Bankings sites

Hi SUBHASRI D 

You can check the category in which the URL is getting blocked and then allow the specific category from Policies> Web Control> Settings. If you want to allow specific URL you can follow the below steps: 

1) On Sophos Central Admin console locate the Overview tab.
2) Under the Overview tab, click on Global Settings.
3) In the Global Settings, locate General Settings and then Website management.
4) Click on Website Management and click on the Add tab located on the upper right hand of the screen.
5) Fill out the details in the Add tab as follows
- Enter the URL/Website to be allowed/blocked.
- Select the most probable category of the website.
- Add tag - Blocked/allowed
6) Click Save, the website will be blocked for all consoles under Sophos Central.
Then go to your web control policy > Control sites tagged in website management and then add the tag.

Let me know if it helps. 

I am blocking all categories but have to allow banking sites but I did not find specific categories for it in Web control. And in global exclusions should I add tags? How to do that??

Regards,

Subhasri

Hi SUBHASRI D 

It should be falling under the "Finance" category as per the categories listed in this article. The above-mentioned steps are to be followed when you want to allow specific website which is getting blocked and you can create tag under web control policy as mentioned above. If you want to create global exclusion (we do not recommend doing so as it may reduce your protection), you can check out this link and can specify websites for exclusion using IP address, IP address range (in CIDR notation), or domain under Website option. 

Hi Subhasri D,

Since you're blocking all categories, you can leave the category override blank as all categories are blocked.  You'll want to give the websites a tag under Global Settings > Website Management.  Once the tag is made, navigate to Policies > Web Control > Settings Tab > Control sites tagged in Website Management.  This is where you specify whether to Allow, Warn, or Block all sites you have specified with that tag.

You do not want to add the sites to Global Exclusions as this excludes it from Sophos Anti-Virus scanning.  The blocks are coming from category blocking of Web Control, not Anti-Virus.

I've included screenshot steps below:

Hi SUBHASRI D 

As Shweta has guided you to exempt the website from the getting blocked from web control, you'll be able to make it available to users.

Never add websites to the global exclusions, as this will remove those websites from Web protection. Web protection and Web Control both are different features. 

• The Web protection feature is part of Sophos Anti-Virus and is included with all Sophos Central licenses that include this product. This feature is designed to prevent threats from reaching the web browser.
• Web control is an additional feature available in the following licenses:
  
  • Sophos Central Endpoint Protection Advanced.
  • Sophos Central Enduser Protection.
  • Sophos Central Server Advanced Protection.
    
    Note: Web Control is a feature of the Sophos Central Server Advanced license. A User license is also required for each individual that you allow to access the internet from the server, for example using Remote Desktop/ Terminal Services. This is in line with Sophos’ EULA which defines a User as an employee, consultant or other individuals who benefit from the Product. 

Web control is focused on giving the administrator control over web browsing with specific differences between User Policies and Server Policies:

1. 1. User Policies
      
      • Block by category of the site
      • Block particular file types or specific websites
      • Prevent access to sites that increase the risk to the organization.
      • Help improve productivity and potentially limit bandwidth.
      • Policies for Web control can also be configured to apply to users only at certain times of the day if required.
      • Applies to the logged on User.
   2. Server Policies
      • Provides control of potentially inappropriate websites for acceptable use by site category.
      • Applies to any account that accesses the internet from the server.

Web protection prevents web-based threats from reaching the browser in two ways:

1. 1. They block access to websites that are deemed to be malicious by SophosLabs. This is achieved by endpoint performing a real-life lookup to the infrastructure of Sophos servers to classify the sites.
      
      Note: 
      
      • The following SophosLabs page provides a way to request a reassessment of a web page if you feel a page has been wrongly classified.
      • The Malware test page as provided by SophosLabs can be used to check if this functionality is operational.
   2. Web control and Web protection use the same methods to intercept traffic as seen by the browser and provide feedback to the user. For example on a Windows computer, the hook to intercept web traffic is a Layered Service Provider (LSP) for Windows XP/2003/2008/2008 R2/Vista and Windows 7 and for Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 2012/2012 R2 it is a Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) driver.

Note: Web control is not available on Windows Server 2003.

Hi SUBHASRI D 

As Shweta has guided you to exempt the website from the getting blocked from web control, you'll be able to make it available to users.

Never add websites to the global exclusions, as this will remove those websites from Web protection. Web protection and Web Control both are different features. 

• The Web protection feature is part of Sophos Anti-Virus and is included with all Sophos Central licenses that include this product. This feature is designed to prevent threats from reaching the web browser.
• Web control is an additional feature available in the following licenses:
  
  • Sophos Central Endpoint Protection Advanced.
  • Sophos Central Enduser Protection.
  • Sophos Central Server Advanced Protection.
    
    Note: Web Control is a feature of the Sophos Central Server Advanced license. A User license is also required for each individual that you allow to access the internet from the server, for example using Remote Desktop/ Terminal Services. This is in line with Sophos’ EULA which defines a User as an employee, consultant or other individuals who benefit from the Product. 

Web control is focused on giving the administrator control over web browsing with specific differences between User Policies and Server Policies:

1. 1. User Policies
      
      • Block by category of the site
      • Block particular file types or specific websites
      • Prevent access to sites that increase the risk to the organization.
      • Help improve productivity and potentially limit bandwidth.
      • Policies for Web control can also be configured to apply to users only at certain times of the day if required.
      • Applies to the logged on User.
   2. Server Policies
      • Provides control of potentially inappropriate websites for acceptable use by site category.
      • Applies to any account that accesses the internet from the server.

Web protection prevents web-based threats from reaching the browser in two ways:

1. 1. They block access to websites that are deemed to be malicious by SophosLabs. This is achieved by endpoint performing a real-life lookup to the infrastructure of Sophos servers to classify the sites.
      
      Note: 
      
      • The following SophosLabs page provides a way to request a reassessment of a web page if you feel a page has been wrongly classified.
      • The Malware test page as provided by SophosLabs can be used to check if this functionality is operational.
   2. Web control and Web protection use the same methods to intercept traffic as seen by the browser and provide feedback to the user. For example on a Windows computer, the hook to intercept web traffic is a Layered Service Provider (LSP) for Windows XP/2003/2008/2008 R2/Vista and Windows 7 and for Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 2012/2012 R2 it is a Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) driver.

Note: Web control is not available on Windows Server 2003.