What's New in School Guardian 2008?

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

Overview

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

New Content Filtering Controls:

• HTTPS 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) as well as any general breaches in web filtering policy.
• Improved Search Term Blocking and Reporting - Search terms are now analyzed more carefully, with the option to run reports to see 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) - The Jabber network, used by Google Talk, uses 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.
• Internal SSL VPN - Allows SSL VPN connections to be made inside the network.
• CA Manager - Review and modify all certificate authority based operations used throughout the system from one location.

Firewall:

• Streamlined DHCP Setup Process - Get up and running with a new network in record time with expedited DHCP configuration routines.
• Suspicious Activity Monitor - Generate administrator alerts when breaches are made to stealth firewall rules.

VPN:

• Internal SSL VPN - Allows SSL VPN connections to be made inside the network, facilitating secure access to services from restricted internal zones such as wireless and public access networks.