- Secures Web interactions and enforces Web policies
- Agent Intelligence supports optimal performance
- Transparent user experience
Web Security for Roaming Users
As the distributed workforce continues to grow, the need to prevent the loss of employee productivity
from Web misuse while protecting them from Web-based threats is critical. Employees accessing the Internet
outside the protections of the company network or VPN can be more susceptible to security risks due to the
use of unsecured networking environments.
Symantec MessageLabs Web Security.cloud service offers roaming user support options to help you protect
your workforce whether they are on the road or simply working from home. The service also enables your Web
usage policies to be enforced more effectively, helping promote compliance and improve productivity among
users.
Smart Connect: Web Protection for Roaming Users
Smart Connect is an agent-based technology that enables you to support roaming or highly mobile users by allowing them to seamlessly migrate over numerous networking
environments.
With Smart Connect for Web Security.cloud, roaming users receive protection against Web-borne malware,
acceptable Web usage policies are enforced and administrators gain insight into user Web activities.
A remote worker support option is also available for businesses with non-roaming teleworkers or employees
who work from remote offices.
How Web Security for Roaming Users works:
- Administrators install Smart Connect onto a user’s machine
- Smart Connect communicates with Symantec.cloud using a secure channel
- Geographic-location awareness connects users to the optimal global infrastructure access point
- Smart Connect is authenticated with the service
- The user is authenticated for individual policies
- Web browsing is secured and compliant with your policies
System Requirements
The Smart Connect agent installs on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (32 bit and 64 bit)
operating systems. It is designed to be compatible with leading third party Web browsers, including
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Apple Safari, and Google Chrome.
Compatibility has been tested with endpoint security products including third party antivirus, client
firewall, VPN, and desktop management products.
Q: Why is Web Security.cloud important to my business?
A: The use of the Web is now central to doing
business, so it’s important to protect your organisation. There are two core areas to effective
Web Security; Enforcing user policy via Web URL Filtering; while also protecting against malware
and spyware which is now found on over 70% of legitimate websites. Our Web Security.cloud service
provides this protection;
- Helps you defend your organisation from Web-borne threats- malware and spyware
- Aids enforcement of your Web Acceptable Use Policy and promotes proper Web use
- Enables a consistent, secure browsing experience for end users
- Helps protect bandwidth and productivity by applying file download, time and volume limits
- Protect remote and roaming users and enforce policies regardless of location.
Q: What is the difference between Web Security & Web Filtering?
A: Web Security protects your
organisation against malware and spyware found on websites used by your employees.
-Web URL Filtering is about enforcing policy such as blocking or allowing websites. These filtering
policies can be set by URL category, specific URL, users and groups, time of day, content type, or
internet consumption level.
-Web Security.cloud services keeps your organisation protected by providing both URL filtering and
protection against web-based threats.
Q: Why is Web Security so important today?
A:Web filtering will always play an important role in enforcing policy, however it does not protect your
organisation against web-borne threats such as malware and spyware. Today over 70% of malware that we
encounter on the web is on legitimate websites that your employees are going to on a regular basis
throughout the day. So just enforcing policy through simplistic web filtering won’t improve your
security.
Symantec Web Security.cloud protects your organisation against web-threats utilising both signature based
systems and heuristics to identify and protect against both known and new web threats. More importantly
its detects web threats in real time in the cloud, so that the threats never reach your network in the
first place.
Q: Why is Web Security.cloud superior to other solutions?
A: Web Security.cloud blocks 100% of known web-borne virus, spyware and phishing threats. As users browse
the Web, the pages are scanned live with multiple scanners that detect malware difficult for traditional
desktop AV to identify.
Information on zero-day threats is gleaned from actively following
millions of web links as part of our Email Security services. It is this knowledge of new threats
that truly sets us apart. Support for roaming users extends protection and policy enforcement to
employees who access the Internet from outside the corporate network.
Q: Can I customise the user notifications and alerts?
A:When access is denied to a website for any reason, an alert page is normally displayed in the user’s
web browser – this can be set up as required, for example with details about what has happened and what
the user should do next.
Q: Do I need to lock down port 80 on my firewall?
A: Once the redirection to the Web Security Services proxy service on port 3128 has been set up and
fully tested, port 80 should be blocked on the gateway firewall device. This will ensure that all
outgoing web traffic can only go via the Symantec.cloud Web Security Services. This is especially
important if the users’ web browser proxy settings cannot be locked down. It forces the users to
keep the proxy settings in place if they want to be able to surf the net. This is also important in the
case of a mixed environment where both PC and Mac users are being configured. The PC users can have
their settings locked down but the Mac users cannot be restricted in this way, so locking down port
80 on the firewall is essential.
Q: Is the service scalable?
A: Delivered as a cloud-based service, our solution is scalable to fit your needs as they grow and does
not require the upfront investment and hardware costs found in other solutions.
Q: Is Web Security.cloud services easy to setup?
A: Yes. Customers use the service by directing Web traffic requests to the Symantec.cloud services for
examination, rather than passing a user directly to the Web site or performing scanning within a
client’s infrastructure. Roaming users also have their browsing automatically routed to our service
via a software agent.
Q: Does it provide a simple management console?
A: Symantec.cloud offers a single, integrated management console for email, Web and instant messaging,
simplifying administration and lowering total cost of ownership while providing increased visibility
into user behavior.
Q: How does Symantec.cloud integrate with Active Directory?
A: Our services synchronise with your Active Directory to acquire groups, users, email addresses, aliases,
and distribution lists. Combined with our roaming agent or local client side proxy, this integration
allows you to get reporting at the user level by Active Directory username.
Q: What are the Management and Reporting Capabilities?
A: Web Security.cloud includes several reporting options to inform administrators of the service’s
effectiveness and actions. Reports are configured and obtained using the service’s ClientNet Web-based
portal. Dashboard, summary, detailed and scheduled reporting options are included and are configurable
to provide visibility, accountability and confidence in the effectiveness of the service.
Q: How can we protect from the threats inherent in users accessing web-based email?
A: There are
two levels of protection. You could;Block access to all Webmail sites by category; or if the Webmail site
does not use SSL, you could permit it, knowing that items downloaded via HTTP to the
client PC are checked for malware and spyware.
Q: What is the maximum interval between someone making a change on the UI and it being applied
to the environment?
A: Changes are typically applied within one hour – on average the time will be around
five minutes, and normally will not be more than fifteen minutes.
Q: What is the cost of the web security service?
A: All Symantec.cloud services are based on a
per user, per month subscription, plus a one-off minimal set-up fee.You simply pay a fixed monthly cost based on the number of users connected. Each service can be purchased separately or you can bundle multiple services to provide complete security protection.
All pricing quotes are individually tailored for each client’s specific requirements and Symantec.cloud
offers discounts for both scale and multiple services.