What is the purpose of a firewall in an organization?
To allow or disallow access from certain applications
Firewalls serve as a barrier between trusted and untrusted networks.
What is a content filter?
A tool used to filter data inside web pages
Content filters can be referred to as URL filters or website category filtering.
What do content filters control?
What data is going out and what data is coming in
This is particularly important for organizations dealing with sensitive data.
What is an example of content filtering at home?
Parental controls
These filters restrict what information can be seen by family members.
What type of content filter blocks access to known-bad sites?
Content filters that prevent visits to sites with viruses, malware, and malicious code.
What does URL stand for?
Uniform Resource Locator
Sometimes referred to as a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).
What is an allow list?
A list of URLs that users are permitted to access.
What is a block list?
A list of URLs that are denied access.
What is URL filtering?
A method to control information visible in a browser by managing URLs.
What are agent-based content filters?
Filters installed on users’ devices that manage content filtering directly on the client.
They work independently of the network firewall.
What is a proxy?
A device that sits between users and an external network to control traffic flow.
What is the function of a forward proxy?
To facilitate user requests to external websites while providing additional security and content filtering.
What is a transparent proxy?
A proxy that works without requiring special configuration on the client.
How do URL filters categorize websites?
By assigning websites to categories such as adult, educational, gambling, etc.
Most URL filters have over 50 different categories.
What is reputation-based filtering?
Filtering that allows or blocks sites based on their perceived risk or reputation.
What does DNS stand for?
Domain Name System.
What is DNS filtering?
A method that prevents users from accessing known malicious sites by not providing their IP addresses.
What happens when a user requests a malicious site with DNS filtering enabled?
The user does not receive the IP address of that site.
They may receive a default IP address or no IP address at all.
What is the advantage of DNS filtering beyond web pages?
It can block DNS requests from malware attempting to communicate with command and control servers.
What is the role of a central console in content filtering?
To manage agent-based content filters across multiple devices.
What are some categories of sites in URL filtering?
True or False: A content filter can only block websites based on their fully qualified domain name.
False
Content filters can also evaluate site reputation.