Internet Security » Define Internet Security

Web Content Filtering - The Need (Part II)

"Ignorance is bliss, and most people accept this false sense of security."

The management of any enterprise must ensure optimal utilization of every available resource for itself.

In most organizations today, Internet access is an established resource. It's availability needs to be ensured for the important business activities, and proper steps need to be taken to control it's access.

Unless there is an active and accepted Corporate Internet Access Policy, the enterprise will remain vulnerable to:

  • Productivity Losses,
  • Collateral Losses,
  • Prestige Losses.
And any of these losses can transform into the either of the other two, and eventually cascade into recurring Financial Losses.

A careful validation of the reasons, for which Internet access should be permitted, is most important. Such a set of carefully validated reasons, are also termed as - acceptable applications. The validity of reasons that define an acceptable application, generally depend upon the following parameters:

  • The name of the user, who will be allowed to make the Internet access.
  • The web-application that will allowed to make Internet Access
  • The IP or the network address of the system that may be used for Internet access.
  • The content based identity or generic classification of the web-site that may be accessed.
  • The time and duration of the Internet access.
  • The nature and size of the content that may be accessed.
  • The quantum of Internet resources that may be utilized, to facilitate the access.
  • The number of times such access may be made.

Adherence to a well-defined list of such acceptable applications must be made mandatory, and may be declared in the Corporate Internet Access Use Policy.

Alternatively, an enterprise may choose to define unacceptable applications.

The validity of reasons that define an unacceptable application would be simply a negated list based on the above mentioned parameters.

Manish Kochar is the founder CEO of Office Efficiencies India Private Limited (OEIPL). Under his guidance, OEIPL has developed a number of security products like CxProtect, an anti virus solution for Linux based Email servers; and SafeSquid (http://www.safesquid.com/), which is a Linux based Content Filtering Internet Proxy.

Source: www.isnare.com