Managing HTTPS inspection policies

HTTPS inspection policies inspect and manage communication between users on your network and websites that use HTTPS by configuring an inspection method for different user groups, destinations and locations. The Smoothwall Filter processes HTTPS inspection policies in order of priority as listed on the Manage policies page, from top to bottom, until a match is found. You can change the order by clicking a policy and dragging it to a new position in the list. For example, if you've created a policy that doesn't inspect the Google HTTPS AdSense site when accessed by marketing students, drag the policy to the top of the list of policies.

Preconfigured HTTPS inspection policies

The Smoothwall Filter comes with three preconfigured HTTPS inspection policies. However, you might need to turn them on or off.

Policy name Description
Online banking Indicates that users can use online banking without communications being decrypted and inspected.
All encrypted content accessed by unauthenticated IPs Decrypts and inspects all encrypted content that users at unauthenticated IPs try to access.
Certificate validation Checks secure certificates on websites. Any sites whose certificates are self-signed, out of date or otherwise invalid is blocked.

Prerequisite

Creating HTTPS inspection policies.

Note: When, for the first time, you turn on a HTTP inspection policy, which decrypts and inspects content, users’ browsers must have the Smoothwall Filter CA certificate for the policy to work. You can click Guardian CA certificate in the text displayed and download the certificate ready for import into browsers, Managing HTTPS inspection settings.

Procedure

  1. On the GUARDIAN menu, under the HTTPS inspection submenu, click Manage policies.
    • To place the policies in the order that you want them to be applied, click the policy and drag it to the position that you want. Alternatively, click the policy and click Up or Down.
    • To turn off an existing policy, in the row for the policy in the list, under the Enabled column, click the red cross to change it to a green check mark.
    • To edit a policy, click the Edit policy pencil icon, make the changes necessary and click Confirm.
    • To delete a policy, click Delete policy trash can icon, and then click Remove.
  2. Click Save.