Category Archives: Wave News

Wavecrest’s RealTimePlus Filtering

RealTimePlus is our customer-configurable three-layer filtering process. It uses three layers of screening based on: (1) custom categories, (2) the Wavecrest categorization (control) list and (3) a real-time deep packet analysis process.

1. Custom Categories (the “First Layer”). ‘Custom categories’ supplement the standard categories. This enables you to better identify and control your users’ Web activity.   For example, you can create a custom category to:

  • Serve as a “white list” that contains all sites to which visits are allowed (while blocking all others).
  • Track and possibly block access to ‘standard’ sites that are not in the Wavecrest URL List but are of special local interest or concern.
  • Serve as a “black list” that contains all sites to be blocked (while allowing access to all others).
  • Track (but not block) visits to internal servers (intranet sites) and/or partner sites.

You can add custom categories at the Advanced Settings – Category Setup – Custom Categories screen. Then use the Advanced Settings – Category Setup – Edit URLs screen to add sites into your custom categories.

2. The Wavecrest URL List (the “Second Layer”). To accurately identify and categorize the vast majority of visits, Wavecrest products use a large, mature categorization control list.  This ‘control’ list consists of 69 ‘standard’ content-identification categories that is updated daily with URLs from around the world.  We recommend that you download the list daily to get the best filtering and monitoring coverage.   You can setup an automatic daily download of the list at the Administration – URL List – Schedule screen.

Another great customization feature with the control list is that you can add and move URLs in the standard categories.  For example, if you use Twitter as a Marketing tool but want to continue to block all other social networking sites, you can simply add www.twitter.com to the Marketing category.  You can make this change at the Advanced Settings – Category Setup – Edit URLs screen.

Finally, set your block/allow policies for your custom categories and standard categories at the Advanced Settings – Filtering Settings – Block Web Categories screen.

3. Deep Packet Analysis (the “Third Layer”). Using real-time ‘deep packet analysis,’ CyBlock can determine if the content of a URL is Flash, video streaming, audio streaming, images, Active X and more.  Any or all of these could be considered “inappropriate” and can be blocked.  You can also add your own extensions to be blocked.  You can block these types of content or add your own at the Advanced Settings – Filter Settings – Block Web Content screen.

Other Features

1. Hourly Blocking. You can block or allow categories at specific hours during the day.  For example, you may want to allow access to some categories during the lunch hour. You can set these hourly policies by clicking on the clock icon at the Block Web Categories screen.

2. Customizable Blocking Message. CyBlock comes with a standard blocking message, but you can configure the product to point to your own Web policy or personalized blocking message.  You can set this custom message at the Advanced Settings – Filter Settings – Web Blocking Message screen.

Wavecrest Computing’s End of Year Sales Specials

Now is your last chance to take advantage of one of our sales specials on our CyBlock Internet filtering or Cyfin Internet monitoring software. These specials will end on December 31, 2009, so act fast!

Purchase a one-year license and get one extra month free! That’s a 13-month license for the price of 12!

Interested in a multi-year license?
No problem. For purchasing a 2-year license, you’ll get 2 extra months, or get 3 extra months with the purchase of a 3-year license.

New to Wavecrest?
Enjoy the following discounts when you purchase a NEW 2 or 3-year license:

  • 20% off a new 2-year license
  • 30% off a new 3-year license

Coming Up For Renewal?
In addition to getting the extra months, if you purchase a multi-year renewal license, you’ll also get to enjoy the following discounts:

  • 15% off a 2-year license
  • 20% off a 3-year license

To take advantage of these specials, simply state that you would like the “End of Year Sales Special” when you order!

For a quote or to place your order, contact sales.

Phone (Toll-free): 877-442-9346, ext. 3 (U.S. and Canada)
Phone: 321-953-5351, ext. 3
Email: sales@wavecrest.net

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

More Businesses Monitoring Employees’ Internet Use

More businesses are monitoring their employees’ use of the Internet due to a constantly evolving Internet and increased security and productivity concerns.  A recent article, “Big Employer May Be Watching,” from the Tampa Bay Business Journal discusses these concerns in more detail and provides advice from various IT professionals in the field of Employee Internet Management.  Below is a snippet of the article with advice from Wavecrest Computing’s VP of Business Development, Dennis McCabe.

The reasons why companies monitor employees has changed over time, said Dennis McCabe, VP of business development at Wavecrest Computing Inc., a developer of management software based in Melbourne.

After the burst of the dot-com bubble companies grew increasingly concerned with productivity. The concern later shifted to security issues posed by unwanted e-mail or “spam.” Productivity is once again a concern with the economic downturn, as well as security within a company, he said.

“This is not a firewall where you might have unknown hackers that might attack you. These are people working in your building, colleagues,” McCabe said.

Communication between management and staff is essential.

“You need informed management about how employees are using it and based on companies’ philosophy,” McCabe said. “They need to formulate a policy based on that.”

New Releases: CyBlock 5.9.3 and Cyfin 7.9.3

Wavecrest Computing recently released new versions of its CyBlock and Cyfin products. Some enhancements included are:

  • Enhancement – Arrays. More synchronization functionality has been added. Synchronization automatically takes place now when adding a new member (secondary machine) to an array. Also, using the synchronization button sends configuration parameters from the primary machine to all secondary machines. Note: This feature is not available for the CyBlock Appliance.
  • Enhancement – Backups. Product configuration data is now backed up daily and stored in compressed files. The ability to restore the product to any of your daily backups is now available at the Administration – Restore screen. Note: This feature is not available for arrays.
  • Correction – Screen name change. The screen Advanced Settings – Report Settings – Advanced Options replaces the screen that was initially named Advanced Settings – Report Settings – Preferences.

For full release notes on the products, please visit the forum at https://forum.wavecrest.net/index.php. Current customers can download the latest release from their product by going to the Administration – Product Update screen.

Product Updates: CyBlock Proxy 5.9.2.e and Cyfin Proxy 7.9.2.e

We recently discovered an issue with accessing SSL (https sites) in CyBlock Proxy 5.9.2 and Cyfin Proxy 7.9.2 versions.  To avoid any problems, we recommend upgrading to the new maintenance versions CyBlock Proxy 5.9.2.e and Cyfin Proxy 7.9.2.e.  To upgrade to the latest version, login to your Cyfin Proxy or CyBlock Proxy product, go to Administration – Product Update and click Download Now.  You can also access the latest version from the support customer login pages on our Web site.

CyBlock Proxy: https://www.wavecrest.net/support/cyblock/sa/downloads.html

Cyfin Proxy: https://www.wavecrest.net/support/cyfin/sa/downloads.html

Wavecrest Now Using Twitter to Keep You Updated

We recently created a Twitter account to help keep you updated on product and industry developments.  Tweets include updates on CyBlock and Cyfin’s latest product releases, technical and usage tips, and company and industry news on Internet usage issues that affect businesses and schools.  This includes Internet-related news that addresses current bandwidth concerns, productivity losses, legal liability and security threats.

Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WavecrestNet.

New Releases: CyBlock 5.9.2 and Cyfin 7.9.2

New versions of Wavecrest Computing’s CyBlock and Cyfin Internet filtering and monitoring software were recently released. Below is a list of some of the enhancements included in these versions.

  • Enhancement – Groups and IDs. Subgrouping up to 10 levels is supported.
  • Enhancement – Run Now. You can now run any scheduled report immediately. Simply go to the Reports – Schedule – Run Now screen and click on the report you want to run. The report will be delivered using the scheduled report settings you previously configured.
  • Enhancement – Array. The communication between computers in a Wavecrest product array has been enhanced to do authentication automatically. This prevents communication from halting when a “secondary” machine responds to a “primary” machine with an authentication request.
  • Enhancement – Safe Search (CyBlock ISA Only). The Google and Yahoo Safe Search is now fully implemented with this release. Go to the Setup – Filtering screen to enable this feature.

For full release notes on the products, please visit the forum at https://forum.wavecrest.net/index.php. Current customers can download the latest release from their product by going to the Administration – Product Update screen.

U.S. Department of Justice Monitors Web Use with Cyfin Reporter

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently renewed Cyfin Reporter for the seventh consecutive year.  Cyfin Reporter enables the DOJ to conduct up to 100,000 employees’ Web usage simultaneously. The Department continues to use Cyfin Reporter because of its robust performance, accuracy and scalability and the many benefits it provides, i.e., improved productivity and decreases in bandwidth consumption, legal liability and security threats.

It’s important for employers to ensure that their employees are using the Internet in a productive manner and are not accessing sites that hurt productivity or degrade network performance.  Cyfin Reporter helps organizations do this by providing actionable and accurate employee Web-use investigations. Its features include automatic abuse detection, interactive drill-down, and a report scheduler that runs and distributes reports automatically.

Dennis McCabe, Vice President of Business Development at Wavecrest Computing, states, “the great thing about Cyfin Reporter is that it not only allows organizations to monitor ‘bad’ sites, but it also allows them to monitor those sites that employees should be utilizing on a regular basis, e.g., the company’s Web site or intranet.”  This is what makes Cyfin Reporter a truly effective tool for managing Web use.

For 12 years, Wavecrest Computing has been providing Internet filtering and monitoring solutions to business, government, and educational organizations worldwide.  Wavecrest’s customer base includes well-known names such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Procter and Gamble, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Bridgestone, Mazda and many others.  Government agencies and educational institutions can purchase Wavecrest products through GSA’s Federal Supply Schedule at a substantial discount.