Category Archives: CyBlock Appliance

Managing Web Application Authentication Problems with Wavecrest Proxy Products

In order to obtain usernames for filtering and/or reporting purposes in CyBlock Proxy, Cyfin Proxy, or CyBlock Appliance, authentication must be enabled. An issue that arises with authentication is that there are some Web apps and URLs/Domains that do not respond to the authentication request properly.  Because of this, in versions 6.2.0 and 8.2.0 we added the Authentication Manager in CyBlock Proxy, Cyfin Proxy and the CyBlock Appliance.

The Authentication Manager helps prevent these issues by automatically detecting the disruptions, identifying the failed applications, and employing automatic authentication-bypass techniques (when authentication is enabled in Moderate mode). This allows users to bypass proxy authentication (not the proxy server) with those web sites and web applications that do not properly respond to the proxy authentication request.  An example of this is your offensive line in a football game.  Just like your offensive line creates a hole for the running back to run through, bypass authentication opens a hole in the proxy so that the request can go through. The request will bypass authentication but not the proxy.

To learn more about proxy authentication and the Authentication Manager, read our document “Managing Web Application Authentication Problems” and see your product manual for specific instructions on fully utilizing the Authentication Manager.

Wavecrest Computing: Fourteen Years of Internet Monitoring and Filtering

Wavecrest Computing, a leading developer of Internet usage management products, has now been in business for fourteen years. Since 1996, from their base in Melbourne, Florida, Wavecrest Computing has developed, marketed and supported a spectrum of innovative Internet monitoring and reporting solutions. Their products help all types of organizations manage employees’ online activities and ensure compliance with acceptable use policies. Starting fourteen years ago with a single customer, their client base has grown to more than 3,000 organizations, many of them Fortune 500 companies and high profile government agencies.

What makes Wavecrest stand out from competitors is their on-going commitment to customer service. When customers call, they talk to a real person from Wavecrest’s Melbourne, Florida location, and they get personalized attention. Their support personnel know that customer satisfaction is key to the company’s (and their own) success. For years these dedicated men and women have listened to Wavecrest customers and made sure that Wavecrest consistently delivers the products and services needed to meet the many dynamic challenges associated with use of the Internet in the workplace.

Those challenges have certainly evolved over the years. Examples include the very real and seriously increasing risks of social networking, video streaming and other Web 2.0 technologies that produce productivity losses, bandwidth drains, legal liability, and network security threats in the workplace.

As the Internet grows and the challenges escalate, Wavecrest has kept pace every step of the way.

Taking a look at Wavecrest’s product history, they started with a basic software application called ProxyReporter. It read and analyzed employers’ outbound Web logs. From that data, it then produced reports that helped management and IT monitor employees’ use of Web access.

As the Internet became more sophisticated, Wavecrest went on to develop a series of increasingly robust Web-use monitoring and filtering products designed to suit a variety of customers and network infrastructures. Their monitoring products now include Cyfin Reporter–a highly sophisticated and scalable logfile analyzer/reporter–and Cyfin Proxy, a standalone Web proxy/monitor/reporter. Their combination filtering/reporting products include CyBlock for ISA/TMG–a combination filter/reporter system for use with Microsoft ISA and TMG products–and CyBlock Proxy, a standalone proxy/filter/reporting solution.

Wavecrest’s latest innovation is CyBlock Appliance, a hardware based Internet-usage management device. Designed to monitor and help control use of all Internet protocols, CyBlock Appliance is a standalone proxy, monitor, filter and reporter.

Through the years, Wavecrest products have been well received and proven to be highly reliable and cost-effective. They are all backed with a 90-day money-back guarantee. Wavecrest frequently incorporates new features to keep up with the ever-changing Internet and marketplace demands. Dennis McCabe, VP of Business Development, states, “Our main goals at Wavecrest are to provide outstanding customer service and a reliable and robust product that stands above the competition.”

About Wavecrest
Founded in 1996, Wavecrest Computing is a recognized B2B leader in policy-based Web-use management solutions. The company’s products are relied on by IT personnel, HR professionals and business managers around the world to proactively address issues of Internet abuse, legal liability, security threats, workforce productivity and misuse of bandwidth. Wavecrest has been profitable since 1997, and sales have increased steadily since then. Among their more than 3,000 clients are Procter & Gamble, British Telecom, US Department of State, Edward Jones, IBM, IKEA, MillerCoors, Siemens, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and a growing list of global enterprises and government agencies.

Setting the Time Zone in CyBlock Appliance

If you notice that the set time zone in your CyBlock Appliance is incorrect, then simply follow the below instructions for checking and setting the time zone to the correct time.

  1. To check the date and time zone set in CyBlock Appliance, go to the screen https://yourappliance/help/systeminformation/shell/index.html. Use your server name or IP in place of “yourappliance.”
  2. Run the following command:
    date
  3. Hit Enter.
  4. You should now see the current set date and time for the Appliance.
  5. If it is not the correct date and time, then run the following command:
    date -s “20May 2010 16:00:00” (Type in the date and time that is current for your time zone.)
  6. Hit Enter, and this will set the appliance to the correct date and time.
  7. To double check that the appliance is now set to the correct date and time, run the date command again.

New Releases: CyBlock 6.2.0 and Cyfin 8.2.0

New versions of CyBlock and Cyfin were recently released.  You can download the latest release by going to the Administration – Product Update screen. Below are a list of enhancements for each product.

CyBlock Proxy, Cyfin Proxy and CyBlock Appliance Enhancements

  • Proxy Server Authentication. New authentication options are now available on the Setup – Proxy screen.  Options include Strict, Moderate, and Disable (if disabled, IP addresses will be used).  The default setting is Moderate.  These options affect how bypass authentication is handled on the new Authentication Manager.
  • Authentication Manager. Complementing the new proxy server authentication options is the Authentication Manager. This screen allows the administrator to manage improperly authenticating URL/domains, web applications and user-agents. The Authentication Manager is located at Advanced Settings – Proxy Settings – Authentication Manager.
  • PAC File Configuration. This new screen allows for easy PAC file configuration that you can push out to all browsers. It is located at Advanced Settings – Proxy Settings – PAC File Configuration.
  • Product News. With this release, we have added the ability for administrators to get product news alerts via email.  This setting is found on the Administration – Product News – Setup page.  NOTE: The default setting is “Do not email.”

CyBlock ISA Enhancements & Updates

  • Forefront TMG Support. Support is now available for Microsoft Forefront TMG for both filtering and reporting.
  • Product News. With this release, we have added the ability for administrators to get product news alerts via email.  This setting is found on the Administration – Product News – Setup page.  NOTE: The default setting is “Do not email.”
  • ISA Server 2000 No Longer Supported. With this latest upgrade, there is no longer support for ISA Server 2000.

Cyfin Reporter Enhancements

  • New Logfile Support for the following:
    • Microsoft Forefront TMG Support
    • Watchguard Firebox 11 with Syslog
    • Astaro Security
  • Product News. With this release, we have added the ability for administrators to get product news alerts via email.  This setting is found on the Administration – Product News – Setup page.  NOTE: The default setting is “Do not email.”

Use the following links to access the full release notes for your Wavecrest product.

If you have any questions about any of the new features or upgrading, please contact Support.

Email: support@wavecrest.net
Phone (Toll-free): 877-442-9346, ext. 4 (U.S. and Canada)
Phone (Direct): 321-953-535, ext. 4

Enforce Safe Search in Google, Yahoo and Bing with CyBlock

If you haven’t already done so, check out the safe search feature in your CyBlock Proxy, CyBlock Appliance or CyBlock ISA product. With this feature, you can force Google, Yahoo and Bing to strictly use Safe Search. To enable it, go to the Advanced Settings – Filter Settings – Safe Search screen, check the enable box and hit Submit. When enabled, the product will reset search engines to “safe search” even if users change the preference in the search engine. This will block Web pages containing explicit sexual content from appearing in search results.

Note: Safe Search is available only in Versions 6.0.0 and later.

New CyBlock and Cyfin Upgrades

Check out the latest releases for CyBlock Proxy, CyBlock Appliance, Cyfin Reporter, and Cyfin Proxy!  These are packed with tons of great new features that we’re sure you will love.  The new features include:

  • A New Browser Interface with new colors and wider screens.
  • A Dashboard that includes:
    • A Home screen that provides an overview of the organization’s Web use for the last 7 days by displaying charts of Web-use visits, top users, top categories and bandwidth usage.
    • Top charts and trend charts with customizable parameters to view Web usage data by hits, visits or bytes, select the timeframe and compare users Web usage to the group average or enterprise average.
  • More Custom Categories.
  • Enhanced Data Warehousing that includes support for MySQL and SQL server.
  • Full 64-bit support on Windows and Linux systems.
  • Safe Search option to enforce safe search on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Use the following links to access the full release notes for your Wavecrest product.

If you have any questions about any of the new features or upgrading, please contact Support.

Email: support@wavecrest.net
Phone (Toll-free): 877-442-9346, ext. 4 (U.S. and Canada)
Phone (Direct): 321-953-535, ext. 4

Blocking IM/Chat with Wavecrest’s CyBlock Products

Our CyBlock Appliance offers the best coverage for blocking IM and Chat sites. The CyBlock Appliance can block the IM traffic as well as the sites to prevent the user from making a connection to the IM server.  To block IM with the CyBlock Appliance, first go to the Advanced Settings – Filter Settings – Block Web Protocols screen and check all the IM clients that you want to block.  Next, go to the Advanced Settings – Filter Settings – Block Web Categories screen and block the Chat category.  For even more coverage, you can also block the following URLs by placing them in a Custom Category or by adding them to the Chat category.

Yahoo IM: login.yahoo.com (Hardware and Software)

AOL IM: login.oscar.aol.com (Other Category)

MSN Messenger: login.live.com (Note: This site also is used for Hotmail login as well. So if you block the Hardware and Software category or this URL, you will block both MSN Messenger and Hotmail email).

To get the best filtering Chat/IM coverage with CyBlock Proxy or CyBlock ISA, block the Chat category and the sites listed above.

Wavecrest’s 13th Birthday

We’re Wavecrest Computing, a leading developer of Internet usage management products. Today is our thirteenth birthday. So we’re taking a moment to celebrate, look back, and reflect on some of our accomplishments over the years.

Since 1996, from our base in Melbourne, Florida, we have developed, marketed and supported a spectrum of innovative Internet monitoring and reporting solutions. Our products help all types of organizations manage their employees’ online activities and ensure compliance with acceptable use policies. Starting thirteen years ago with a single customer, our client base has grown to more than 3,000 organizations, many of them Fortune 500 companies and high profile government agencies.

We’re extremely proud of this. But it didn’t just ‘happen.’

The credit goes to an unusually talented and well-led team of development, sales and support people. They all work directly for Wavecrest; none are outsource or temporary employees. For years these dedicated men and women have made sure that we consistently deliver the products and services that our customers need to meet the many dynamic challenges associated with use of the Internet in the workplace.

And those challenges have certainly evolved over the years. Examples include the very real and seriously increasing risks of productivity losses, bandwidth drains, legal liability, and network security threats. And as the Internet grew and the challenges escalated, we have kept pace every step of the way.

Our first product— a basic software application called ProxyReporter—read and analyzed employers’ outbound Web logs. From that data, it then produced reports that helped management and IT monitor employees’ use of Web access.

Then, as the Internet became more sophisticated, we went on to develop a series of increasingly robust Web-use monitoring and filtering products designed to suit a variety of customers and network infrastructures. Our monitoring products now include Cyfin Reporter—a highly sophisticated and scalable logfile analyzer/reporter—and Cyfin Proxy, a standalone Web proxy/monitor/reporter. Our combination filtering/reporting products include CyBlock for ISA—a combination filter/reporter system for use with Microsoft ISA products—and CyBlock Proxy, a standalone proxy/filter/reporting solution.

Our latest innovation is CyBlock Appliance, a hardware based Internet-usage management device. Designed to monitor and help control use of all Internet protocols, CyBlock Appliance is a standalone proxy, monitor, filter and reporter.

Of particular interest, in recent years, we have upgraded all of these products to deal with emerging issues associated with a variety of Web 2.0 advances such as social networking. At the same time we have been busy incorporating new features such as protocol filtering and trend reporting.

Through the years our products have been well received and proven to be highly reliable and cost-effective, and we back them all with a 90-day money-back guarantee.

As proud as we are of our products, we take equal pride in our support services. When customers call, they talk to a real person—here in America—and they get personalized attention. Our support personnel, all of whom have been with us for years, know that customer satisfaction is key to the company’s (and their own) success. And as a result of their responsiveness and professionalism, they have received literally hundreds of kudos and compliments over the years.

So, in sum, we have much to celebrate and be proud of.

Happy Birthday, Wavecrest!

Summer 2009 Newsletter

Check out the Wavecrest Computing Summer 2009 Newsletter.  Topics include:

  • End of Year Sales Specials – Discounts for New and Existing Customers
  • New Rack Mount CyBlock Appliance
  • Managing and Customizing Categorization in Cyfin and CyBlock
  • Displaying Login Names and IP Addresses in Reports