Web Filter

Barracuda Web Filter Overview:

Designed for businesses of all sizes.

What really bothers management is not knowing what employees are doing on the web: How much time do employees spend on social networks or gaming sites? Is anyone downloading malware or pornography? Why is the Internet running slowly today? The Barracuda Web Filter gives administrators clear visibility into web activity to answer these important questions while blocking today’s aggressive web threats.

With extensive policy tools for managing web access in the workplace and no per-user fees, Barracuda Web Filter is a powerful and affordable content filtering appliance with models designed for use in organizations of all sizes.

Filters Content, Malware, Social Media and Rogue App Threats

The Barracuda Web Filter lets organizations benefit from online applications and tools without exposure to web-borne malware and viruses, lost user productivity, and misused bandwidth. As a comprehensive solution for web security and management, it unites award-winning spyware, malware, and virus protection with a powerful policy and reporting engine. Advanced features ensure that organizations adapt to emerging requirements like social-network regulation, remote filtering, and visibility into SSL-encrypted traffic.

Unlimited remote user licenses are included to enforce content and access policies for mobile devices outside of the corporate network. The Barracuda Web Filter is also available as a virtual appliance.

Enforce web content and access policies for users both on and off the network:

Unlock the Power of the Web

For today’s connected business, constant interaction with online resources and applications is a simple necessity—despite the risks of lost productivity, wasted bandwidth, and data loss. The Barracuda Web Filter lets organizations enjoy the benefits of web connectivity without the risks.

The Barracuda Advantage Integrated and comprehensive solution Regulate Web 2.0 application activity Monitor and archive social-network messages (Barracuda Message Archiver required) Constant updates based on input from more than 150,000 collection points Block and remove malware No per-user or per-feature fees

Product Spotlight Predefined content-filtering categories Granular, user-aware policies Detailed, real-time visibility Integrated spyware and virus protection Unlimited remote filtering agents (models 410 and above) Server protection in virtual infrastructure

	Constantly Evolving Capabilities The Barracuda Web Filter is continually updated with the latest malware signatures, suspicious URL listings, and online application functionality. And as new requirements emerge—such as the need to monitor and regulate social-networking activities—upgrading with new capabilities is automatic, and always transparent.
	Knowledge = Power The Barracuda Web Filter’s intuitive management interface delivers detailed, real-time visibility into network activity and web interactions. This lets administrators identify users and applications that waste bandwidth and harm productivity, and enforce granular policies to regulate access without impacting legitimate business uses.
	Security Beyond Boundaries Enforcing access policies on remote and mobile devices that are used off-network is critical for preventing malware intrusions into the network, and for preventing data loss. The Barracuda Web Filter includes unlimited licenses for agents and tools that ensure users and devices are protected whether they are on the network or at a public Wi-Fi hotspot.

Benefits:

 

Enforce Corporate Policies Increase productivity, regulate bandwidth usage, and prevent risky behavior by enforcing granular policies on user activities. The Barracuda Web Filter can control access to web sites, applications, and Web 2.0 platforms based on users, groups, time, bandwidth, and other criteria. SSL-filtering and inspection capabilities provide policy enforcement on social-media and search platforms that are otherwise obfuscated. Key Features: Web 2.0 and Social-Media Regulation, Application Control, Content Filtering, SSL Inspection

Protect Against Web-Based Threats Keep networks and users safe by blocking spyware downloads, preventing viruses, and restricting requests to malicious websites by leveraging intelligence from thousands of collection points worldwide. Our award-winning antivirus and anti-spyware technologies combine preventive, proactive, and reactive measures to deliver industry-leading content filtering and malware protection. Key Features: Spyware and Virus Protection, Barracuda Central, Spyware/Malware Removal

Monitor Network and User Activity Gain complete insight into user activity and network threats via an intuitive dashboard and integrated reporting. This clear visibility lets administrators create effective policies and generate proactive alerts to properly respond to threats. Key Features: Suspicious Activity Alerts, Intuitive Dashboard Views, Comprehensive Reporting

Secure Laptops and Mobile Devices

Extend security and policies to remote users. With the Barracuda Web Security Agent and the Barracuda Safe Browser, traffic from remote clients can be filtered with the same policies set for on-network users.

Key Features: The Barracuda Web Security Agent, The Barracuda Safe Browser

Simplify Management

Centrally manage the Barracuda Web Filter through the cloud. Configurations on the Barracuda Web Filter are simple and easy-to-deploy ensuring customized network protection is in place in a matter of minutes.

Key Features: Cloud-Based Centralized Management, Easy-to-use Policy Configurations, Simple Pricing

Features:

Spyware and Virus Protection

All Barracuda products are supported by Barracuda Central, a 24×7 advanced security operations center that works continuously to monitor and block the latest Internet threats. Barracuda Central collects email, URLs, and other data from tens of thousands of collection points in more than 80 countries and analyzes it to develop defenses, rules, and signatures to keep networks safe.

As new threats emerge, Barracuda Central is quick to respond to early outbreaks and delivers the latest definitions through Barracuda Energize Updates. These updates require zero administration and ensure that the Barracuda Web Filter provides comprehensive and accurate protection against the latest Internet threats.

Barracuda Central

All Barracuda products are supported by Barracuda Central, a 24×7 advanced security operations center that works continuously to monitor and block the latest Internet threats. Barracuda Central collects data from more than 150,000 collection points worldwide and analyzes it to develop defenses, rules, and signatures. As new threats emerge, Barracuda Central is quick to respond to early outbreaks and delivers the latest definitions through Barracuda Energize Updates. These updates require zero administration and ensure that the Barracuda Web Security Service provides comprehensive and accurate protection against the latest Internet threats.

Spyware/Malware Removal

Not only does the Barracuda Web Filter prevent the potential download of malware onto the network, it can also remove it if they have been downloaded onto a computer on the network.

The Barracuda Malware Removal Tool performs a comprehensive scan of computers for any traces of spyware or other malware. This thorough scan quickly identifies potential threats residing on a computer and provides the option for removal of those that have been found.

Web 2.0 and Social-Media Regulation

The Barracuda Web Filter provides granular control over Web 2.0 sites and web applications, including social media platforms. Scanning and inspecting SSL-encrypted traffic for specific categories and domains enable granular policy enforcement. Administrators can also configure the Barracuda Web Filter to monitor and archive outbound web application communications like Facebook posts, tweets, and web-based email to a message archiving solution, such as the Barracuda Message Archiver. These messages can be indexed and then mined for forensic analysis. Suspicious activity alerts can also be generated using predefined or customized categories.

Application Control

In addition to standard port/protocol-based policies, the Barracuda Web Filter uses real-time deep packet inspection technology to analyze protocols independent of their port of destination servers. By integrating Layer 7 protocol analysis with policy controls, the Barracuda Web Filter enables complete control over application usage.

Content Filtering

The Barracuda Web Filter provides flexible controls for pinpoint regulation of online activity. Administrators can create policies that control user access to 99.7 percent of commonly visited websites using 95 content categories including pornography, violence, hacking, sports, news, dating, shopping, chat, and more. Content filtering policies can be customized to restrict specific websites or look for patterns in web addresses.

The Barracuda Web Filter’s image/multimedia safe search feature prevents search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN from displaying objectionable thumbnail images in search results. Administrators can also create policies that control web-file downloads based on file type.

SSL Inspection

Organizations can control online content normally hidden by SSL. This includes content found in social-media platforms, web-based email, and search engines. Administrators can specify domains and URL categories for which SSL-encrypted traffic will be decrypted and scanned for malware and policy. Not only can organizations restrict entire platforms, it’s now possible to enforce granular access for secure websites (e.g., YouTube for Schools).

Intuitive Dashboard Views

The Barracuda Web Filter provides an intuitive dashboard interface for quick understanding of the threats and activities of users on the network. The changes are immediately apparent on the dashboard that features recent infection activity, potentially suspicious activities, a live view of TCP connection usage, and summary data of network usage.

Comprehensive Reporting

To budget computing resources and ensure adherence to corporate policies, IT and HR administrators often require detailed information about how Internet users in the network are spending time online. In addition to its powerful web filtering and malware protection capabilities, the Barracuda Web Filter allows administrators to generate more than 60 different reports on Internet activity.

Interactive reports with multiple layers of drill-down capability can be generated on users’ web browsing activity, by domains and content categories, by time spent online, and/or by bandwidth consumption.

Suspicious Activity Alerts

The Barracuda Web Filter includes pre-built English-language dictionaries of keywords and phrases pertaining to harassment, weapons, terrorism, and pornography. Administrators can configure the device to automatically generate alerts when content containing these keywords or phrases is posted to social media portals and search engines. Administrators can also add their own keywords and phrases for monitoring. The alerts are tagged with real network user identities, making it easy to identify the source, independent of online profiles.

The Barracuda Web Security Agent

The Barracuda Web Security Agent (WSA) is a tamper-proof client that can be installed on remote, off-network laptops or desktops to help implement a consistent web security policy across localized and distributed workforces. The Barracuda WSA supports both Windows and Mac OS X.

The Barracuda Safe Browser

The Barracuda Safe Browser is a full-featured web browser that enforces compliance with the policies configured on the Barracuda Web Filter.

Cloud-Based Centralized Management

Barracuda Web Filters are integrated with the Barracuda Cloud Control (BCC) web-based management portal, which leverages Barracuda’s global cloud infrastructure to enable organizations to centrally manage all their devices through a “single pane of glass” interface. Administrators can see a global view of all their devices as well as centrally manage policies and configuration. The intuitive interface makes it easy for small and medium-sized organizations to implement and manage their Barracuda Web Filters with minimal IT overhead.

Easy-to-use Policy Configurations

The intuitive web interface allows for quick and easy configuration and administration of policy rules. Setup takes fifteen minutes or less. System information, logs, powerful policy features and reports are just a few clicks away. Reporting requires no database administration.

Simple Pricing

The Barracuda Web Filter is delivered with all features and capabilities fully enabled. Content filtering and advanced malware protection is offered as a simple all-inclusive subscription without any per-user fees. The Barracuda Cloud Control management portal is included free of charge.

Model Comparison:

All 7 models of the Barracuda Web Filter come with a full suite of standard features. The following features are ones which vary by model.

Model Comparison	210	310*	410*	610*	810	910	1010
Capacity
Throughput (Mbps)	5-10	10-50	30-80	100-200	200-500	500-1,000	1,000-2,000
Web Cache Size	–	10 GB	50 GB	100 GB	200 GB	300 GB	1 TB
Concurrent Users	25-100	100-400	300-800	800-2,000	1,500-3,000	2,500-4,500	4,000-15,000
Active TCP Connections	50-400	400-2,000	2,000-5,000	5,000-10,000	10,000-20,000	20,000-35,000	35,000-100,000
Hardware
Rackmount Chassis	Desktop	1U Mini	1U Mini	1U Fullsize	2U Fullsize	2U Fullsize	2U Fullsize
Dimensions (in)	10 x 2 x 8.3	16.8 x 1.7 x 14	16.8 x 1.7 x 14	16.8 x 1.7 x 22.6	17.4 x 3.5 x 25.5	17.4 x 3.5 x 25.5	17.4 x 3.5 x 27.9
Weight (lbs)	5.2	12	12	26	46	52	75
AC Input Current (Amps)	1.0	1.2	1.4	1.8	4.1	5.4	7.2
Ethernet Passthrough	–	1 x Gigabit	1 x Gigabit	1 x Gigabit	1 x Gigabit	1 x Gigabit	2 x 10 Gigabit
Redundant Disk Array (RAID)	–	–	–	Hot Swap	Hot Swap	Hot Swap	Hot Swap
ECC Memory	–	–	–
Redundant Power Supply	–	–	–	N/A	Hot Swap	Hot Swap	Hot Swap
Optional 10GbE Fiber	–	–	–	–	–	–
Features
Hardened and Secure OS
Content Filtering
Application Control
Advanced Policy Creation
Network Threat Protection
Spyware Removal
Summary Reports
Role-based Administration
Web 2.0 Application Control
Syslog Support
Ethernet Bypass Hardware
WCCP
Remote Filtering
SNMP/API
Linked Management
SSL Inspection
Social-Media Monitoring

*Also available as virtual appliances for data center environments.

Technical Specs

Content Filtering HTTP/HTTPS support URL filtering by category Image safe search YouTube for Schools support File type blocking Anonymous proxy detection SSL Inspection (forward proxy) Application Control IM & P2P blocking Internet application blocking, including proxy applications (e.g., UltraSurf) IP and port blocking	Advanced Policy Creation Default guest and user policies User and group policy exceptions LDAP integration Single Sign-on user authentication Terminal server support Local users and groups Network IP address policies Time-of-day policies Custom categories Password bypass Bandwidth quotas Temporary Access Portal Social Media Control Web 2.0 application control Social media monitoring Suspicious keyword alerts	Network Threat Protection Spyware site blocking Spyware download blocking Dual-layer virus protection Detection of infection activity Spyware protocol blocking Barracuda Malware Removal Tool – Detect and remove malware from Windows computers Remote Filtering Web Security Agent (Windows, Mac OS X) Barracuda Safe Browser (iOS-based devices) Global proxy settings (Chromebooks and iOS devices)
System Features	Support Options	Hardware Features
Administrators Web-based interface Secure remote administration Web acceleration/caching VLAN support Integrated Reporting Engine Graphical summaries Detailed user and group reports Bandwidth report Time/session reporting Report scheduling and exporting Multiple formats for report exporting	Barracuda Energize Updates Standard technical support Firmware and capability updates as required Automatic virus & spyware definition updates Automatic content filter database updates Instant Replacement Service Replacement unit shipped next business day 24×7 technical support Hardware refresh every four years	Connectors Standard VGA USB Ethernet (see chart) Front Panel Indicators Power indicator Disk activity indicator Power button Reset button

Deployments:

Barracuda Web Filter Technology

The Barracuda Web Filter combines preventative, reactive, and proactive measures to form a complete content filtering and anti-malware solution for businesses of all sizes. The Barracuda Web Filter enforces Internet usage policies by blocking access to objectionable content and unauthorized Internet applications, while its award-winning anti-malware technology blocks spyware downloads, prevents viruses, and blocks requests to malicious websites. To ease deployment, Barracuda Web Filter seamlessly integrates with existing network components and user authentication systems. Web-based threats evolve swiftly, so as new requirements emerge—e.g., social-networking control—the Barracuda Web Filter is automatically updated with new capabilities to meet those requirements, at no extra charge. With industry-leading capabilities and no per-user licensing fees, the Barracuda Web Filter is the most cost-effective solution in the industry.

Comprehensive Web Filtering

Layered Approach: Barracuda multilayered approach to web filtering includes a variety of technologies to regulate web usage and protect against malware. The Barracuda Web Filter gives administrators granular control to manage bandwidth usage, visits to websites, and use of Internet applications to enforce corporate Internet usage policy. Several layers of defense protect against all forms of harmful traffic between internal clients and the Internet, including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and application protocols. The measures include: IP-based policy controls, spyware protocol detection and blocking, user authentication, application protocol blocking, URL filtering, user/group-based policy controls, early detection and deep content inspection for virus checking, file type blocking, spyware download blocking, and desktop spyware protection.

Barracuda Central: All Barracuda Networks products are supported by Barracuda Central, a 24×7 advanced security operations center that works continuously to monitor and block the latest Internet threats. Barracuda Central collects email, URLs, and other data from tens of thousands of collection points located in more than 80 countries. In addition, Barracuda Central gets data contributions from more than 150,000 collection points and analyzes the data collected to develop defenses, rules, and signatures to defend your network. As new threats emerge, Barracuda Central is quick to respond to early outbreaks and delivers the latest definitions through Barracuda Energize Updates. These updates require zero administration and ensure that the Barracuda Web Filter provides comprehensive and accurate protection against the latest Internet threats.

Barracuda Central monitors data 24×7 from more than 150,000 Barracuda Networks products in over 80 countries and 17 languages. As new threats emerge, Barracuda Central quickly responds to outbreaks and delivers the latest definitions through automatic Barracuda Energize Updates.

Content Filtering:
Recreational web browsing adversely impacts employee productivity and exposes the network to malware threats. With Barracuda Web Filter, administrators can create policies that control user access to websites using multiple methods, including URL content categories, URL by domain or pattern, and file type blocking. Administrators can choose to block, allow, warn, or monitor access to these domains based on corporate policies.

 

 

Application Filtering:

The Barracuda Web Filter provides extremely granular control over Web 2.0 sites and applications, which allows administrators to limit access based on activity type within the same portal. For example, an organization may want to use Facebook or Twitter for viral marketing campaigns but prevent employees from playing games on Facebook or leaking confidential information through Twitter. In addition, administrators can configure the Barracuda Web Filter to archive outbound social media communications, like Facebook posts, tweets, and web-based email, to a message archive solution like the Barracuda Message Archiver. These messages can be searched to comply with HR or litigation requests. This level of functionality allows organizations to provide mission-critical access to Web 2.0 sites while restricting time and bandwidth wasting actions and applications.

 

Gateway Malware Protection:
The Barracuda Web Application Filter’s spyware protection engine blocks access to blacklisted sites in the extensive, up to date Barracuda Central Database. It also unpacks and examines individual files within 17 different types of archives for viruses and spyware. It can be configured to block password-protected archives that may contain harmful payloads. And, it scans inbound traffic for spyware, adware, trojans, and viruses.

Integrated Desktop Spyware Protection:
From inside the network, the Barracuda Web Filter identifies and blocks communications from infected systems to the Internet. By monitoring traffic at Layer 4, the Barracuda Web Filter detects and blocks outbound spyware activity across all protocols and ports. Once an infected machine is identified, the Barracuda Web Filter intercepts web browsing sessions and presents the user with the Barracuda Spyware Removal Tool in the form of an ActiveX control. The Barracuda Web Filter provides complete security, without the need to install client software on each workstation, by integrating powerful gateway and desktop spyware protection strategies.

Transparent User Authentication:
The Barracuda Web Filter integrates with popular LDAP servers including Microsoft Active Directory, Novell eDirectory, and IBM Lotus Domino Directory. It transparently authenticates workers using their Windows credentials over NTLM or Kerberos when IP-based authentication is not feasible. This is useful in terminal services, Network Address Translation (NAT), or other thin client environments such as Citrix, where multiple clients share one IP address.

 

 

Policy Management:
A powerful policy engine supports granular policies by user, group, IP address ranges, or time. The Barracuda Web Filter allows custom creation of allow and block lists, specification of URL patterns, and restriction of Internet downloads based on MIME type, e.g., executables, streaming media, or videos. Administrators can control Internet access from specific client machines or external servers based on source or destination IP address and ports. In addition, exception rules can be created to override global policies and further refine Internet access policy.

 

 

 

SSL Visibility:
The combination of SSL Filtering and SSL Inspection lets customers filter SSL (HTTPS) websites subject to the same filtering rules and policies applied to HTTP traffic. With SSL Filtering, the Barracuda Web Filter monitors Domain Name System (DNS) traffic generated by HTTPS requests and stores an internal database that maps IP addresses to domain names. Using this database, the Barracuda Web Filter can apply policies based on the IP addresses without actually decrypting the traffic to identify domain names. Also, if users require more of granular control, SSL Inspection would decrypt and scan user HTTPS web requests, enabling malware detection and web policy enforcement. It does this by acting as a secure intermediary between user HTTPS web requests and the destination web server (i.e., Facebook, YouTube). After processing, this HTTPS traffic will be re-encrypted on the fly by the Barracuda Web Filter and routed to the destination web server.

Remote Filtering
The Barracuda Web Filter extends protection beyond the network perimeter with the Barracuda Web Security Agent (WSA) and the Barracuda Safe Browser (BSB). The WSA is a tamper-proof client software for off-network Windows and Mac OS X computers, while the BSB is a fully-functional mobile browser for iOS-based devices. In both cases, web traffic from remote clients is filtered through a central Barracuda Web Filter to apply the same web policies to users on and off the network. Both the WSA and the BSB can be centrally configured from the administrator interface. Together, these powerful solutions let organizations implement a consistent web policy across local and distributed workforces without purchasing additional tools.

Documentation:

Download the Barracuda Networks Web Filter Data Sheet (.PDF)

Download the Barracuda Networks Web Filter Technology Data Sheet (.PDF)