Webroot Inc. has added granular access controls to its SecureAnywhere DNS Protection product.
Available to all users of that system via the Broomfield, Colo.-based security vendor’s Global Site Management interface, the new functionality enables administrators to set targeted policies for over 80 separate URL categories, and then apply them flexibly to all of an organization’s employees or a subset of them, as well as guest and roaming users.
Like SecureAnywhere DNS Protection itself, the new feature is tailored to the needs of MSPs serving small and midsize businesses, according to Chad Bacher, Webroot’s senior vice president of product strategy and technology alliances.
“It’s shocking how often we hear SMBs say they’re too small to be a target for cyberattacks,” he said in a press statement. “If anything, cybercriminals are more likely to target them because they’re less likely to have adequate security defenses and resources. Our goal with this solution is to make it simple and affordable for SMBs to add security to their network layer.”
First launched in February of last year, SecureAnywhere DNS Protection draws on real-time data from Webroot’s BrightCloud Threat Intelligence solution to prevent users from navigating to dangerous or otherwise undesirable websites, such as those offering adult content and network-clogging streaming media. According to Webroot, the system stops 88 percent of web-borne malware before it can penetrate an organization’s network perimeter.
Granular controls are the most recent addition to the product, which gained functionality for safeguarding guest Wi-Fi networks at hotels, airports, coffee shops, and other public sites in February.
The new feature is also the latest step in an ongoing campaign by Webroot, which was mostly known until recently as a maker of endpoint security solutions, to expand the breadth of its portfolio. The company introduced a security awareness training system last August, for example, and revealed plans to integrate that system with SecureAnywhere DNS Protection last month at the 2018 RSA Conference, in San Francisco. When that process is complete, users of both products will be able to provide “contextually-aware” security instruction to users based on their web-browsing habits.
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