About URL Filtering

URL filtering ensures that the users of your network cannot access web objects that are considered a risk for web security or are not allowed because they contain inappropriate subject matter or for other reasons.

Currently, the databases that we are retrieving filtering information from include more than 400 million entries, which correspond to billions of categorized URLs. 

The URL filtering process uses this category information, together with reputation scores and blocking lists to block or allow web access. A default version of this process is implemented on Secure Web Gateway after the initial setup.

Important configuration items used in this process include:

• URL Filtering rule set — Default rule set for URL filtering

• Dynamic Content Classification rule set — Default rule set supporting the URL filtering process
  
  The rules in this rule set categorize web objects based on the analysis of the Dynamic Content Classifier component when other URL filtering methods yield no results.

• URL Filter settings — Default settings for the URL Filter module, which handles the retrieval of category information and reputation scores from intelligence systems.
  
  These settings also include options for configuring the Dynamic Content Classifier.

The default process requires that you maintain the block lists used by the rules in the URL Filtering and Dynamic Content Classification rule sets. You can further modify this process to meet the requirements of your organization.

You can also extend the process in several ways or set up a process of your own.