URL and content filters determine which websites are available to computers on the protected network.
The URL filter function of your LANCOM R&S®Unified Firewall checks Internet addresses (URLs) received in the HTTP traffic for allowed and/or not allowed terms according to their classification in the blacklists and whitelists. These lists are empty and must be filled by you.
A "blacklist" approach defines a list of sites to block, and grants access to all sites that have not been forbidden explicitly. For example, the URL http://www.some-shop.com could be blocked if you add this URL to a blacklist.
A "whitelist" approach can be used to limit access to a list of sites that have specifically been approved for usage and block all others. For example, if you want to allow access to the URL http://www.some-shop.com, you should whitelist this URL.
If you activate a content filter category, then every request is forwarded to our OEM partner. There, actively maintained databases are queried for the categories. If the forwarded URL already has one or more classifications, these are communicated to your LANCOM R&S®Unified Firewall. These are compared with the blocked categories of the connection and, if there is a match, access to the requested URL is blocked.
In addition, the LANCOM R&S®Unified Firewall can block pages via the BPJM module of the german Federal Agency for the Protection of Children and Young People in the Media.
To use URL and content filters for HTTP and HTTPS connections, the HTTP proxy is essential. The HTTP data communication of a connection can only be filtered by URL lists and content if the HTTP proxy is activated for this connection in the rules editor.
To use URL and content filters for DNS requests, the web filter mode must be set to "DNS" or "Proxy and DNS".
The URL and content filters defined here are available for use in custom firewall rules (see Firewall Rule Settings for more information).
You can find more information regarding URL and content filters in the following sections.
