usage policies, even when devices leave the network

There are 3 ways to block employee internet access with BrowseControl

1) Block access to specific websites with the Block List

2) Restrict internet access to only certain sites with the Allow List 

3) Using the Category Filtering feature you can block access to content categories such as Porn, Virus Infected, or Social Media 

For complete control over internet and application use in your network, you can combine BrowseControl with BrowseReporter, CurrentWare’s internet monitoring software.

All right, let’s get started.

To begin, sign up for a free trial of BrowseControl at CurrentWare.com/Download. After filling out the form you will be provided with the files you need to get started with BrowseControl.

To install BrowseControl, run CurrentWare.exe on the administrator’s computer and follow the installation instructions; this will install the CurrentWare Console and Server. 

After that, deploy the CurrentWare Client Setup file (cwClientSetup.exe) on all of the computers you would like to control. 

From there you can import your Active Directory organizational units or manually create your desired policy groups.

For full installation instructions, please visit our knowledge base at CurrentWare.com/Support. 

Now that you have BrowseControl installed, I’ll show you how to block specific websites based on their URL, domain, or IP address with the URL Filter.

This feature can be used to block your employees from accessing distracting websites like Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram.

First, decide whether you want to control internet access based on users or computers and select the desired mode.

Next, click on the URL Filter then select “Blocked List”

From the drop-down menu, select the group of computers or users that you want to restrict

Enter the URL, domain, or IP address of the websites you want to block to the master URL list, then press the Enter key or click “Add”. 

BrowseControl will apply a wildcard to the URL, ensuring that any paths within the domain will be blocked as well.

In the master URL list, select the websites you want to block for the chosen group, then click “Add to Blocked List”.

If you would like to add the selected websites to the block list of multiple groups, you can press the drop-down arrow and select “add to multiple groups”, select the desired groups, then click “add to blocked list”

If you have a large number of websites you would like to block, you can also use the import feature to import an existing list.

Finally, click “Apply to Clients”.

That’s it! You have now blocked your employees, students, or patrons from accessing those specific websites. 

Next, I’ll show you how to restrict internet access to only certain sites.

This feature is ideal if you want to prevent your employees, students, or patrons from accessing websites that are not explicitly allowed by your organization.

The process is identical to how you would block a website, except this time you will set the internet to “off” and add the websites you would like to allow to the Allow List.

With this method, your users will only be able to access the exact websites that have been approved by your company.

Here are the full instructions.

First, decide whether you want to control internet access based on users or computers and select the desired mode.

Next, click on the URL Filter, then ensure that “Allowed List” is selected

From the drop-down menu, select the group of computers or users that you want to restrict

Next, set the internet to “Off”. This will ensure that only the websites that are added to the allowed list can be accessed.

Enter the URL, domain, or IP address of the website you want to allow to the master URL list, then press the Enter key or click “Add”. BrowseControl will apply a wildcard to the URL, ensuring that any paths within the domain will be allowed as well.

In the master URL list, select the websites you want to allow for the chosen group, then click “Add to Allowed List”

If you would like to add the selected websites to the Allowed list of multiple groups, you can press the drop-down arrow and select “Add to Multiple Groups”, select the desired groups, then click “Add to Allowed list”

If you have a large number of websites you would like to allow, you can also use the import feature to import an existing list.

Finally, click “Apply to Clients”.

Next, I’ll show you how to block websites based on content categories such as Porn, Virus Infected, and Social Media 

With BrowseControl’s category filtering feature you can block billions of websites across over 100 URL categories. More than 10,000 new domains are added each day, making it simple to restrict internet access even as new sites emerge. 

Here’s how:

First, decide whether you want to control internet access based on users or computers, then select the desired mode.

Next, click on “Category Filtering”

From the drop-down menu, select the group of computers or users that you want to restrict

Select the web content categories you would like to block, then click “Add to Blocked List”

Finally, click “Apply to Clients”.

That’s it! 

The Allow List can also be used in tandem with the Category Filtering feature to allow websites that would otherwise be blocked based on their content category. 

For example, you could use the Category Filtering feature to block Social Media while still allowing access to LinkedIn.

Now that you’ve seen the 3 key ways you can block a website with BrowseControl, I’d like to show you how to restrict internet access at certain times.

With BrowseControl’s Internet Scheduler you can schedule custom block or allow lists throughout the day. 

This feature will bring some flexibility to your internet restriction policies; in this example, we will allow our employees to browse the internet during lunchtime.

Here’s how to use the internet scheduler

First, decide whether you want to control internet access based on users or computers and select the desired mode.

Next, click on “internet scheduler”

From the drop-down menu, select the group of computers or users that you want to restrict

Next, click “New Schedule”

Set the start and end time of the schedule. Then, select the schedule type.

Internet On will allow internet access to all websites that are not on the URL Block List

Custom allowed list will only allow access to specific websites.

Custom blocked list will block access to a specific list of websites and allow access to the rest of the internet.

Custom Category blocked list will block specific categories and allow access to the rest of the internet.

Next, set your desired schedule frequency.

Daily will enable the schedule every day during the specified time period.

Weekly will enable the schedule only on specific days of the week.

Monthly will enable the schedule only on specific months.

Next, click “Add Schedule”.

If you selected one of the custom block or allow list options, you can click the link provided under the “schedule type” column to set the websites or categories that you would like on the list.

And finally, click “Enable Scheduler” if it is not already enabled

That’s it for today. If you’re ready to start blocking websites you can get a free trial of BrowseControl at CurrentWare.com/Download. 

If you have any questions during your evaluation our support team is available to help you over a phone call, live chat, or email.

See you next time!

Should companies restrict what websites their employees can access? The internet allows businesses of all sizes to access incredible amounts of knowledge and other helpful resources that are critical for business growth. Surely there’s no need to limit internet access in the workplace, right?

Here’s the thing – while the internet is an amazing tool when used appropriately, it also allows for plenty of undesirable consequences: Malicious hackers exfiltrating sensitive data, underaged persons discovering age-inappropriate content, and lost productivity when employees spend too much of their time on distracting websites.

In this article you will learn the common reasons why employers block employee internet access and the various ways that you can limit internet use in your company.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that 30 to 40 percent of employee internet activity is non-work related. This high level of personal internet usage at work is costing US businesses $63 billion in lost productivity each year, according to Websense Inc.

Why Companies Restrict Web Access

  1. Bandwidth Management: Bandwidth abuse causes severe latency and network crashes. Organizations will use a bandwidth analyzer to identify the users and websites responsible for the excessive bandwidth usage, later adding them to their internet blacklist to prevent future abuse.
  2. Network & Endpoint Security: By preventing users from accessing malicious websites that are known to contain malware, an internet filter provides critical security controls for protecting sensitive data 
  3. Productivity Management: Content filters are used to block access to distracting websites and computer applications such as social media sites, computer games, and video streaming services. 
  4. Data Security Compliance: Organizations that are responsible for sensitive data such as personal health information (PHI) will use internet blocking tools to prevent employees from maliciously or negligently leaking data through
    unauthorized data management channels such as personal cloud storage accounts.
  5. Blocking Inappropriate Content: Administrators will use web filtering to blacklist content that are considered NSFW or otherwise inappropriate for their users such as porn, grotesque imagery, violence, and profanity. Filters prevent underaged users from accessing adult content and prevent employees from accessing websites that contribute to a hostile work environment.

Learn More: Why Web Filtering Software is Critical for Businesses

CASE STUDY
Keeping Students Safe With CurrentWare’s Web Filter for Schools

Unrestricted internet access is detrimental to cybersecurity and productivity.

Read the Tennessee College of Applied Technology’s case study to learn how CurrentWare’s website blocking software helped them keep their students and systems safe.

Different Ways to Restrict Internet Access

Block Websites by Category

Screenshot of category filtering window from BrowseControl web filter. Porn and social media categories blocked.

With the Social Networks category blocked, employees can not access websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

A popular solution to this dilemma is to allow Internet access but block inappropriate or non-productive sites. But finding each of the different websites that employees are accessing can be a daunting task.

New websites are popping up every day, and the number of websites that should be blocked in the workplace could be impossible to gauge.

In this case, BrowseControl offers URL Category Filtering to provide an efficient and straightforward means of instantly blocking unauthorized sites. Consisting of over 150 URL categories such as Sports and Social Media which cover millions of domains, employers can easily block thousands of non-productive websites by blocking individual categories.

Create a Custom Allowed List

BrowseControl URL whitelist with several websites allowed

Turn the Internet off completely and only permit access to company websites to increase employee productivity.

Another solution for employers in this dilemma would be to block the Internet altogether and only permit access to work-related websites. This solution can be configured easily through the BrowseControl console and allows for employers to create custom Allowed Lists for their employees to access.

Allow Internet During Breaks

BrowseControl's internet scheduler

Configure an Internet scheduler to allow employees to access the Internet during breaks.

For workplaces with stricter Web access policies, employers can choose to allow employees to access the Web during specific times of the day such as lunch or work breaks. With this configuration in place, employees can have something to look forward to for their breaks and employers can be sure that the Internet is only being used during designated times.

Sai Kit Chu
Sai Kit Chu
Sai Kit Chu is a Product Manager with CurrentWare. He enjoys helping businesses improve their employee productivity & data loss prevention efforts through the deployment of the CurrentWare solutions.