What's New in Network Guardian

Feature Pack 2 Enhancements (Issued date March 2009)
View the Feature Pack 2 full list of features

Overview

• SSL Filtering
• Improved Search Term Blocking and Reporting
• Block Page Templates
• New Support for Encrypted Instant Messaging (Jabber/GoogleTalk)

New Content Filtering Controls:

• SSL Filtering - Guardian can now perform Dynamic Content Analysis on HTTPS (SSL) secured websites (also known as HTTPS Man in the Middle or MITM). This will further improve Guardian's SSL proxy blocking record, but also means all secure content can be scanned for security vulnerabilities (i.e. viruses, malware, browser exploits etc).
• Improved Search Term Blocking and Reporting - Search terms are now analyzed more carefully, with the option to run reports on common search terms.
• Block Page Templates - Users can now configure their own blockpage templates instead of altering the default version. Templates have placeholders for standard blockpage elements (e.g. category, reason for the block, username and temporary unblock controls).
• More Groups - Users can now apply different filter policies to up to 100 separate groups of users (useful for larger networks).
• Load Balancer Support - Guardian now supports the widely used DSR (Direct Server Return) load balancing method (useful for clustered multiple installations of Guardian).

New Instant Messaging Tools:

• Support for Encrypted Instant Messaging (Jabber/GoogleTalk) - Jabber and GoogleTalk use SSL, which Guardian now intercepts to provide the same level of control as with non-SSL IM networks and applications (logging, blocking, censoring, removing attachments).
• IM Blocked Response - Users can now get responses direct to their messaging clients when chats are logged or blocked (i.e. 'Your message or file was blocked').

Improved Reporting:

• Improved Real Time Log Viewer - New options to filter by category or group.
• URL Interpretation Report - An advancement of the YouTube Top Videos Report - it is now possible to do similar 'URL-specific' reports for any website.
• Temporary Banned Report - See who is temporarily banned at a glance.
• Web Trends Report - Shows 'top sites' as trends so browsing behavior changes can easily be identified.
• Browsing Time Reports - See exactly how long any particular user has spent browsing the web during any day, week or month.
• Wide Range of Built-in Templates - Includes 350+ predefined templates for the majority of reporting uses, removing the need for administrators to create templates.
• General Improvements to All Reports - Many more options to "drill-down" on report data, feed forward reports into other reports and group report options between segments.

Operational Advantages:

• New Help System - More searchable and fully indexed, context-sensitive facility.
• TypeAhead Widget - Because typing is boring and inputting individual user names when your network runs to thousands can be very irritating.

Feature Pack 1 Enhancements (Issued date July 2008)
View the Feature Pack 1 full list of features

Overview

• SSL Proxy Blocking (Blocks Ultrasurf and more)
• New User Portal
• New Logs & Reporting Tools including YouTube Top Videos Report
• New Instant Messaging Controls for censoring chats & blocking file transfers

New Content Filtering Controls:

• SSL Proxy Blocking - Improved blocking controls for HTTPS proxies such as UltraSurf, TOR and VTunnel.
• Per-Room Blocking - Block access for pre-defined 'rooms' defined by IP or computer names
• Temporary Banned User List - Ban selected users until a selected date or time.
• QoS by URL - Limit bandwidth rates for specific URLs (e.g. YouTube)

New Instant Messaging Tools:

• Control & logging of file transfers/attachments
• MessageCensor - In-built word censoring list including mis-spellings with an alert function for selected words/phrases
• Support for Gadu-Gadu - Integrated support for the popular Polish messaging application (handy for organizations with Polish-speaking staff)
• Tunnel Traffic Monitoring - Monitor traffic within an HTTP tunnel, (makes IM controls easier to use for customers with standalone versions of Guardian).

Improved Reporting:

• YouTube Top Viewed Videos Report - View a list of thumbnails showing the top most viewed videos with drill-down controls to show who is viewing what and when.
• New IM reports - Generate new reports on IM including time spent messaging and number of chat friends per user.
• Temporary Bypass Log - At a glance information on the use of Guardian's bypass controls.
• Individual User Browsing Report - View the entire browsing history of a single user
• Improved time controls - Generate reports based on time parameters as well as date
• Editable templates - Edit report templates to suit your specific needs
• Section Groups - Group certain reports into sections on a per-user basis

Operational Advantages:

• Improved scalability via WCCP Version 2 - Enables better configuration of Guardian in larger, more complicated network environments & facilitates improved integration with Cisco firewalls.
• User Portal - Provide selected users (or groups of users) with limited access for viewing reports/logs and downloading SSL VPN clients.
• Setup Wizard - Set up reminders to guide new users
• Process monitoring & hard disk healthcare alerts - Keep an eye on critical network security processes & hard disk drives
• Backups - Improved backup of logs