Configuration & Policy Orchestration

Web Filter Policy Navigation

Navigation: Login → Organisation → WebFilter

Web Filter Policy Creation

Policy Creation Steps:

1. Click “Add Policy”
   

2. Enter Policy Name
   

3. Select Target (User / Group)
   

4. Choose Filter Type:
   

   • Application-Based
     

   • Category-Based
     

   • URL/IP-Based
     

   • Custom URL List
     

5. Define Action:
   

   • Allow
     

   • Block
     

   • Bypass
     

6. Save and Enable Policy

Best Practices:

• Use structured naming conventions
  

• Apply policies to groups rather than individual users
  

• Document policy intent

Web Filter Policy Management

Administrators can:

• Search policies by name or target
  

• View rule configuration (read-only mode)
  

• Edit policies to adapt to operational changes
  

• Disable policies temporarily
  

• Delete outdated rules
  

• Modify default action settings
  

• Use Global Enable/Disable for bulk control
  

Policy management should follow enterprise change-control procedures in production environments.

Web Filter for Custom URL’s

Custom URL filtering provides granular control over specific domains and URL paths.

Capabilities:

• Allow specific business-critical URLs
  

• Block malicious or non-compliant URLs
  

• Control access at path level
  

• Create department-specific exceptions
  

Example:

Allow → partnerbank.com
Block → youtube.com

Custom URL filtering is particularly useful for:

• Compliance enforcement
  

• Vendor portal access
  

• Exception management
  

• Project-specific restrictions
  

Web Filter Policy Enforcement & Validation

Enforcement Process:

1. User initiates web request
   

2. Traffic routed through SWA
   

3. Policy engine evaluates request
   

4. Matching rule applied
   

5. Action enforced
   

6. Event logged
   

If no rule matches → Default Action is applied.

Validation Checklist

Before full deployment:

• Confirm correct user/group mapping

• Verify policy is enabled

• Validate default action configuration

• Test allowed URLs

• Test blocked URLs

• Review logs for correct policy match

• Confirm no unintended bypass

Testing should be conducted using controlled test accounts before enterprise-wide rollout.

Use Case

1. Whitelisting
   Whitelisting allows access only to approved websites while blocking all others.
   
   Scenario: A financial organization allows access only to approved SaaS platforms and blocks all external services.
   
   Implementation:

   1. Default Action → Block

   2. Allow specific applications/domains

2. Blacklisting
   Blacklisting blocks specific websites or categories while allowing general internet access.
   
   Scenario: Block social media during work hours for the Finance team.
   
   Implementation:

   1. Default Action → Allow

   2. Block Social Media category

3. Bypass Rules
   Bypass rules allow selected traffic to skip filtering.
   
   Usage:

   1. Internal trusted applications

   2. Testing and staging environments

   3. Emergency troubleshooting

Bypass must be carefully controlled to prevent policy misuse or security gaps.