Malicious software or computer viruses are the bane of many computer users. Most computer users have come across a virus as some point. Malicious software is better known as Malware which is the general term used to describe any kind of software or code specifically designed to exploit a computer, or the computer data, without consent. ScanSafe is a service that blocks malware and secures the use of the Web and messaging.
ScanSafe was founded in 2004 and was the first company in the world ever to offer web security via a SaaS (Software as a service) model. ScanSafe realised that the internet was evolving fast and realised there needed to be a better solution for more sophisticated threats that Web 2.0 would bring. They went about and created a solution which would require far less maintenance and be far more cost-efficient. ScanSafe Web security was the first in-the-cloud solutions to scan all web requests for malicious content.
The company was originally co-founded in 1999 by brothers Roy and Eldar Tuvey. The company was then acquired by Cisco Systems in December 2009 and integrated into Cisco’s Security Technology Business Unit. ScanSafe has received numerous awards over the years, including SC Magazine’s “Best Content Security” solution for four years running.
ScanSafe is fully managed and puts you in control of how your employees use the Internet. You can easily create different access policies to suit different areas of your business using a visual dashboard. You can create policies based on URL categories, content types and file types. It can block specific content and provide a customized message to the user when access is denied. As well as creating a safe working environment where you are protected from malware will reduce bandwidth congestion and improve employee productivity.
It works by looking at every single web request to determine if the content is malicious. It will also check to see if the content is inappropriate or acceptable based on the defined security policy. ScanSafe is powered by Outbreak Intelligence which uses a number of detection technologies. It builds a detailed view of each web request and the associated security risk.
Getting ScanSafe deployed on your network is relatively straightforward. There will need to be some minor changes to ensure that all web traffic passes through the ScanSafe service. To ensure the correct configurations are made on your network environment so ScanSafe works properly it might be wise to enlist the help of a specialist integrator.
