What's new in GFI WebMonitor

Version 11

Released: December 5, 2017

This new version of GFI WebMonitor brings a new web classification database to increase the performance and capability of GFI WebMonitor to track and manage network traffic more efficiently.

See the Release Notes below for a complete list of updates.

Feature changes:

• Updated web categorization engine
• Optimized X64 build (X86 OSes are no longer supported for main installation, only for the Agent)
• VIPRE engine removed, BitDefender and Kaspersky antivirus engines remain
• Updated deep package inspection engine with more applications supported

Fixes:

• Some resources received as chunk encoded from servers are loading properly
• Uploads are counted towards quotas
• Cleaned up TMG installations from proxy-related files
• HTTPS warning page displays correctly
• Web site name included in notifications
• Proper file versioning on the installers and binaries
• Policy schedule time fixes in UI
• Counters checked more frequently to offer more exact triggering of policies
• Transparent proxy functionality test made more reliable
• Fixed potential issues with some streaming media traffic
• Errors are displayed on the home page if GFI servers cannot be contacted when checking for new builds
• Policies containing file type restriction cannot be configured in combination with uploads. Only with downloads are permitted.
• Report generation successful on non-English operating systems
• Removing filters works properly on Quotas and Agents dashboards

Version 10.1

Released: May 23, 2017

This new version of GFI WebMonitor brings the Microsoft TMG plugin into the Proxy codebase, providing full support of TMG environments. Additionally, with this version comes support for Windows Server 2016 along with a number of fixes, quality improvements, and security enhancements. The focus of this release was to create a single stable and secure code base to be able to bring future feature enhancements and improvements to our customers.

Note: Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft ISA is no longer supported.

Release Notes: Version 10.1 (build 20170516)

New features and improvements:

• NEW: Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2016
• NEW: Support for TMG (installed as TMG plug-in)
• NEW: Support for more secure TLS1.1/1.2 protocols within the GFI Proxy
• NEW: SSL certificates created using more secure SHA-2 algorithm
• NEW: Unified installer for X64 editions
• NEW: More appropriate license expiring messages in the main console
• NEW: Improved file handle management within the GFI Proxy
• NEW: Improved error handling with differential updates
• NEW: Improved WPAD server debug logging
• NEW: Improved URL validations
• NEW: Updated light categorization database
• NEW: Updated application detection engine
• NEW: Updated code with additional security checks / safe calls
• NEW: Product binaries (DLLs) digitally signed

• FIX: Eliminated possible memory leaks in Overview page
• FIX: Safe Search not always working fix
• FIX: Temporary access requests fixes
• FIX: Proper management of downloaded files for AV scanning
• FIX: Fixes for potential vulnerability on cross-site scripting
• FIX: Using the same date / time format all over the user interface
• FIX: Handling cases when network load balancers configured in loop with GFI Proxy
• FIX: Transparent proxy fixes to properly handle SNI protocol information on HTTPS traffic
• FIX: Transparent proxy - more optimized driver loading
• FIX: Transparent proxy start fixes, including on non-English OS
• FIX: Fixed URL validation errors in policies
• FIX: UI Access control IP ranges parsing fixes
• FIX: UI Access control fixes for Insights pages and reports
• FIX: Miscellaneous product settings upgrade fixes
• FIX: Fix on Bitdefender to properly scan all archives
• FIX: FIX: Remote access policies fix on request access option
• FIX: Regional google sites not working properly with HTTPS scanning enabled fixes
• FIX: Custom administrator notification messages cannot be saved within policies
• FIX: Date range fixes in Surf Time report
• FIX: UI - long dropdown menu items fixes (eliminate overlapping issues)
• FIX: UI - invalid license keys are not saved
• FIX: Auto-update notification email fixes
• FIX: Licensing toolbar overlapping on other UI elements fix
• FIX: SQL database connection errors properly shown in UI
• FIX: Troubleshooter fixes
• FIX: Product uninstall confirmation fix
• FIX: Insights dashboards UI fixes on Internet Explorer
• FIX: Miscellaneous stability fixes on numerous modules

License Key:
License keys for GFI WebMonitor are still supported and no key updates are required.

Downloads and Upgrades:
For product downloads and information about upgrading GFI WebMonitor, visit the GFI Upgrade Center.

If you have additional queries about these changes, please do not hesitate to contact us or an authorized GFI Partner directly.

Version 10

Released: November 3, 2015

The latest version of GFI WebMonitor comes equipped with a new transparent proxy mode, that makes it even easier for new customers to get up and running with this product.

Transparent mode streamlines integration of GFI WebMonitor to your systems by removing the need of configuring client machines to use a proxy. This new ability ensures policy enforcement even on mobile devices connected to the company’s Wi-Fi networks. All this without additional processes or tasks for the IT department, and without any kind of intervention on the mobile device itself.

This makes it an excellent solution for companies that also offer public Wi-Fi access to employees and/or visitors, hotel guests, restaurants, schools and more.

This release includes also additional fixes, tweaks and performance enhancements to make the product even faster and more secure.

If you require additional information, please get in touch with us, or click here for your FREE 30-day trial.

Version 2015 R3

Released: May 28, 2015

This release brings customers using GFI WebMonitor for ISA / TMG using TMG, all features of WebMonitor standalone to the table without the need of a new box.

TMG users are now enabled to use the more advanced features of GFI WebMonitor 2015, such as:

• New engine that provides huge performance improvements and far better scalability
• New UI to enhance the user experience and making the product even easier to use
• Application control
• WebInsights

This edition will allow TMG users to automatically import configuration from GFI WebMonitor for ISA / TMG, therefore making installation and configuration a breeze.  Future product features will be made available to all TMG users in the future.

New reports:
This release brings also reports on usage of cloud-based services both for web applications and browsing activities. These reports are enabled by default and automatically configured to be sent to the configured email address.

Version 2015 R2

Released: March 26, 2015 

The new release of GFI WebMonitor delivers out-of-the-box intelligence to deliver unique insights into web activity. Apart from helping you discover, manage and secure web activity in your business, GFI WebMonitor will enable IT admins to identify points of interest or concern without having to run reports or drill down detailed dashboards. 

A dashboard showing current status of bandwidth usage, user activity and security incidents is very useful but the data is more powerful when you can compare the current status to another period in the past. By creating a baseline you will be able to take informed decisions about web activity in your network environment based on the historical record of the activity of your users. 

WebInsights puts the data into context and gives the answers to questions about three areas you have to manage: productivity, bandwidth and security:

• What activity should I consider as normal for my environment on the basis of how my users behave?
• Where am I at today in comparison to ‘normal activity’?
• If my status is above the baseline and registering a peak in security incidents, bandwidth consumption or productivity loss, why is that happening?

Usability is greatly improved for IT admins because now they have a single point of reference for specific use cases without the need to do that much. 

To learn more about WebInsights, click here. 

Another addition to the product is that now, users can request access to a website blocked by GFI WebMonitor, directly from the blocking page. When users request access to a blocked website, a notification is triggered and appears in the notification center of the main product console. The IT admin can see the website to which access is being requested and can approve the request or not. The IT admin can approve the request with one click without manually adding exceptions to existing policies. When approving he may also chose the time window when the website may be accessed by the user. This helps greatly to simplify access request tasks, and eliminates a lot of the manual work.

Version 2015 - SR1

Released: November 26, 2014

In this service release of GFI WebMonitor 2015, we have made some modifications to improve the product overall. These changes include:

• Destination hosts can be excluded from proxy authentication, via configuration file.
• Licensed users can be viewed directly from the Licensing Settings page.
• Bug fixes

For more details about this release, click here.

Version 2015

Released: October the 16th 2014

GFI WebMonitor 2015 is now available as a single offering. The two editions, WebFiltering and WebSecurity, have been discontinued, and all functionality is now available in GFI WebMonitor 2015. It is important to note that the new features in this update are not available to GFI WebMonitor 2013 for ISA/TMG users.

Application control for applications using web protocols

GFI WebMonitor 2015 provides IT admins with laser-focused detection and management of over 700 web applications. This is done through our new application control technologies, comprising signature pattern matching, conversational semantics, Deep Protocol Dissection, Heuristic Analysis, Flow Awareness and association engines, as well as statistical inspection over and above the BrightCloud web filtering engine used in version 2013. 

Application control enables IT admins to configure applications (authorized or not) to access the web via HTTP/HTTPs protocols. Control is highly granular and certain use cases are only possible with this technology. For example, admins can block Google Drive without blocking the Google website (and searches) and without blocking port 80 in the firewall (used by Google Drive as well as by web browsers).

Unified policy configuration and management

The new policy engine and UI enables configuration of web filtering and web security policies in the same logic, greatly reducing the number of steps required to build an effective configuration. The main parameters for configuring policies are clearly listed and logically grouped and can be set via a simple drag-and-drop action. The new overview UI gives IT admins a holistic view of policy settings: who are the individuals affected and what the effect will be.

Performance Upgrade

The WebMonitor 2015 engine has been completely re-built to incorporate the latest technologies enabling x64 compilation, better memory management, faster processing and scalability.

Fresh, new look

The revamped user interface delivers a significantly better view of what the product and users are doing. The new UI makes it much easier and faster to executes tasks; for a much better user experience. A new main dashboard with real-time data is now available and the existing drill-down dashboards have a new and more intuitive filtering interface.