SonicWall Content Filtering Service (CFS) Premium Business Edition for the NSA 2650 delivers scalable, enterprise-grade web filtering and policy enforcement designed to protect productivity, support compliance, and reduce security risk. Built on a dynamic rating and caching architecture, CFS blocks objectionable or high-risk web content while giving administrators flexible, fine-grained control over Internet access across the organization.
Key benefits
- Granular policy control: Apply category-, URL-, IP- and group-based rules (users, departments, time-of-day) to tailor access for different populations (students, staff, guests).
- Performance & low latency: Local caching of URL ratings reduces lookup time to a fraction of a second and improves response for frequently visited sites.
- Bandwidth management & productivity: Block or throttle high-bandwidth categories (streaming, file downloads, P2P) to conserve resources and limit unproductive usage.
- Regulatory compliance & reporting: Integrated with SonicWall ViewPoint and GMS for graphical, searchable reports that simplify compliance with mandates (e.g., CIPA) and internal policies.
How it works
CFS evaluates web requests in real time by cross-referencing URLs, IPs and domains against a continuously updated database of ratings. The appliance compares the live rating to local policies and either allows or denies access instantly. The rating database is maintained using automated intelligence plus human review to maximize accuracy and minimize false positives.
Features
- Dynamic rating architecture with over millions of categorized URLs, IPs and domains, updated continuously.
- Ability to block up to dozens of content categories and to create custom allow/deny lists for specific domains or hosts.
- Local URL filtering and caching on the firewall for fast performance.
- Integration with Application Intelligence and Control for combined URL + application policy enforcement.
- Flexible policy application by user, group, VLAN or time window; option to block downloadable file types automatically.
- Comprehensive ViewPoint reporting for both real-time and historical web-usage analysis.
Ideal deployments
CFS is suitable for small businesses to large enterprises, educational institutions, libraries, government agencies and public hotspots. Its scalability and ease of centralized management make it a strong fit for complex, distributed environments.
Risk mitigation & compliance
By restricting access to inappropriate or high-risk sites, CFS helps reduce legal and productivity risks and lowers exposure to malware and spyware commonly distributed via blocked categories. The service supports organizational and regulatory mandates through customizable policies and detailed reporting.
