Main functions of the McAfee Web Gateway appliance
Filtering web traffic is a complex process. The main functions of the appliance contribute to it in different ways:
• Filtering web objects — Special anti-virus and anti-malware functions on the appliance scan and filter web traffic and block web objects when they are infected. Other functions filter requested URLs, using information from the Global Threat Intelligence™ system, or do media type and HTML filtering.
They are supported by functions that do not filter themselves, but do such jobs as counting user requests or indicating the progress made in downloading web objects.
• Filtering users — This is done by the authentication functions of the appliance, using information from internal and external databases and methods such as NTLM, LDAP, RADIUS, Kerberos, and others. In addition to filtering normal users, the appliance also gives you control over administrator rights and responsibilities.
• Intercepting web traffic — This is a prerequisite for any filtering of web objects or users. It is achieved by the gateway functions of the appliance, using different network protocols, such as HTTP,
HTTPS, FTP, Yahoo, ICQ, and Windows Live Messenger. As a gateway, the appliance can run in explicit proxy mode or in transparent bridge or router mode.
• Monitoring the filtering process — The monitoring functions of the appliance provide a continuous overview of the filtering process. They include a dashboard, displaying information on alerts, web usage, filtering activities, and system behavior, as well as logging and tracing functions and options to forward data to an ePolicy Orchestrator or do event monitoring with an SNMP agent.
Main administrator activities
The following are the main activities you need to complete when administering the appliance:
• Perform the initial setup — You can set up the