Blue Coat extends Web filter with cloud computing service

Wayne Neich, country manager of Blue Coat Australia/New Zealand told CRN WebPulse is the underlying dynamic real time URL rating technology used by Blue Coat Web Filter (BCWF).

“BCWF enables channel partners who may be selling older Content Filtering solutions to offer their customers the highest level of protection and thereby maintain their positions as trusted advisors to customers,” said Neich.

He added that BCWF has a pricing model that gives resellers a ‘Perpetual License Fee’ upfront plus an ongoing annual update fee each year. This form of licensing enables Blue Coat channel partners to maintain an ongoing relationship with customers.

“We have a broad range of partners reselling BCWF with Web Pulse ranging from Dimension Data to ‘out-sourcers’ such as EDS & CSC, through to Service Providers such as Orange Business Services through to mid tier partners and partners focused on SME,” said Neich.

According to Neich, the Blue Coat WebPulse analysis service provides a virtual “in-the-cloud” extension to Blue Coat products. It was first developed six years ago and is now hosted in multiple Blue Coat datacentres around the world. The time to process a request averages about 100 milliseconds.

“A URL request to the WebPulse service first gets checked against one of three Blue Coat WebFilter Master Databases in the cloud that is constantly being updated in real-time. If the URL is not contained in this master database, the WebPulse employs the company’s Dynamic Real-Time Rating technology (DRTR) to assess the Web page being requested,” he said.

Based on patented technology that can categorise new or unfamiliar websites “on the fly” as they are being requested, the DRTR analysis enables the WebPulse service to return a categorisation to a ProxySG appliance or other Blue Coat product, claimed Neich.