GFI, a longstanding 4sysops sponsor, has a very generous offer for our readers. You have the chance to win a GFI WebMonitor 2009 license for 500 clients that is worth 8,500 U.S. dollars! You will find more information about this raffle at the end of this review.

Microsoft ISA Server veterans will probably know GFI WebMonitor, a web filtering and web security software that ISAserver.org readers have voted year after year as the best ISA Server add-on. Last November, GFI released a new version, GFI WebMonitor 2009, which is also available as standalone, gateway, and proxy software. This review is about the standalone version. Please note that there is also a free edition of GFI WebMonitor.

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In my last article, I introduced GFI WebMonitor 2009, the product of the latest 4sysops contest. Today, I will discuss its web monitoring features in more detail. If you want to have a chance to win a license for 500 clients worth 8,500 dollars, please refer to the end of the article.

Active Connections and Past Connections

Before you start configuring Web Filtering and Web Security, you should monitor the web activity of your users for a while. This will give you hints as to where the biggest problems are. The Activity Log gives you an overview of what kind of URLs have been accessed and by whom. WebMonitor enables you to monitor active connections and past connections. Hidden downloads, i.e. downloads unattended by the users (for example by applications), are displayed in a separate folder. Note that you will only be able to catch those downloads, if you have configured GFI WebMonitor as a gateway.

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In my last post, I described GFI WebMonitor’s monitoring capabilities. Today, I will introduce the tool’s web-filtering features. If you want to have a chance to win a license for 500 clients worth 8,500 dollars, please refer to the end of the article.

The main purpose of web filtering is to prevent your company’s employees from spending time on the web for personal interests. Since many of the sites with the most popular web content—you know what I’m talking about—often contain malware, it will also improve security if you block them. The temptation to use the web for private matters at work has been growing along with the possibilities of the web.

The WebGrade database

GFI maintains a list of sites that are most likely unrelated to work in the so-called WebGrade database. I tried a few popular sites and GFI WebMonitor always blocked access to them. In such cases, WebMonitor displays a message in the user’s browser that the web site has been blocked from viewing.

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In my last post, I described GFI WebMonitor’s filtering features. Today, I will introduce the tool’s security functions. If you want to have a chance to win a license for 500 clients worth 8,500 dollars, please refer to the end of the article.

As noted in the first post of this series, there is a Web Security edition, which can be purchased separately, or with the Web Filtering edition. The Web Security edition consists of four modules: Download Control Policies, IM Control Policies, Virus Scanning Policies, and the Anti-Phishing Engine.

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