Sessionwall includes URL usage monitoring and URL blocking options. A
Midwest-based fortune 500 firm uses this capability to monitor and block access to
inappropriate material for its entire enterprise. In the broader context of cultural norms
and individual taste, it may be debatable as to what is considered inappropriate, but in a
standard business setting, this material is non-business related and therefore
unproductive for most employees to view during working hours. Oftentimes, a great deal of
the content may also lead to avoidable human resource conflicts.
This company has all of its worldwide users connected
to the Internet through its Midwest location connection. A categorized control list is
updated on a weekly basis to help identify inappropriate web site access and provide
management with reports identifying which sites are visited. The Sessionwall URL blocking
list is composed of tens of thousands of URLs determined to belong to one or more
categories. The list offers a continuously updated database of (currently) twenty-seven
categories that employers have the option to block, with decisions made on a
category-by-category basis at individual sites. Although these categories represent
general content types encompassing an often-wide variety of materials, all are deemed
potentially inappropriate for today's typical workplace. Sessionwall URL blocking and
monitoring was selected because of the ability to identify specific user's web usage,
block specific users from specific URLs and provide the appropriate documentation to take
personnel action as required. Additionally from a technical standpoint, Sessionwall URL
blocking and usage monitoring did not introduce any network delays and was able to run on
a Pentium-based NT system even with the very heavy FDDI traffic.
As can be expected, on occasion the company
administrators have identified a site that wasn't classified yet and this was entered in
their own supplemental list. In response to these comments, Sessionwall has enabled a web
entry that URL subscription customers can use to identify sites to Sessionwall and these
will be added to the control list provided. This will provide increased control list
coverage.
Monitor and Block Inappropriate
Material
