When a company implements Web filtering and monitoring software, it typically wants to filter and monitor the Web traffic flowing through its network by user name versus IP address for various reasons. Some of these reasons include curtailing casual surfing, protecting against security threats, and conserving bandwidth. Furthermore, a company’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is usually based on user names and/or groups of user names. Therefore, the application that enforces and monitors the company’s AUP needs to identify Web activity by user name. IP addresses can be dynamic, and sometimes more than one employee can log on to a computer, and hence, more than one user name will be using the same IP address.
Many an IT administrator is tasked with ensuring that the company’s employees are going through
the proxy that is in place, so that Web activity can be monitored by user name. To get user names
and authenticate users, IT administrators can choose any of the proxy configuration options and
authentication methods described below.
Depending on the company’s preference, one proxy configuration option may be more favorable than the other. Here, we will discuss applying browser settings manually, pushing out group policies using Active Directory (AD), using a captive portal, and installing client software. We will also touch on the different ways that you can authenticate your Internet users using our CyBlock products.