SurfControl, the world`s number one Web and e-mail filtering company, distributed by Networks Unlimited locally, today announced the availability of SurfControl Web Filter 4.2, the most advanced Internet access management tool to help corporations strengthen network security and better manage Internet resources for improved return on investment.
"SurfControl Web Filter now makes it easier than ever before for companies to maximise their network bandwidth, enhance productivity and control the growing legal, security and business risks associated with the Internet to increase their return on investment," said Patrick Irwin, SurfControl`s senior product marketing manager.
SurfControl Web Filter 4.2 with the Virtual Control Agent (VCA) option provides expert content filtering and expanded site coverage to increase user productivity, optimise network bandwidth, increase security and limit legal liability. VCA dynamically categorizes new Web content putting relevant, specific and up-to-date content filtering in the hands of each organisation. VCA`s dynamic categorisation combined with SurfControl`s URL Category List provides the most comprehensive and accurate Internet management solution available.
The latest release of SurfControl Web Filter brings additional performance improvements that can be used on virtually any network environment to provide the most flexible and powerful tool for managing company Internet access. It enables IT managers to gather the information they need to define and customise Internet acceptable usage policies and offers the best technology available to implement it.
Key features of SurfControl Web Filter 4.2 include:
. A new interface for ISA Server, which gives companies with ISA Server the benefit of using SurfControl`s market leading filtering interface. This enables customers to keep costs down and easily integrate SurfControl`s Web filtering product into their network. For example, customers upgrading their Microsoft Proxy servers to Microsoft`s ISA, will automatically find SurfControl`s product easy to use and familiar.
. Enhanced URL Category List features that give customers automatic opportunities to register for the latest content updates and keep their filtering current.
. Enhanced User Activity Reports that show details of user activity and the category of site, as well as when that site was visited. This information is critical to companies who need to monitor and analyse Internet access and site usage patterns to detect possible security problems, reduce bandwidth-hogging site access, and increase productivity.
. Virtual Control Agent improvements, that give customers increased coverage by categorising sites in French, German, Spanish and Dutch languages in addition to English. This means that the VCA is able to categorise even more new sites that users may find. The capabilities of VCA have also been enhanced to cover all 40 SurfControl categories. The Virtual Control Agent is an option that uses artificial intelligence to dynamically categorize a site based on its content. Using the VCA in combination with SurfControl`s URL Category List gives the most comprehensive filtering solution available.
The SurfControl Content Database is the premier database in the industry. It is updated daily and is completely customisable, allowing organisations to tailor filtering to their individual needs and unique acceptable use policies. With Web Filter 4.2, customers now have access to a database of more than 5 million sites in 40 well-organised categories and in more than 60 languages. The SurfControl Content Database provides extensive coverage of the most widely accessed sites on the Internet, and is organised into categories that are easy to manage. Content is kept current with a combination of expert human review, state-of-the-art automated tools and customer submissions. Customers also receive daily updates to the URL Category List, representing more than 25 000 new sites a week.
"Companies worldwide are coming to understand that all Internet content you read, send and receive carries a risk. The need for Web filtering software has never been greater," Irwin said. "With SurfControl Web Filter 4.2, customers have the most sophisticated filtering technology, along with their Acceptable Use Policy, to protect their company against productivity losses from excessive Web-surfing during work hours, security threats such as viruses and litigation that could result from inappropriate use of Internet resources," Irwin added.
Wayne Bird, Director for Networks Unlimited, concludes: "SurfControl Web Filter, including a subscription to the full category list, is priced at approximately R160 per user, based on installation of 500 users. Discounts are available for resellers and larger organisations and when sold in combination with SurfControl E-mail Filter. SurfControl Web Filter typically delivers a positive ROI within just a few hours. Companies curious about how much money they may be losing to casual Internet usage can get an estimate of the waste in less than a minute using SurfControl`s ROI calculator at http://www.surfcontrol.com/resources/roi_calculator.aspx."
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