Barracuda Web Security Flex is a revolutionary cloud-based platform that lets network professionals think first about their malware protection and filtering needs and second about technology. Barracuda Web Security Service delivers state-of-the-art malware and filtering protection through SaaS, appliances (real and virtual), and agent-based deployment options for comprehensive coverage of users regardless of location or use of mobile laptops. Barracuda Web Security Service provides a cloud-based portal for centralized management and monitoring across all deployment options for superior ease of use.
This productoffers maximum deployment flexibility:
- Cloud filtering: The easiest way to use Barracuda Web Security Service is to directly proxy your Web traffic to the cloud-based content filtering and malware protection service. Administrators can do this with browser proxy settings or by transparently forwarding traffic from any network firewall or proxy that supports forwarding to an upstream proxy.
- Web Security Gateway: The Barracuda Web Security Gateway is an on-premises appliance that integrates with your directory service to implement group-based policies. The gateway appliance caches static Web content locally to save bandwidth. It also enforces security policies locally on your network. The Barracuda Web Security Gateway is available as a hardware appliance or as a virtual appliance. Administrators centrally manage and report across gateway appliances through the cloud-based portal.
- Web Security Agent: The Barracuda Web Security Agent is a lightweight, tamper-proof software client. The Web Security Agent protects remote and roaming users by enforcing all Web traffic from laptops and desktops through the cloud-based filtering service.
All these deployment options are centrally administered and monitored through a simple and elegant cloud-based portal for management and reporting. More information on deployment can be found here.
Yes. We designedBarracuda Web Security Flex to extend Web protection beyond the corporate network to remote locations and mobile users. Thisproductleverages the simplicity and reach of cloud-based Web filtering to provide Web security to any number of users and locations. Also, you can deploy the Barracuda Web Security Agent, which is a tamper-proof client that can be installed on laptops and desktops. The agent controls Web access through the service to ensure policy enforcement and filtering of malicious content.
Barracuda Web Security Flex's power lies in its ability to unify multiple deployment methods under a single management and reporting framework. While the service provides comprehensive cloud-based Web security, customers can choose to install gateway appliances on-premises for integration with directory services, local policy enforcement and caching without redirecting Web traffic through the cloud. Administrators typically use Gateway appliances to protect medium to large corporate networks. Administrators manage gateway appliances and report on the Web traffic flowing through the appliances using the central, cloud-based management portal.
Administrators use Barracuda Web Security Flex's cloud-based interface to configure policies across all users, locations and deployment methods. For example, you can deploy gateway appliances at your headquarters and branch offices, use SaaS to proxy traffic directly to the cloud from your satellite locations and use the Web Security Agent to protect your mobile users. To enforce a single policy across users in all these locations, simply log into the central management portal and configure a rule. Barracuda Web Security Service automatically enforces the rule across all users regardless of where they browse the Web. This provides best-of-breed protection across the organization without the burden of managing multiple, solutions.
Barracuda Web Security Service blocks sixty-seven categories and seven super-categories of Web sites. Barracuda Networks updates these categories regularly. These categories cover Web sites known to include spyware, pornography, and other prohibited materials. The service also performs real-time page content analysis and reputation scoring to accurately determine what is happening on a page at an exact moment. This is increasingly important as a growing number of legitimate Web sites are being compromised with malicious content. Administrators can configure URL access policies through the central management portal and enforce the policies either in the cloud filtering service or gateway appliances.
This product provides comprehensive URL filtering and application control for various Web-based applications like IM, VoIP, P2P file sharing and streaming media. Barracuda Web Security Service provides further control through advanced policy management features like file and content type control, data leak prevention and bandwidth and time restrictions.
Yes. Barracuda Web Security Service lets administrators customize policies for specific users, groups, and IP address ranges in the organization. Administrators also can establish usage thresholds by schedule, bandwidth, requests or browsing time.
Examples of custom policies:
- Restricting access to job-board Web sites to only the human resources group
- Defining separate policies for teachers and students at a school
- Enabling compliance officers unrestricted access to the Web for investigation
- Providing external instant messaging (e.g., AIM) access only to specific users or groups
- Restricting personal Web browsing to non-working hours
Through gateway appliances, Barracuda Web Security Service can tightly integrate with on-network directory services to enforce user and group-based policies. Web security agents can identify user login credentials and communicate to the cloud-based service when redirecting Web access through the filtering service.
Flex provides a single cloud-based portal which administrators use to configure Web usage rules, monitor Internet access and generate reports across all office locations and users. Gateway appliances and Web Security agents are fully integrated into the central reporting framework. From a dashboard, administrators can get a quick snapshot of aggregated traffic across the organization and then drill down into multiple levels of increasingly granular data. Also, administrators can generate detailed reports on all aspects of Internet usage in real-time and schedule them for automatic deliver.
Our solution supports the following languages: German, French, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Spanish, Russian and Czech.
Yes. Barracuda Web Security Flex is all about flexibility. Customers are not tied to any single deployment scheme or infrastructure. You can start with the cloud-based filtering framework, and then add gateway appliances or Web security agents as needed with no significant cost or deployment overhead. Barracuda Web Security Flex provides you with a future-proofed solution with minimum risk.
Incoming email is routed through the Barracuda Spam Firewall. Spam is tagged, quarantined or blocked based on preferences. Legitimate email is allowed through to the recipient.
Barracuda Web Security Service is an effective cloud-based gateway solution that acts as a primary line of defense against Web-borne threats. However, it is prudent to layer security solutions as spyware can also infiltrate desktops through USB keys, CD-ROMs, or floppy discs.