BrowseControl provides distinct web filtering technologies to safeguard your end users against unauthorized website access and to restrict downloads and uploads activities.
- Advanced HTTPS Filtering
- UIA
- Hybrid (Mix of 4 and 5)
- WFP
- LSP
The default selection on install is Advanced HTTPS Filtering mode.
You can switch your filtering technologies under Settings > Client Settings > Filtering.
What do these selections mean and how do they work?
Advanced HTTPS Filtering
Advanced HTTPS Filtering uses deep packet-level filtering with custom HTTPS certificates to perform SSL scanning to inspect HTTPS traffic to identify data exfiltration attempts, and block access to websites and download/upload activities.
Advanced HTTPS Filtering allows administrators to use BrowseControl to its full potential to perform the following web filtering tasks:
- Full URL restrictions: Control and limit Internet access by specifying allowed domains or complete URLs, giving you the ability to manage access to entire websites or just specific pages.
- Domain restrictions: Control and limit Internet access to entire websites, without the option to block/allow specific pages or content through URLs.
- Block downloads and uploads: Prevent both the downloading and uploading to reduce the risk of malicious files being introduced to the network or sensitive data being exfiltrated.
- Blocked website message: Customize the message that users receive when they are denied access to restricted websites.
Using the Bypass List to skip SSL scanning
The Advanced HTTPS Filtering Bypass list enables administrators to exclude domains, applications, IP addresses, and ports from SSL scanning. This exclusion helps troubleshoot any conflicts between CurrentWare and the websites or applications essential for your team’s operations. A client service restart or system reboot is required to apply the changes.
UIA Only
UIA reads the browser’s address bar using accessibility settings and reroutes blocked websites to a localhost file to display a warning message. This action functions at the browser level to enable or restrict access.
In this mode, you have the ability to append particular websites to your block and allow rosters, alongside personalized block messages. This empowers your users to request access to specific pages (find instructions here). As an illustration, you could include “youtube.com/employeetrainingvideo” to your allowed list while maintaining a block on the remainder of YouTube.
UIA can perform the following web filtering tasks:
- Full URL restrictions: Control and limit Internet access by specifying allowed domains or complete URLs, giving you the ability to manage access to entire websites or just specific pages.
- Domain restrictions: Control and limit Internet access to entire websites, without the option to block/allow specific pages or content through URLs.
- Blocked website message: Customize the message that users receive when they are denied access to restricted websites.
Hybrid Mode (LSP/WFP)
LSP and WFP filters are two closely related filtering technologies situated at the network layer of a computer. They examine and capture the packets transmitted from your computer to the website it intends to access. This establishes a network-level control for allowing or blocking. When employing this blocking approach, it’s advisable to exclusively add the domain to your list of blocked or allowed sites. For instance, you’d include only “google.com” rather than “drive.google.com.”
The only difference between these two technologies lies in their compatibility with the Windows operating system. LSP is predominantly compatible with Windows 7 and 8, while WFP functions more effectively with newer Windows operating systems.
If your network employs a mix of Windows OS versions and you opt for this mode, BrowseControl will automatically select the appropriate filtering technology for your end users.
The hybrid mode can perform the following web filtering tasks:
- Domain restrictions: Control and limit Internet access to entire websites, without the option to block/allow specific pages or content through URLs
Additional Settings
Turn on Google Safe Search
When users perform Google searches, BrowseControl will ensure that Safe Search is applied to the search results. This option is found under Settings > BrowseControl > Advanced Settings.
Domain or Full URL Filtering
This option is paired with the Web Filtering technology to perform filtering to computer groups in PC mode. We recommend leaving these options unchanged and keeping the default value “Full URL Filtering” selected. This option is found under Settings > BrowseControl > Advanced Settings.
Domain level filtering: this setting follows the same filtering rule as the LSP/WFP filtering option
Full URL Filtering: this setting follows the same filtering rule as the UIA filtering option
