Businesses can now extend Web browsing policies and filtering protection outside of the corporate network
GFI Software™ today announced GFI WebMonitor® 2013, the latest version of the company’s Web security and filtering solution targeted at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). This new version enables IT managers to deploy a roaming Web filtering agent on laptop and notebook devices. With this new agent, businesses can extend corporate browsing policies to company assets running outside of the corporate network and provide continuous filtering protection whether employees are in-house or on-the-go.
SMBs have long used Web filtering solutions, like GFI WebMonitor, to prevent the productivity, bandwidth and security issues associated with Web browsing in the workplace. But, with telecommuting on the rise and more companies giving employees laptops and notebooks to access corporate resources remotely, IT managers have lost visibility into browsing activity on work-issued devices – posing legal liabilities for the company, among other risks.
To help businesses overcome this challenge, GFI WebMonitor’s new roaming agent extends corporate browsing policies and filtering protection to laptops and notebooks running outside of the corporate network – and does so without compromising connectivity speeds. With this feature in place, IT managers can trust that road warriors, remote employees and workers who take their devices home at night are held to the same Internet usage policies that in-house employees follow. This capability is also beneficial for small businesses that use laptops and notebooks as their primary computing devices.
For maximum flexibility, GFI WebMonitor’s roaming Web filtering agent enables IT managers to create and apply different filtering policies depending on a device’s location. For example, streaming media may be allowed once a device leaves the corporate network, but specific categories of websites, such as gambling and adult sites, remain inaccessible. Additionally, GFI WebMonitor is now able to log Web access activity occurring outside of the corporate network in addition to in-house activity and provide full reporting capabilities regardless of a user’s location.
“The line defining the amount of control IT managers can have over users’ activity on work-issued devices is always blurred,” said David Attard, product manager, GFI Software. “A balance needs to be struck, as implementing too many browsing regulations can make employees unhappy and impede productivity. Yet, without enough controls in place businesses open themselves up to a variety of legal and security risks. GFI WebMonitor’s new roaming agent provides IT with the best of both worlds. They can give employees the freedom to use the Internet as they wish, while putting access controls in place to prevent them from visiting websites that could cause malware infections or legal liabilities. In other words, they can sleep well at night knowing their employees – and their business – are well protected.”
To learn about GFI WebMonitor, call 888-243-4329, email sales@gfi.com or visit www.gfi.com to download a free trial.
About GFI
GFI Software develops more than 15 quality IT solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs) that typically have fewer than 1,000 users. The GFI MAX cloud service enables Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to deliver superior services to GFI’s expanding customer base of more than 200,000 companies. The GFI product line also includes collaboration, anti-spam, patch management, faxing, mail archiving and web monitoring. GFI is a channel-focused company with thousands of partners throughout the world. The company is the recipient of numerous awards and industry accolades, and is a long time Microsoft Gold ISV Partner.