Any business or organization that allows employees, guests, customers or students to access the Internet should give careful consideration to their web protection. It only takes a single visit to a compromised website for a whole network to be infected. Although antivirus software exists that can identify and quarantine certain types of malware, it typically works retrospectively and is not often fast enough to prevent certain types of attacks – particularly ransomware attacks.
In order to enhance your web protection, most IT security experts agree businesses and organizations should have a “multilayered” approach. What this means is that you should implement various online security solutions to protect yourself against different attack vectors. For example, email filters can help protect against phishing emails, ad blockers can help protect against malvertising, and network monitoring tools can help protect against data theft – from both insiders and outsiders.
Where a Web Content Filter Fits In
At the core of the multilayered approach to web protection should be an effective web content filter. The majority of malware payloads are delivered via the web and – even though the door may have been left open for the cyber-attacker by a phishing email, a malware-infected advert or a network intrusion – web content filters physically prevent users visiting websites known to harbor malware, and can also be configured to prevent certain types of downloads most commonly associated with malware.
However, not all web content filters are the same. In order to maximize web protection, a web content filter has to be easy to use and flexible. If a web content filter is too complicated to use or too inflexible, the risk exists that the filtering parameters may be set too high – preventing businesses from working efficiently or users accessing innocent material. Conversely, if the filtering parameters are set too low, gateways may be left open for malware downloads and ransomware attacks.
Filters for Web Protection from SpamTitan
SpamTitan is part of a large group of companies that have been providing web protection solutions since 1999. Our web content filter – WebTitan – has won awards for “policy control combined with solid malware protection, web filtering and application control” and has been specifically designed with ease of use and flexibility as priorities. WebTitan filters are managed via a centralized web portal and use a three-tier filtering mechanism to ensure maximum flexibility and web protection:
- In the first tier, blacklists restrict access to websites known to be harboring malware, while SURBL filters block access to fake websites used in phishing attacks, and URIBL filters prevent users visiting websites that hide behind a proxy server or use the whois privacy feature.
- In the second tier, millions of web pages are sorted into fifty-three different categories (abortion, adult entertainment, alternative beliefs, alcohol, etc.), allowing system administrators to block access to those that contravene user policies with the click of a mouse.
- In the third tier, keyword filters can be used to fine-tune category selections – i.e. block access to certain subjects without blocking the entire category. Keyword filters can be applied to stop users downloading files with extensions frequently associated with malware (.exe, .scr, etc.).
Other features you will find on a WebTitan web content filter include malicious URL detection, phishing protection, and SSL inspection. SSL inspection is very important for web protection. Whereas once online encryption was only used to secure financial transactions, more than half the world´s most visited websites are now encrypted. Aware of this, cyber-attackers often hide their malware payloads within encrypted websites. A recent investigation into fake SSL certificates found that 99.5% of encrypted websites with the word “PayPal” in their URL are known to be fake and used for phishing.
Try a WebTitan Web Content Filter for Free
The only way to really know if a web content filter is easy to use and sufficiently flexible for your needs is to try it out – and we are giving businesses and organizations the opportunity to do just that. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, simply get in touch with our Sales Technicians Team and request your free trial of a WebTitan web content filter.
As there are a choice of deployment options available (software-based, cloud-based, or a cloud-based solution for WiFi), our team will discuss your requirements with you and help determine which is the most suitable filter to enhance your web protection. Then they will talk you through the process for registering for your free account, starting your free trial and configuring the software.
There are no credit cards required, no contracts to sign and no commitment to continue using our service at the end of the trial period. If you do decide to continue using WebTitan at the core of your multilayered approach to web protection, we can offer you a choice of competitive subscription packages based on the number of users that will connect to the filter, your preferred deployment option and your preferred payments timetable. You can also trial our cloud-based anti-spam service in addition to your web filtering trial. Contact us today to find out more.
