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Frequently Asked Questions
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URLfilterDB
is a URL database that can be used by web
proxy servers to
block access to unwanted web content.
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Which web content can be blocked ?
The URL database contains a set of web site categories.
The administrator can choose which categories of web sites are blocked for access
and which web sites categories are allowed to visit.
URLfilterDB has the following categories :
Each category is also known as a blacklist.
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How does it work ?
In most companies, web browsers like Internet Explorer use a web proxy to visit
the internet.
The web proxy can be extended with an internet filter
to block the content of certain web pages.
Our internet filtering software called
ufdbGuard uses a database
to decide which web content is filtered.
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What do I need ?
You need a server to run the web proxy and internet filter software.
The popular Squid web proxy
and our internet filter software are free!
The subscription
to the URL database has an attractive price tag.
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Can I test the quality of
URLfilterDB ?
You can register for a trial
to be able to do a comparison of
URLfilterDB and other URL filters and content filters.
We are confident that you will find that the speed and correct
blocking of
URLfilterDB and
ufdbGuard
is much better than with competitors.
You can also read the
comparison
of URL filtering methods.
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What adult content is included in
URLfilterDB ?
The adult category includes sites that contain
hardcore porn, softcore,
nudity, erotic stories, erotic art, fetishes, escorts,
adult portals, lingerie and sites where one must be over 18 to enter.
Any "non-adult" site that has an explicit adult advertisement is also
included in the adult category !
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When is a site included in a category ?
A site is included when it has one (or more) single item that fits into a category.
To prevent blocking too much, the database is built with a policy
to include only subdomains of sites when possible.
So if site1.com has a separate adult section in
adult.site1.com,
then only this subdomain is included in the adult category
(which means that www.site1.com is not in the adult category).
On the other hand, if www.site2.com has a mix of
adult and non-adult material that is not clearly divided into subdomains or subdirectories
inside a domain, the whole domain is included in the adult category.
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A URL filter uses a URL database
with verified domains
to block domains while
a content filter guesses the nature of each page of each web site "on the fly"
URL scanning web pages for words like "sex".
A URL filter can block https:// traffic while
a content filter cannot because https is encrypted.
The risk of an incorrect classification is significantly higher with content filters
and the required CPU resources for content filters are generally higher than for
URL filtering solutions.
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Why is the https protocol a security risk ?
Because https can be used by various types of
proxy tunnels.
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Which web proxies are capable to use
URLfilterDB ?
Squid is at this moment the only proxy server that
ufdbGuard supports.
ufdbGuard is an extremely fast and
free URL filter for Squid.
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What is ufdbGuard ?
ufdbGuard
is the fastest internet filter
that can be used with Squid.
ufdbGuard is free
and can be downloaded freely.
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How can I configure ufdbGuard ?
ufdbGuard is extremely easy to configure:
whence you have defined the policy (e.g. which categories of sites to block),
you only have to enter this policy in the ufdbGuard
configuration and you are ready to use it!
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Can I suggest a URL for the database ?
You can suggest any URL for
inclusion or removal of the blacklist.
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Can I overrule categories ?
In case that you want to block a category but allow one particular
website in a category,
it is easy to include this website in the
exception category "always allow" which prevents blocking.
On the other hand, if the policy is to block access to a site that is not in any category
(e.g. www.fbi.gov) you may want to include this in the category "always deny".
Both categories are maintained by the proxy administrator and never by
URLfilterDB.
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What is Squid ?
Squid is a popular and free web proxy.
A web proxy sits in between a web browser like Internet explorer and the internet.
Squid and ufdbGuard integrate seemlessly.
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Is Linux supported ?
Yes.
ufdbGuard
is developed and tested on
Linux 2.4.24.
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Can I use the URLfilterDB
without ufdbGuard ?
No. The URL database comes in a format suitable for ufdbGuard only.
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Can I use ufdbGuard
without URLfilterDB ?
Yes.
ufdbGuard comes with a program to generate a .ufdb file from a
plain text file or URL blacklist.
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Cannot compile ufdbGuard
In case that you get errors during the compilation of the sources,
the most likely cause is that the OpenSSL or Bzlib header files cannot be found.
In this case you need to install the packages
libssl-dev and libbz2-dev from the Linux installation media.
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How much does a subscription to
URLfilterDB cost ?
You can
ask for a quote
for a subscription.
The ROI calculator
shows that the average time for ROI is less than 1 week.
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How can I pay a subscription to
URLfilterDB ?
We accept payments by international money transfer to our bank account
in The Netherlands.
The invoice contains all details to make a transfer.
Customers in EURO countries will always be billed in EURO.
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Is ICAP supported ?
Release 2.0 will support the ICAP protocol and hence all web proxies that
use ICAP to filter URLs.
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Other questions
For comments and questions you can
contact us.
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