Kerio Blocks Amazon and Playboy Websites in the Workplace

Kerio WinRoute Firewall implements Cobion web content filter to block online shopping and sexy surfing on the job.

Kassel, Germany / Santa Clara, CA, USA, 29. april 2003 – Internet browsing poses challenges for both corporations and public institutions, especially schools. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) recently passed by the US Congress indirectly requires public schools and libraries to install software to filter out pornographic content. In Europe, the European Commission promotes project Safer Internet, addressing issues of illegal, harmful and racist content. In the private sector, where Internet access has become a commonplace communication resource, corporations are facing constant challenges to keep their employees productive and away from shopping sites, such as Amazon.com, while trying to limit their legal liabilities from employee exposure to objectionable content.

Kerio Technologies, a developer of firewall security software for networks of all sizes, wanted to address these challenges in the latest version of its flagship Kerio WinRoute Firewall product. The goal was to expand the functionality of product to include the filtering of viruses, file types, and web content, while improving the performance and security of the popular Internet router and firewall. Kerio added a keyword-based rating system to provide basic filtering of websites, but wanted to also offer a URL database search option to minimize false positives. The other issue facing Kerio was how to deliver a comprehensive URL database without requiring a 50 MB or greater installation package.

Fast forward to Kassel, Germany, the headquarters of Cobion AG. Founded in 1997, Cobion initially focused on image recognition and web spidering technology to assist in image searches and digital rights management. It was then determined that this technology could be effectively used to categorize web content for filtering purposes. By automating the categorization process, Cobion was quickly able to amass the largest filter database available on the market, ranking well ahead of Websense or SurfControl.

In Kerio WinRoute Firewall, the embedded Cobion content filter, called OrangeFilter, allows companies to further expand the firewall protection of their networks by scanning and filtering out counter-productive or offensive content. Seventy percent of all connections to Web pages containing pornographic content occurs between the hours of 9 AM and 5 PM, and market researcher Nielsen is observing similar activity windows for online merchant access. Not only can such sites pose severe legal problems, they can also be a source of spyware, viruses or Trojan horses that can threaten company data.

According to comScore Media Matrix, 7.9 million Internet users from work went to online personals sites in December 2002 alone, with the at-work users accounting for 35% of the time spent on such sites (Source: eMarketer). Furthermore it is estimated that 90 percent of employees handle personal matters on the Web during working hours, primarily shopping, job hunting, and managing personal finances and investments. Kerio WinRoute Firewall can block individuals and groups of users from accessing websites falling under a variety of categories, including news, on-line shopping, sports, chat or porn. Combining a firewall and content filter provides total control over what employees are allowed to do and what they are allowed to see.

“The Internet gateway is the most logical place to enforce company-wide content filter policies and we made it a priority in Kerio WinRoute Firewall,” says Dusan Vitek, director of marketing for Kerio Technologies. “Cobion’s OrangeFilter gives our customers the ability to selectively filter 58 different categories covering pretty much any contentious topic. We chose Cobion simply because it was the most comprehensive system and we’re certain that even very creative users will have hard time bypassing the filter.”

Kerio WinRoute Firewall does not store Cobion’s vast URL database on the gateway computer at the client’s location. Instead, when a user wants to access a specific website, a micro hash of this URL is sent to Cobion servers alongside a page request to the desired web server. If the page is found in the Cobion database, a user gets message from Kerio WinRoute Firewall saying that the page is restricted.

J?¶rg Lamprecht, CEO of Cobion AG, said: “Cobion has been at the forefront of enforcing responsible Internet use for a long time now with OrangeFilter, our content database, providing detailed control over the potential dangers of web browsing. The cooperation we have done with Kerio will provide security to networks, ensuring that users are protected from inappropriate Internet material and systems aren’t compromised. We look forward to working closely with Kerio on a range of customer focused projects.”

With built-in Cobion in Kerio WinRoute Firewall, companies have access to a database of more than 15 million sites (10 million more than the nearest competitor) in 58 content categories and in eleven languages. The filter list is based on the analyzed content of more than 2.1 billion web pages. Cobion’s data center analyzes 120 million new websites every month and publishes 100,000 updates daily to meet the challenge of content filtering in the ever-expanding Internet.

By combining stateful inspection, anti-virus and mime-type filtering with Cobion OrangeFilter, Kerio WinRoute Firewall offers a complete solution for securing the Internet gateway.

Pricing and Availability
Kerio WinRoute Firewall 5 is available through Kerio Authorized Resellers and the Kerio Store at www.kerio.com. Kerio WinRoute Firewall 5 starts at US$299 for the product with antivirus plug-ins (Grisoft AVG, Eset NOD32, Computer Associates eTrust Antivirus or Sophos SAVI) and US$479 for the version with integrated McAfee antivirus. Cobion OrangeFilter optional module starts at US$249. For more detailed information about new features, please visit: www.kerio.com/kwf.

About Kerio Technologies Inc.

Founded in 2001, Kerio Technologies Inc. (www.kerio.com) is a major provider of Internet security software for small to medium sized networks, specializing in network and desktop firewalls and secure workgroup messaging systems. Kerio’s corporate headquarters are located in Santa Clara, California, with offices in Great Britain and the Czech Republic. Kerio’s technology partners include Network Associates and Cobion.

About Cobion AG
Cobion AG, the company with the leading technology in the Content Security market, develops and distributes the products OrangeBox Web (web-filter), OrangeBox Mail (e-mail filter) an OrangeBox LAN (intranet-filter). These products protect organizations from unwanted or non-business related Internet or Intranet content, including all e-mail traffic and file attachments. All kinds of unintentional, illegal or confidential information are denied passage into or out of the company. This facilitates a more productive Internet workplace by reducing liability exposure, minimizing security risks and preventing confidential data from leaving the organization. Cobion’s line of products enables ISPs to provide the content filtering service to the subscribers. The innovative product OrangeBox Web Home is the solution for private users. This software protects private PC’s from X-rated and dangerous content and is offered by www.friendly-internet.com .

In addition Cobion provides OEM-partners the OrangeFilter – the most extensive database with more than 15 millions URLs – for implementation in firewalls, cache servers and routers. The headquarters of Cobion are located in Kassel, Germany, with offices in the USA , Great Britain and China. www.cobion.com