Blue Coat boosts web app security with policy engine

Blue Coat Systems has unveiled enhancements to its web security products designed to give IT administrators greater visibility and more granular control over web application use in their organisation.

The Web Application Policy Engine enables customers to set policy according to the type, category and function of each application.

This could allow IT to prevent staff commenting or posting messages on social media sites, for example, while still allowing general access to the site, the vendor said.

Blocking sites outright could lead to high levels of helpdesk requests, pushing up support costs and reducing IT effectiveness.

The policy engine is automatically updated every month as new applications and operations are added.

"Businesses are increasingly adopting web-based applications and using social media as part of their day-to-day operations, driving new demand for security that can keep pace with the dynamic nature of the web," said Steve Daheb, senior vice president at Blue Coat.

"Blue Coat Web Security solutions combine the protection, control and actionable intelligence to effectively manage the proliferation of web-based applications while mitigating the risks of data loss or lower employee productivity."

Blue Coat has also updated its Reporter tool to ensure that IT managers have the latest data on the apps running in their environments, and has added four new categories to its Blue Coat WebFilter tool.

These additional categories - Spam, Dynamic DNS Host, Child Pornography and Informational - will help IT managers set more granular policies based around their requirements, according to Blue Coat.