Free 30 day trial.

Websense have committed to support SurfControl customers with their existing products for the next 3 years at least until December 2011.

SurfControl customers also have price protection so the first Web Filter renewal will be at the same price as paid previously, and can include the option to upgrade to the Websense Web Security products at any time during the licence term.

There are 3 choices available to the user:

• Renew SurfControl with no option to change to Websense. We do not advise this as the Websense upgrade is in many ways an attractive technical and commercial decision. Also there are no planned developments of the SurfControl Web Filter after Q1 2008 so the product is essentially frozen in features. On the other hand Websense Web will continue to be developed indefinitely with a major version updates typically every 6-12 months.
• Renew SurfControl with the option to change to Websense Security Filter at any time during the licence term for an extra 30%. This will give the user the extra Protocols and Integration Options detailed below but will not include Real Time Updates and so is primarily a Web Filtering solution rather than a full Security solution. This option costs less than the typical price of Websense Security Filter.
• Renew SurfControl with the option to change to Websense Security Suite at any time during the licence term for an extra 40%. This will give the user all the benefits detailed below including Real Time Updates. It also extends protection to the customers’ public facing infrastructure (BrandWatcher, SiteWatcher and ThreatWatcher). This saves the user a considerable amount on the typical price of Websense Security Suite.

There are 4 main technical reasons why Foursys recommend that you upgrade to Websense:

• Designed to protect against web threats - Websense Web Security Suite is designed not only for URL Filtering/Reporting but to counter web threats.
• Real Time Updates - SurfControl Web Filter upgrades once every 24 hours, but Websense Web Security Suite updates in real time, typically 50 times or more a day. This is of vital importance since web threats can typically spread very quickly and a true security product needs to update frequently to give customers protection as quickly as possible.
• Protocol Support - Websense includes a wider protocol support including HTTPS, file transfer, streaming media, IM, P2P and proxy avoidance. In fact over 100 protocols are supported compared with 10 on SurfControl.
• Integration Options - Websense also offers a wider range of integration options, including many common firewalls such as: CheckPoint, Cisco PIX and Content Engines, Linux Squid and Microsoft Proxy or ISA 2000/2004/2006. Websense can work with Microsoft NT, Active Directory, Novell and Sun Java networks.

In summary Foursys suggests users who are concerned about web threats take this action:

• Leave SurfControl Web in place until you are able to change to Websense but licence one of the 2 upgrades.
• Upgrade to Websense Security Filter if your primary concern is Web Filtering and Reporting since the Websense product will continue to be developed. The extra cost is just 25% more than the protected SurfControl price.
• Upgrade to Websense Security Suite if you are concerned about not only Web Filtering and Reporting but also Web Threats since the Suite includes Real Time Updates and a number of other web threat features. The extra cost is just 30% more than the protected SurfControl price.
• Make sure you are fully aware of Websense and how it works before making any change to your installation. Foursys can provide Webex demonstrations, onsite demonstrations, evaluations and training courses on Websense. Since our team are trained on SurfControl Web and Websense we can focus on your particular needs and requirements.

Foursys always recommend a layered approach to security, with a web gateway preventing access to malicious sites and malicious content as well as standard URL filtering so in general we would recommend a solution involving Websense Web Security Suite.

For more information see www.foursys.co.uk/websense