Blue Coat Web Filter

What is Content Filtering?

URL filtering is the process of limiting a user's Web site access through a policy that is associated with a specific URL or topic category. URL filtering running on a ProxySG (On-Proxy) provides performance and policy extensions not found with a URL list alone. Because the Internet is ever changing, the

Blue Coat webfilter solution

ProxySG periodically downloads updates from the master Blue Coat Web Filter database so that your policy can incorporate new and updated sites.

Configuring Web Filter URL Filtering

There are four steps to implement the Web Filter database

Contact Blue Coat to obtain the Blue Coat Web Filter solution database
Enable content filtering on the ProxySG
Configure an automatic filter update schedule
Enable Blue Coat WebFilter categories using the Visual Policy Manager

Step 1 – Open An Account with Blue Coat

Web Filter's URL filtering requires a purchased license for use of its database. For evaluation purposes you can receive a free 60-day license by accessing www.bluecoat.com and http://www.bluecoat.com/aboutus/sales/index.html. After your registration a Blue Coat sales representative will contact you with download instructions

Step 2 – Enable URL Filtering

From a Web browser go to the Blue Coat web filter solution ProxySG management interface
Select the Content Filtering / General option
From the dropdown list select Blue Coat (Cerberian) and click on Apply
Select Web Filter (Cerberian) from the Content Filtering list (on the left of screen) to obtain the download screen shown below
Enter your username and password as supplied by Blue Coat
Click on Apply to save changes
Click on Download Now to start the Blue Coat Web Filter download. You will see the following screen when the download starts. When completed, this screen will indicate that the download was successful.

Step 3 – Enable Automatic Downloading
To enable automatic downloading of the database on a periodic basis follow these steps:

From the Web Filter screen select the Automatic Download tab
Check the box Download New Filter
Select a download time from the drop-down list
Check the days for the frequency that you want the filter list updated
Click Apply to save the changes

Step 4 – Enable Web Filter Categories via Visual Policy Manager
To enable the Blue Coat Web Filtering solution categories follow these steps:

Open up the Visual Policy Manager and add a new rule under any previously defined Web Access Layer by clicking the Add Rule button. If you have not added any layers yet, then you will need to create a Web Access Layer. See Blue Coat documentation for information on how to use the Visual Policy Manager
On the destination field, right click and choose set, a new window will appear, click on new and select categories
You will then be presented with a Category Listing
Select Adult/Mature Content, Gambling and Sports categories to test this policy
Click on OK
The pop-up window showing selected URLs and the new category list will be shown, click on OK. Install the policy to the ProxySG by clicking on Install Policies

Testing Your Configuration
To test your configuration you simply open your browser and type in a category-related URL: for example, www.sportsillustrated.com. You can also test sites in the other categories as well to verify they will be blocked. If you have configured the policy correctly, the Blue Coat policy will deny you access to this site if it is part of a restricted category.

Conclusion
The Blue Coat Web Filter ProxySG supports numerous vendors to run URL filtering “On-Proxy”. The ProxySG supports automatic downloads of the Web Filter database and integrates the database with powerful policy functionality.