Blue Coat enables businesses to harness the power of web-based applications while mitigating risks

Blue Coat Systems, a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today introduced enhancements to its Web security solutions that provide advanced application controls, more granular content ratings and actionable intelligence to deliver detailed visibility into and precise control over Web-based applications on the network.  With these updates, Blue Coat enables businesses to harness the power of Web-based applications while mitigating the risk of data loss or lower employee productivity.  

Today, Web sites include a combination of content and features that cannot easily be categorized or managed.  For example, as a social networking site, Facebook also provides online games, email, video and a variety of content that ranges from entertainment to sports to news.  Users can upload videos and pictures, download attachments or post messages on Facebook.  These Web mashups are now prolific, and as businesses increasingly adopt Web-based applications, IT departments cannot simply block access to them without seeing a significant spike in helpdesk requests.  Yet businesses lack an efficient way to precisely control and enforce policy around discrete applications and operations.

With the introduction of the Blue Coat^®Web Application Policy Engine, Blue Coat delivers the advanced Web application and operation controls businesses require to effectively manage social media and other Web-based applications.  Blue Coat has also enhanced its Reporter platform to deliver visibility into Web application and operation usage through detailed, drill down reporting that helps IT managers set effective policies with these new controls. 

“Businesses are increasingly adopting Web-based applications and utilizing social media as part of their day-to-day operations, driving new demand for security that can keep pace with the dynamic nature of the Web,” said Nigel Hawthorn, VP EMEA Marketing at Blue Coat Systems.  “Blue Coat Web Security solutions combine the protection, control and actionable intelligence to effectively manage the proliferation of Web-based applications while mitigating the risks of data loss or lower employee productivity.” 

Granular Application Controls Enable Flexible Policies

With the Blue Coat Web Application Policy Engine, businesses can set and enforce policies by specific application, operation and category for a diverse group of social networking, video, streaming, business and media sharing applications.  For example, businesses that are concerned about unintentional data loss could block a user’s ability to post messages on social networking sites while still permitting access to the site and other operations.  With the latest updates to Reporter, businesses now have actionable intelligence about the use of these specific applications and operations, giving IT managers the information they require to more effectively control the traffic on their networks.  

Blue Coat adds new applications and operations to the Web Application Policy Engine on a monthly basis to continually enhance the value delivered to customers and to ensure they have the relevant controls to manage critical Web applications.  The Web Application Policy Engine and relevant policies are automatically updated as new applications and operations are added.  

New Categories Reflect New Web Ecosystem

To help businesses effectively manage dynamic Web content and mitigate new and evolving Web-based threats, Blue Coat has added four new categories to Blue Coat WebFilter: Spam, Dynamic DNS Host, Child Pornography and Informational. 

Blue Coat WebFilter enables businesses to manage Web content on the network by categorizing it into 84 categories.  The four new categories more accurately reflect today’s Web content and the ways in which it is being used, enabling IT managers to set and enforce granular policies based on business requirements.  For example, Blue Coat Security Labs has increasingly seen malware attacks that utilize dynamic DNS services.  Creating a separate category for these types of Web sites allows IT managers to easily block potentially risky content.  The Informational category allows IT managers to set more flexible policies in line with corporate policies.  A company, for example, could allow access to sites that provide lottery results without allowing access to gambling sites.  

The Blue Coat Web Security portfolio delivers comprehensive protection against Web-based threats, granular control and actionable intelligence, enabling businesses to create flexible policies that align with their business requirements.  The Blue Coat Web Security portfolio includes the Blue Coat Secure Web Gateway solution of on-premise appliances and the Blue Coat Cloud Service, an on-demand, Internet-delivered service.