Monthly Archives: May 2018

No more consolidation confusion . . . just leading employee Web-use management solutions that fit.

Companies change, grow, restructure, merge, acquire, and get acquired. It’s business and we know how that can be. Those of us that have seen this happen from within know that true impacts to the general business structure and overall goals don’t really show up for a year or two. Rarely does an acquired or merged business stay the same. The impact though can be internal, within the employee structure or daily business operations, or there can be  more obvious external impact to the financial status of the business, such as going private, or to the customer base focus. The last being the most likely to cause a domino-style effect of disruption.

Now is the time to really consider how to handle the consolidation changes that have been announced by Forcepoint. With the Raytheon acquisition of Websense a few years ago, everyone knew changes would come eventually. Unfortunately, the recently announced business consolidation will tend to leave some traditional Web-use management customers out in the cold. Whether you were a Websense customer before Raytheon or have gone to Forcepoint looking for the Websense-style solution in the last few years, you know what you are looking for from a Web-use management solution. Give CyBlock and Cyfin a try. Depending on what you need for your unique business, the first and only decision you need to make is Wavecrest. With deployments to fit every business size, type, and need, Wavecrest will allow you the comfort of moving away from the large corporate hassles to a successful, mature, privately held vendor that proudly focuses on customer needs and technological advancements.

Leave the government contractor-level pricing, contractual terms, and confusion behind. Don’t become another ticket number. Let Wavecrest focus on your business and your specific requirements. Contact us and speak to a U.S.-based customer service or technical support person today. We consider it part of the job to keep our customers happy.

CyBlock® Employee Web Filtering and Monitoring Solutions provide advanced Web filtering, threat protection, comprehensive employee reporting, Smart Engine analytics, easy-to-use admin and manager portals, and more. Customers can easily configure CyBlock to monitor and manage compliance with their usage policies. CyBlock is available in various deployment options: CyBlock Software, CyBlock Appliance, CyBlock Mini Appliance, CyBlock Cloud, and CyBlock Hybrid as well as a Virtual Appliance version.

Cyfin® provides advanced employee Web-use analysis and reporting for a wide variety of gateway devices and log file formats. Comprehensive yet easy to use, its customized reporting capabilities supply audience-specific Web-use information with reliable metrics, easy-to-read reporting dashboards, manager-ready detailed audit reports, and Smart Engine analytics. Cyfin is available in various deployment options: Cyfin Software, Cyfin Forensic, and Cyfin VM.

About Wavecrest
Wavecrest has over 20 years of proven history of providing reliable, accurate Web-use management and Advanced Log File Analyzer products across various industries. Managed Service Providers, IT specialists, HR professionals, Forensics Investigators, and business managers trust Wavecrest’s Cyfin and CyBlock products to manage the human factor in business Internet usage — managing cloud services, reducing liability risks, improving productivity, saving bandwidth, and controlling costs. Trusted by large government and commercial organizations such as US-CERT Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Justice, USPS Office of Inspector General, National Grid, Johns Hopkins, and a growing list of global enterprises and government agencies. We are a proud long-term GSA contract holder. For more information on the company, products, and partners, visit Wavecrest.

Collaboration with others and acquiring the right Web filtering and monitoring solution are critical in IT’s role in managing employee Web use

When it comes to a company’s Internet-connected network, the IT department or person is responsible for not only providing the right access to the Internet to employees, but keeping the company’s network and data secure. In order to do this, IT must invest time in examining the most suitable Web filtering and monitoring solution for the organization and implement it. Besides deploying firewalls, network security equipment, and data loss prevention tools to keep hackers out, IT also needs to keep all company stakeholders informed about the latest tactics being used by hackers to trick employees and compromise security measures put in place. In this article, I will cover why collaboration and input from others as well as the need for research and implementation of the right security equipment are important in managing employee Web use effectively in the organization.

Today, the biggest security threats are not from firewall breaches, but from trusted internal employees who are getting tricked into doing the wrong things, compromising all the well-planned and expensive security measures put in place by IT. To ensure productive and safe Internet access by all employees, actual usage needs to be monitored and controlled. IT needs to implement a reliable Web security tool that can monitor and report on Web use as well as control access to specific Web sites. This type of tool would help identify threats and attacks in the company’s network and also deliver accurate results in Web activity reporting. It would provide data that is easy to consume by all audiences in the company including department managers and HR personnel.

Another important IT task in managing employee Web use is granting the proper authorization to users and groups in the company. In so doing, IT can restrict access to Web sites based on need, to only sites that allow the employee to perform his/her job, or to only data associated with managers’ authorized users. With the right tool implemented, IT can also send easy-to-read reports directly to managers by manual distribution via e-mail or automatic distribution via scheduling. To make their job even easier, if the Web security tool includes a reporting-only access portal, IT, by only controlling portal access privileges, can grant self-service access to managers and HR, allowing them to run their own reports on their authorized groups without needing assistance.

As part of their role in employee Web-use management, IT must collaborate with all company stakeholders, i.e., senior managers, Legal, HR, and department managers. When IT is looking for an appropriate tool for these collaborators to use, it is important that the tool includes a Smart Engine that analyzes Web-use data in order to better interpret human behavior. The generated information can then be easily consumed by all including nontechnical personnel. IT would not need to massage or manipulate the data or be burdened by having to answer a lot of questions. The generated information would be best presented in easy-to-read, manager-ready, drill-down reports that give more detail on employees’ Web traffic. As part of this collaboration, IT should share pertinent information with HR and management when the Web filtering and monitoring product reveals patterns of inappropriate use. In this way, HR and management can determine the appropriate action to be taken.

Cyber attacks are growing in prominence every day targeting small and large businesses. On average, more than 4,000 ransomware attacks have occurred daily since 2016. 1 in 131 e-mails contains malware. As the number of malware types and variants continues to grow and evolve to bypass your antivirus program and other levels of protection, it is necessary for your IT team to keep well-informed of the latest hacker exploits and attacks, and put in place a secure Web filtering and monitoring solution to detect and block malware and other online threats.

An IT administrator that is on top of how network criminals operate and their latest techniques needs to communicate with HR to adequately protect the network from intrusion. Prompt communication of hackers’ latest tactics that focus on exploiting employees will help HR formulate a proper training and informational program on how to identify and avoid these types of exploits. IT can help HR flush out what they need to be training employees on, i.e., what to do and what not to do on the Internet. This type of training will hopefully help reduce the likelihood that an employee will open a suspicious e-mail or click unsolicited attachments in an e-mail if opened, and help to better ideed or unknown sites. Are your employees being provided with this training

IT plays a fundamental role in the proper management of employee Web use. Every year, hackers come up with new ways to trick users into giving up sensitive data, revealing credentials to their accounts, or clicking links to malicious Web sites. It is imperative that IT take the time to thoroughly research and implement the right Web filtering and monitoring tool to protect employees and the company’s network. It is also critical that this tool includes a Smart Engine to analyze the technical data and provide the necessary information on human activity. IT also needs to communicate the latest hacker tricks and traps to all stakeholders in the company, including HR and management, so that the workforce can be properly trained. Collaboration, communication, and training are essential to an effective employee Web-use management program. In the next articles, we will delve into the requirements of an effective employee Web-use management program, the importance of creating a well-designed Acceptable Use Policy, and other topics related to employee Web-use management.

Please let me know your thoughts on and reactions to this article and my questions by adding a comment. What challenges does your IT department or person face in managing employee Internet use effectively? Is IT communicating security vulnerabilities and exploits to your HR personnel, managers, and other company stakeholders?