Bypassing Web Security Service

If there are sites that the Web Security Service cannot resolve and access, you can configure the DWP to bypass the filtering service and send HTTP requests directly to the sites.

You can bypass filtering using one of these approaches:

• Bypass both DWP and the Web Security Service so that the browser takes the users directly to the specified sites. This method takes the highest precedence and uses the exception list entered into the browser. For convenience, define your lists in the Account's or group's DWP Configuration subtab. After DWP receives this information, DWP updates the users' browser exception list.
  Browsers have their own syntax for entering multiple items on a list. The Management Portal requires you to use a single format, but DWP converts the format later to conform to the browser's syntax.
• Use DWP to bypass the Web Security Service if the specified sites are accessed. The procedure instructs you to enter the sites using a prescribed syntax.
• Bypass filtering for local (Intranet) sites. This option works with IE browsers only.

• Use the Metro App so that when a browser visits a blocked of coached site, it displays the Webroot warning page. Since Metro App is not merely a web page renderer as a browser, it might not display the warning page on its UI like browser does. How it responds to a blocked or coached sites depends on how the app is written, in most of the case, it just refuses to work with those sites.

  There are 2 ways to get around with this, for example, if you installed Facebook App:

  • Add .facebook.com=DIRECT to bypass list. For instructions on how to do this, see the To bypass web filtering instructions below.
  • Before opening Facebook App, visit facebook.com in a regular browser. From there, click the Accept button, and then go back to Facebook App.

The following are examples of browser-defined exception lists on Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Caution: Be cautious about the URLs you enter in the text boxes, because no filtering and therefore no policy will be applied when these URLs are accessed. Access to the URLs will not be logged.

To bypass web filtering and enter an exception list in the browser:

• On the Management Portal, open the DWP Configuration subtab in Edit mode.
• Verify that Activate DWP on Install is selected:

• In the Browser Bypass: Browser connects directly to the Internet text box, enter the sites stored in the browser's exception list. Use a semicolon to separate the site entries and an asterisk (*) for wildcards.


DWP converts the syntax into a browser-specific supported format. Both DWP and the Web Security Service are bypassed for these sites.

• Verify that the exception list is created in the browser.

To access sites directly using DWP and bypass web filtering:

• In the DWP Bypass: DWP connects directly to the Internet field, enter the URLs to be accessed directly by DWP without going through the Web Security Service.
  • Use one line per domain.
  • Don't use IP addresses in place of domain names.
  • Use this general format:
    domainname=DIRECT
• Replace domainname with one of these values:
  • The fully qualified notation of the domain, so that the bypass is specific to that domain
  • A partial domain notation, to include subdomains within a domain.
    For partial domains or URLs, start your entry with a leading dot (.) to include any second-level domains within a domain.

  • The allowed formats are:
    abc.com=DIRECT - Bypassess abc.com literally

    .abc.com=DIRECT - Bypasses abc.com and all of its subdomains, including www.abc.com.

    Note: xyz.com=DIRECT bypasses the entire.com top domain.

    .=DIRECT - Bypasses everything

    :8080=DIRECT - Bypasses port 8080, which gets around the lack of PAC file support in IE.11.

    :443=DIRECT - Bypasses most of the https requests.

    

• For Internet Explorer browsers only, to bypass filtering for local (Intranet) sites, select Use the IE Browser setting checkbox.

• Click the Save button.
  The checkbox on the DWP Configuration subtab updates Internet Explorer's Proxy server settings in the LAN Settings dialog.