Features and Benefits Appliance-based, Scalable Content Filtering Solution. SonicWALL CFS is an enterprise-class, scalable content filtering service that requires no additional hardware or deployment expenditures. Web Site Rating and Caching. The innovative SonicWALL CFS architecture catches URL ratings locally on the SonicWALL appliance. These Web site ratings are stored for all future users that attempt to visit the URLS, making response time to frequently visited sites virutually instantaneous. SonicWALL CFS Premium Editions dynamically rate pages not in the database and automatically populate the database for future access.

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Comprehensive Database. SonicWALL CFS reduces costs and extends protection by combining a comprehensive, continuously updated database featuring millions of URLs, IP addresses and domains with a unique caching system that reduces latency to a fraction of a second.

Group Policies. SonicWALL CFS Premium Editions give administrators the flexibility to enforce custom policies for groups of users on the network. Multiple policies can be created that filter by category type and by time of day.

Local URL Filtering Control. SonicWALL CFS provides local filtering control, allowing network administrators to specify domains or hosts to be allowed ("Trusted") or denied ("Forbidden"). This capability can be used to customize the Content Filter Database, or to allow access to sites in a custom database, making the system even more effective at blocking objectionable material.

Java™, ActiveX® and Cookie Blocking. The ability of SonicWALL CFS to block most automatically downloaded files increases security beyond the capabilities of most firewalls. Java and ActiveX are often used for hacker attacks. Cookies create privacy concerns, because they direct a remote Web browser to save small amounts of data on the local disk, and can be used to store preference information and track Web usage history.

Block by Time of Day. SonicWALL CFS allows network administrators to choose the hours when content filtering takes place. A school could, for example, filter specific content during school hours and remove that filter after school. A business could allow unfiltered Internet access to employees during lunch hours and after work hours.

User Level Authentication (ULA). SonicWALL CFS provides network administrators with a greater level of control over who may or may not access the Internet by enforcing ULA, which requires users to log on to the corporate network with a username and password. Web-based Management Interface. SonicWALL CFS provides an easy-to-use Webbased management interface for simple policy configuration and complete control over Internet usage.

Integrated Management and Reporting. SonicWALL CFS can forward data directly into SonicWALL’s award-winning Global Management System (GMS) and ViewPoint reporting package to generate detailed reports on Internet usage.

Content FIltering Service Architecture