Tag Archives: cloud

Remote Working & Managing Internet Use

*Specifically built to serve remote and roaming users, CyBlock Cloud will follow your users to wherever they are working.*

We all hope this coronavirus doesn’t last long. That’s clear. But because of this, companies seem to be realizing that social distancing is a good idea, and they can have people working remotely in a positive way. Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft – the list keeps growing. They are taking this head-on and moving their employees off-site, potentially protecting their entire workforce from an onsite health crisis.

How does remote working fit into work overall? The numbers that come out of all this should be interesting, especially the numbers for the companies that finally realize they can operate this way and not lose any control over Internet security, productivity, liability, and more. Buzzfeed reports in its March 4th article*, “some in the industry are looking at the outbreak as a test case for the long-gestating but never-arriving moment when working remotely will broadly replace working in person.”

Many businesses have traveling workers. Salespeople, Technical Support staff, and others, but now we are looking at the driving force being something out of our control. The businesses that have made this decision are supporting a healthy workforce as a whole. Businesses that do choose to do this also know that they are still responsible for employees’ online activity. So how does a company support its business when its workforce is scattered everywhere?

The answer is a comprehensive Internet use management solution with an easy, flexible cloud deployment that travels with your employees. So, for example, the employee goes home with a company laptop, the company Internet use would be managed by the cloud solution.

What should you look for when looking at Internet-use cloud solutions?

Should deploy in minutes with simple, intuitive steps.
Follows users with perimeter-less coverage.
Is an easily scalable, highly elastic, and adaptable solution.
Always-on filtering with User/Group filter policies.
Provides fast, efficient, manager-ready reporting.
Has no hardware installation and no maintenance.

CyBlock Cloud can provide all this and more. Specifically built to serve remote and roaming users, CyBlock Cloud will follow your users to wherever they are working.

Now is the best time to be prepared. Our Sales Team and Technical Staff are ready to help you get setup and going. We are all in this together! Contact us today at info@wavecrest.net.

About Us

CyBlock® Employee Web Filtering and Monitoring Solutions provide advanced Web filtering, threat protection, comprehensive employee reporting, Smart Engine with machine-learning 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 Virtual Appliance, CyBlock Appliance, CyBlock Mini Appliance, CyBlock Cloud, and CyBlock Hybrid.

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 customizable reporting and machine-learning analytics 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 Virtual Appliance and Cyfin Forensic.

Wavecrest® has over 20 years of proven history of providing reliable, accurate Web-use management, filtering, reporting, and analytics products across various industries. IT specialists, business managers, HR professionals, Managed Service Providers, and Forensics Investigators trust Wavecrest’s Cyfin and CyBlock products to easily decipher and manage real employee Web activity, manage cloud services, reduce liability risks, improve productivity, save bandwidth, and control 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.

*The Coronavirus Is Forcing Techies To Work From Home. Some May Never Go Back The Office, buzzfeed.com, March 2020.

Your Employees are Now Working From Just About Anywhere

Employees Working From Anywhere Get easy-to-launch cloud-based Web filtering service. CyBlock Cloud.

“Joe is working remote today,” mentions his manager. Today, “Joe” can actually be any one of your employees. With companies now operating in so many flexible ways, employees have the opportunity to work from anywhere. (Okay, most are not working from space . . . not yet anyway!) How do managers maintain productivity? How does IT manage the usage of Internet-connected devices and associated security risks? The company is still responsible for employees’ Web use no matter where they are working from. With “Joe” being in California tomorrow and Canada next week, it is critical for the business to find the right Web-use filtering and management tool for roaming or remote workers, as well as cover the more static workforce. A cloud-based solution is the only way to go. When researching the best cloud-based Web activity filtering and management solution for your distributed workforce there are some important benefits to ask for.

Fast Deployment – The ability to set up and be filtering Web use in minutes.
Supports Unique Environments and Workforce – The solution should be highly elastic and adaptable.
Entire Distributed Workforce Coverage – Easily scales to all offices and users, regardless of location.
User-Centered Focus – Follows the user with perimeter-less coverage.
Cost and Time Effective – No hardware installation or maintenance.

Wavecrest can help. CyBlock Cloud is an easy-to-launch cloud-based Web filtering service. Apply regardless of employee location, without the cost of hardware or software installations and ongoing maintenance.

Let us 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 prospects and customers happy.

About Us

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 Virtual Appliance, CyBlock Appliance, CyBlock Mini Appliance, CyBlock Cloud, and CyBlock Hybrid.

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 Virtual Appliance and Cyfin Forensic.

Wavecrest has over 20 years of proven history of providing reliable, accurate Web-use management and Advanced Log File Analyzer products across various industries. IT specialists, business managers, HR professionals, Managed Service Providers, and Forensics Investigators trust Wavecrest’s Cyfin and CyBlock products to easily decipher and manage real employee Web activity, manage cloud services, reduce liability risks, improve productivity, save bandwidth, and control 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.

One admin interface to manage all your employees’ Web use–CyBlock Hybrid Array.

Since all your employees use the Internet in some way every day, whether for cloud services, research, or just e-mail, they are prime targets for hackers, malware, and data theft. Efficiency can play a key role in actively keeping your company secure from as many cyber threats as possible, especially today when your employees can be working in many different locations.

Choosing multiple cloud instances allows for advanced coverage of your distributed workforce but this can be time-consuming if managing each separately. Solution? CyBlock Hybrid Array. Now you can have one server location to manage all your CyBlock Cloud instances as well as your main office CyBlock installation–see charts or run reports that include all the locations or focus on one, monitor any of the paired CyBlock Cloud accounts, and manage any policy changes that can automatically or manually be synced with the appropriate cloud instance.

Easy, efficient, proactive management of your Hybrid deployment with multiple-region CyBlock Cloud capability. Saving more of your time so you can focus on the mission-critical operations.

CyBlock Hybrid allows you to manage the policies for your on-premises and off-premises employees. Using CyBlock Cloud along with your CyBlock Appliance or Software installation, the Hybrid deployment secures remote and mobile users so there is no need to route traffic back to the main office. Free up local server bandwidth; easily monitor, filter, and manage users, both local and remote; and easily access reporting, real-time monitoring, and Dashboard charts for both your CyBlock Cloud and local CyBlock configurations.

To find out more about CyBlock Hybrid and CyBlock Hybrid Array, please contact us today.

About Wavecrest Computing

Celebrating 20 years in business, Wavecrest Computing, headquartered in historic downtown Melbourne, FL, has provided commercial business and government clients with reliable, accurate Web-use management and Cloud Access Security Broker products since 1996. Managed Service Providers, IT specialists, HR professionals, and business managers trust Wavecrest’s Cyfin and CyBlock products to manage employee Internet usage — managing cloud services, reducing liability risks, improving productivity, saving bandwidth, and controlling costs. Wavecrest has clients worldwide, including General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Florida Department of Health, Siemens, Department of Homeland Security, 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 https://www.wavecrest.net.

CyBlock® and ConnectWise® – Integration for MSPs

Wavecrest Computing is excited to announce a new feature for its Managed Service Provider (MSP) offerings, CyBlock Cloud’s integration with ConnectWise!

The CyBlock integration is built to provide comprehensive Web-use security and analytics along with the time-saving management of the leading ConnectWise Professional Services Automation (PSA) platform. With only one click between ConnectWise and the CyBlock Cloud MSP Partner Portal, MSPs can now automatically populate new client information in the ConnectWise interface, track and manage CyBlock Cloud licenses, proactively pursue timely renewals, and more. This integration is focused on saving time and improving efficiencies, allowing for increased new and recurring revenue, customer satisfaction, and crucial time to focus on mission-critical issues.

CyBlock Cloud for MSPs is a leading Web-use security, analytics, and reporting solution that will fit any MSP client business size or industry type and requires no hardware or software to buy and install, and no maintenance. Monitor, filter, and analyze data to help protect customers from Web-borne threats, such as malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks, while providing useful, time-saving tools, for example, automatically distributed, manager-ready reports, alerts when thresholds are reached, and trusted coverage over any distributed workforce.

“Wavecrest has a great managed service partner program that allows MSPs easy access to manage their CyBlock clients’ needs from anywhere, at any time. Now, we are excited to work with ConnectWise to increase the convenience to MSPs even more. MSPs can now manage their CyBlock Cloud clients directly in the ConnectWise user interface, saving time and expense that they can then use to increase revenue and focus on mission-critical issues,” explains Dennis McCabe, co-founder and President of Wavecrest Computing. “We know that time is money. Developing ways to help MSPs find more time and increase revenue while offering a product and service that surpasses expectations makes us proud of what we do, and motivated to do much more.”

About Wavecrest Computing

Celebrating 20 years in business, Wavecrest Computing, headquartered in historic downtown Melbourne, FL, has provided commercial business and government clients with reliable, accurate Web-use management and Cloud Access Security Broker products since 1996. Managed Service Provider (MSP), IT specialists, HR professionals, and business managers trust Wavecrest’s Cyfin and CyBlock products to manage employee Internet usage — managing cloud services, reducing liability risks, improving productivity, saving bandwidth, and controlling costs. Wavecrest has clients worldwide, including General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Florida Department of Health, Siemens, Department of Homeland Security, 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 https://www.wavecrest.net.

Think defense.

Ransomware has the annoying characteristic of sneaking up on you. If you aren’t prepared, you may as well pay the ransom. Why? Because being prepared for loss of data is not at all difficult. First off–think old school . . . BACK UP, BACK UP, and BACK UP! This first very important step is that simple.

Think about what you do on your devices today, professionally or personally. We now live our lives in this digital environment. It is likely your use of technology has increased, even in the past year. This puts all of us at risk. Not just on our desktops either. Wired.com reports “these days ransomware doesn’t just affect desktop machines or laptops; it also targets mobile phones. Last week news broke of a piece of ransomware in the wild masquerading as a porn app. The so-called Porn Droid app targets Android users and allows attackers to lock the phone and change its PIN number while demanding a $500 ransom from victims to regain access.” Not many people could function today without access to their phones. Businesses are becoming more and more friendly to mobile devices as well. All this data floating around just makes it more appealing to hackers.

Where do we go from here? Back . . . back to backing up. Get that portable hard drive back out, dust it off, and use it. Yup . . . I did say that. Back it all up. Of course, for businesses it is more complex (and critical). But that is what cloud storage services are for. My only recommendation when it comes to off-site backups? Use more than one service. This way if anything does happen to your access to one backup, you will still have access to another. Inserting stern warning here: Do not store your passwords on your devices or in your backups unencrypted. If a hacker can access and lock up your systems, then he can find your passwords and have a go at them as well, including access to your backups.

Protect your business. Train your employees about new threats and monitor what is happening. Information is a gold mine–get visibility to see where your employees are going and then make some decisions that can protect your business. Ransomware can hit you through just a link in an e-mail. Make sure you have a solution in place that will help stop access to malicious Web sites.

We need to rethink the way we operate. It is just a shift, and if you just do it now, then you won’t be alarmed when you do get hit. Sadly, chances of a business being victimized by cybercrime are becoming more and more likely. Be prepared. And please, don’t let them win. The Internet has opened up so many opportunities for us and generations to come. Singapore is a perfect example of letting hackers win. They are moving to shut down Internet access for government computers, “from May next year and affect about 100,000 computers in use in the public service in the city-state, local media said.” (Reuters)

Do you think giving up Internet access will solve cybercrime?

We can help you find a better way.

About Wavecrest Computing

20 Years Young and Excited About the Next 20!

We are proud to announce that Wavecrest Computing has reached a pretty big milestone…its 20th anniversary! It has been a path we have happily taken with innovative products and a dedicated staff, many of which have been with us since the beginning. We would also like to thank you…our customers, partners, and followers for sharing this journey and challenging us to be constantly reaching for the stars…or the cloud, as the case may be! Here is to an exciting next 20 years where we will remain “at your side” securing your growing, distributed, and agile workforce.

Since 1996, Wavecrest Computing has been a global leader in employee Web-access security and Web-use monitoring and analytics solutions, with scalable filtering and reporting analysis, forensic data tools, and products designed to enable organizations with today’s distributed workforce to successfully address cyber threats. Wavecrest’s CyBlock and Cyfin solutions are built with today’s unique business in mind, offering comprehensive cloud services management and visibility into Shadow IT and insider threats, as well addressing legal liability, workforce productivity, and Web security threats such as malware and phishing attempts. We offer multiple deployments that include Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Cloud, Hybrid, Software, and Hardware deployments that fit any business type or size. Wavecrest Computing is headquartered in Melbourne, Florida and is a longstanding GSA contract holder.

For more information on the company, products, and partners, visit https://www.wavecrest.net or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

MSP: Manage Client Bandwidth and Cloud Services

Are unsanctioned cloud services using up all of your clients’ bandwidth? As a managed service provider (MSP) today, knowing your client’s cloud services usage is crucial. Cloud services can range from acceptable collaboration tools to unsanctioned personal usage apps that waste critical bandwidth. Most businesses run cloud services to be able to communicate & collaborate more efficiently. Employees, though, tend to find apps that suit their needs best, even when unsanctioned. Help your clients by finding & managing their bandwidth and cloud services with Wavecrest’s CyBlock.

Wavecrest Computing announces CyBlock Hybrid’s new reporting features.

Wavecrest Computing announces new reporting features are now available in the CyBlock Hybrid deployment. Reporting features, Real-Time Monitor and Dashboard Charts, can easily be accessed for both your CyBlock Cloud and local CyBlock configurations. This enhancement allows the customer to easily monitor and develop reports on users, both local and remote.

Use Real-Time Monitor to see remote users’ current Web activity, or use Dashboard Charts to check on- or off-premises Web traffic trending by users, groups, categories, or denied and allowed traffic. Run a report for management or an audit that can include cloud, local, or all configurations. The new features proactively increase your administration capabilities while reducing the time you spend on Web management tasks.

The CyBlock Hybrid deployment is used when an on-site CyBlock installation is paired with CyBlock Cloud to provide coverage of remote users with the convenience of local administration for all users. Contact us for more information today!

Constantly improving, developing, and enhancing to make your Web security more efficient, Wavecrest Computing has been the recognized leader in Web Security Solutions for over 19 years. Wavecrest’s scalable filtering and forensic reporting analysis product lines, CyBlock and Cyfin, are designed to enable organizations to successfully address Internet abuse, legal liability, shadow IT, workforce productivity, malware, and many other Web security threats.

: CyBlock Cloud – Hybrid Report

CyBlock/Cyfin Release 9.1.8 Now Available

Release 9.1.8 provides our CyBlock Cloud customers with the ability to create additional administrator accounts that can log on to CyBlock Cloud and access all of its features. You are provided with five additional logon accounts, but can request more logon accounts from Sales. In this release, CyBlock Appliance, CyBlock Software, and Cyfin logon accounts will be notified via e-mail when their password is reset or when it is changed. Also for these products, the file name of report e-mail attachments will be in the format selected in Report Options.

For Cyfin customers, the new Check Point Syslog log file configuration allows you to easily use our built-in syslog server to manage your syslog data. For all products, the product Help has been enhanced to open to the window-level topic for the screen when you click the Help link. These as well as other enhancements are highlighted below.

Additional Admin Accounts. The following features have been added:
- The ability to create five additional admin accounts is now available in CyBlock Cloud. Current cloud customers should contact Sales to change this number if necessary.
- The Create Logon Account page allows you to create an additional logon (admin) account by entering an e-mail address. The additional administrator will receive an e-mail to log on and change the temporary password assigned by the system.
- The Delete Logon Account page allows you to delete a previously created logon account. It shows the e-mail addresses for only the additional logon accounts, not the admin e-mail address tied to your customer account.
- Cloud logon accounts will be notified via e-mail when their password is reset or changed.
Resetting Your Password. On the Logon page, when you click the “Forgot password” link to reset your password, you will receive an e-mail with a temporary password. Use this password to log on and change the temporary password for your account.
Changing Your Password. When you change your password on the Change Your Password page, you will receive an e-mail notifying you that your password was changed recently. Users should contact their network administrator if they did not initiate this change.
Report File Name Format. The file name format specified on the Report Options page is applied to report file names if “E-Mail” is selected for the report delivery when creating reports. Zipped files will contain reports with friendly file names, but will retain the UUID.zip format.
Check Point Syslog Log File Configuration. The Check Point Syslog log file configuration has been added to the drop-down field on the Select Log File Type screen. After selecting “Check Point Syslog” and clicking Next, the subsequent screen allows you to use the Cyfin Syslog Server.
Product Help. The product Help is context-sensitive so that when a user clicks the Help link in the product, the Help system opens to the window-level topic for the screen.
Pairing Cloud Server. On the Hybrid or Directory Agent Configuration page, the new Cloud Server field displays the pairing cloud server to which your CyBlock installation is connected. You may change this server if instructed to do so by Technical Support.

There are also corrections in this release for CyBlock as well as Cyfin. To see the full release notes for your product, visit our Web site or knowledge base.

If you are at version 9.0.5 or later, you can upgrade to the latest release by going to the Help – Check for Updates screen in your product.

If you are at version 6.8.3.a or earlier, you can download the latest release by going to CyBlock Software Downloads or Cyfin Downloads. To upgrade CyBlock Appliance, please contact Technical Support at (321) 953-5351, Ext. 4 or support@wavecrest.net.

For additional assistance, please feel free to contact us.

CyBlock/Cyfin Release 9.1.6 Now Available

In Release 9.1.6, we are pleased to provide our CyBlock Appliance customers with on-box logging and reporting. Customers can now save log files locally and run reports from these logs. Adding this feature offers an all-in-one solution of Web security and comprehensive reporting.

For CyBlock Software and Cyfin, the release contains the Audit Data Export that allows you to export the details of users’ Web activity. Another enhancement for CyBlock is the Log File Download that downloads log files to a location of your choice. Current cloud customers should contact Sales to have this feature enabled. These and other enhancements are highlighted below.

Local Logging and Reporting in CyBlock Appliance. The following features have been added:
- The ability to store log files locally and run reports from these log files has been added. While local logging is the default, remote logging and reporting on Cyfin is still available.
- The Data Management menu includes the screens for viewing, revalidating, and downloading log file data. The screen for enabling the Report Database is in this menu as well as the screens for importing, viewing, and deleting the data.
- The Reports menu covers creating different types of reports, running Dashboard Top and Trend charts, and viewing sample reports.
- In the Settings menu, the Report Options page allows you to set the visit filter, advanced options, maximum IDs, and language for reporting.
Audit Data Export. The following features have been added:
- You can now export the details of users’ Web activity in one or more categories that you select.
- The export is available in CSV file format which can be used in external applications, such as spreadsheets, report generators, relational databases.
Log File Download. The following features have been added:
- The ability to download raw log files to a location of your choice has been added. You may select a single day or a range of days.
- The log files will be compressed and combined into a ZIP file.
End User License Agreement. The following features have been added:
- The License Agreement has been removed from the product installer and added to the product interface.
- The End User License Agreement page allows you to accept and print the License Agreement. You will not be able to use the product until the License Agreement has been accepted.
Secure Browser Interface. The following features have been added:
- The ability to create a secure connection (HTTPS) to your browser interface has been added for customers.
- The Secure Browser Interface page allows you to enable HTTP and/or HTTPS communication. HTTP is enabled by default.
MSP Partner Portal. The portal has been updated to display the following usage statistics and feature indicators:
- Bandwidth used for the month.
- Highest number of daily monitored users for the month and the date on which this occurred.
- Amount of disk storage used for reporting.
- Percentage of storage used based on the reporting storage option set in your customer account.
- Log File Download status icon.
- Dashboard Import status icon.

There are also corrections in this release for CyBlock as well as Cyfin. To see the full release notes for your product, visit our Web site or knowledge base.

If you are at version 9.0.5 or later, you can upgrade to the latest release by going to the Help – Check for Updates screen in your product.

For additional assistance, please feel free to contact us.