In today’s corporate environment employee access to Internet resources is, for many, a daily job function. Fundamentally, the web is utilized for simple day-to-day operations including virus updates, software patches and hardware drivers and other network administrator duties.
2.
In today’s corporate environment employee access to Internet
resources is, for many, a daily job function. Fundamentally, the
web is utilized for simple day-to-day operations including virus
updates, software patches and hardware drivers and other
network administrator duties. Other divisions of an
organization may require the World Wide Web for resources
such as market updates, company news, and general research
on products or competitor’s products. In today’s business
environment, access to the World Wide Web is no longer an
option for many companies, but instead a requirement.
Such global World Wide Web access offered to employees
raises issues and concerns over user web habits and issues
with users utilizing the World Wide Web for business use
during business hours. This paper will attempt to address what
time and again is a problem for network and security
administrators: monitoring user access to the Internet in an
environment where blocking resources may not be ideal, cost
effective, or in accordance with company policy.
3. Why Internet Content Filtering
Software?
As an employer you have concerns about productivity,
copyrights, trade secrets, improper internet usage and
protection of data in connection with electronic communications.
That's why it's important to always keep an eye on your
employee activity. Nowadays the easiest solution is to install an
internet content filtering software.
This will ensure companies the required protection, by
monitoring the employees' web activity. The large amounts of
time wasted surfing non-business-related websites, personal e-
mail sending or chatting with friends costs the company money
in lost productivity.
4.
The internet filtering program records all these and generate
reports and statistics for the employers to see what happens
within their organization. Other threats for the company, like
download/index1.htmling large files might slow down the
network and visiting unsafe/improper websites could get
company in problems with law.
But web content filter monitors the entire Internet traffic and
blocks the access to websites and files according to the chosen
filter. The requested web pages are displayed only if they
comply with the specified filters. Companies can restrict URL's
or keyword matching websites to ensure efficient and
appropriate internet browsing.
5. What are the main functionalities of
this internet filter program?
Url and Content Filtering - allows management to
monitor and control the network use and abuse. The
web content filter can either block access to specific
websites or allow specific web sites to be accessed
while all other are blocked based on keywords or URL
patterns and URL black lists.
Detailed Reporting and Consolidated Statistics -
allows management to monitor internet traffic and
breaking rules attempts
6. Profiles - allows you to block content specific
web sites, such as adult, hacking and virus
infected web sites.
Protection against file download/index1.htmls
- at management discretion (files blocking
the extension: ".exe", ".bat" (applications),
"mpeg." "mp3", ".wav", ".avi", ".mpg"
(Audio/Video) and .ace. rar, .zip (archive).
7. Other reasons to choose Internet
Content Filtering Software:
Aggregated Statistics - for longer time periods allow for strategic
planning and resource allocation.
Scheduler - the capacity to calibrate a specific user list through a
scheduler unrelated to active filters.
Easy Management of monitored user lists through a user friendly
Web Interface.
Internet Sharing provides the possibility of Internet access to multiple
computers through a single Internet connection.
The Cost Effective Solution provides strict traffic control, allows
company to enforce its policy while Web Security is assured.
Designed for Windows Platform, Cyclope Internet filtering proxy
supports all internet connection types including dialup, cable modem,
ISDN, DSL and ADSL.
8. Proxy Inspector
High-speed internet access has become
an integral part of office work. Sending and
receiving e-mails, ICQ negotiations, Skype
calls, Internet advertising and online
marketing require spending a lot of time in
the World Wide Web. But the easy access
to online resources has caused outrageous
abuse of computers in the workplace, which
is now a serious problem for managers.
9.
Employees spend working hours on online
shopping, writing non-work related
messages or surfing social networks, and a
considerable number of workers even do
on-the-job job hunt! There have been
cases, when certain employees spent eight
hours a day downloading pornographic
videos and pictures in the workplace. It
prevented other stuff from reading business
e-mails and almost paralyzed the corporate
network.
10.
Such activities are now known as cyberslacking or
cyberloafing, and lots of managers take measures to minimize
it. Website filtering and blocking lists were rejected as
ineffective and time-consuming, and the most efficient way to
control corporate internet usage today is to use Internet
monitoring programs. It is not a question of individual privacy,
but of the abuse of company assets – according to surveys, the
average employee spends about two hours each day using the
Internet for personal reasons, and the wasted computer
resources cost American companies more than $1 billion a year.
11.
ProxyInspector is a perfect solution for
Internet usage analysis and reporting. This
family of simple and efficient applications
ensures effective monitoring, so your
corporate network will never be a
distraction for your employees, but a tool for
productivity enhancement.
12. How does ProxyInspector work?
The program retrieves information from log files of such popular
proxy servers like Qbik WinGate, Ositis WinProxy, Kerio
WinRoute Firewall, Kerio Control 7, Squid, EServ, Microsoft
Threat Management Gateway 2010 or Microsoft ISA Server
2000/2004/2006 and gives a comprehensive report on Internet
usage: which workstations are the most active, what websites
they access, what is the general traffic distribution among sites,
protocols, days of week, times of the day etc. ProxyInspector
runs at a great speed even when working with large-sized log
files.
13.
14. Key features:
Variety selection of reports for any task;
Ability to work on any computer in your LAN;
Charts;
Ability to export reports to HTML, Microsoft® Excel and PDF;
Printing reports directly from the built-in browser;
Tools for automatic logs files import and reports creation;
Sending reports via e-mail;
Support for most popular proxy servers: Microsoft® Threat
Management Gateway 2010, Microsoft® ISA Server 2006, 2004
and 2000, Kerio WinRoute Firewall, Kerio Control, Qbik
WinGate, Ositis WinProxy and Squid.
