Web Access Control

WinGate Wingate 7provides the Web Access Control system so you can control user access to particular web sites and URLs. Web access control can be implemented in several ways, through the use of website content classification, and website lists.

1. Website content classification

   When a user makes a request to a URL or web site through the WWW Proxy Server, the URLs and websites can be classified into particular content categories. Access rules can be then be created based around these categories, on an allow or deny basis.

   • Classifiers

     WinGate provides several options for classifying what content category requested URLs and web sites should belong to. These can be either manually specified using the Manual classifier provided by WinGate, or they can be automatically classified as they are requested if you have a web content classification plugin installed (such as the PureSight for WinGate).

   • Categories

     Content categories can be either created manually, or supplied by any web content classification plugins that you may have installed (such as PureSight for WinGate).

     This lets you easily allow or deny access to groups of URLs and web sites that contain particular types of content. To help with rule refinement, you can create child categories where you can set more granular access rules on these sub categories.

2. Website lists

   Access rules can also include a list of named websites. If a user requests a site that matches one listed in an access rule, then they can be subject to that rule.

Access rules

Access rules provide simple allow or deny user access to particular URLs and web sites. Each rule can be configured with a number of different criteria that has to match in order for the rule to apply. Rules can be set based on which content category the URL or web site has been classified as belonging to, the name of the website requested, the user or group making the request, the location (IP address) where the request was made from, and the time frame when the request occurred.

You can create as many access rules as you require to control user access to web content. Access rules are evaluated in order until the criteria of a particular rule matches the conditions of the request and is applied. If a rule has been set to deny access, then an appropriate response page can be returned to the users browser.