Understanding Security Policies
Overview
A security policy is the core set of filtering rules that dictates which websites your users can access and which are blocked. FlashStart allows you to customize these rules to align with your organization's specific security and compliance requirements.
You can maintain a single default policy for your entire network, or create multiple distinct policies (e.g., "Guest Wi-Fi" vs. "Staff") and assign them to different network segments or endpoint agents.
Creating a New Security Policy
Follow these steps:
- Log in to your FlashStart dashboard.
- Navigate to Protection → Policies.
- Click Add Policy to create a new DNS filtering policy.
- Enter a Policy Name to identify the policy.
- Select the Policy Type: Standard or Restricted, depending on your security requirements.
- Configure whether the policy should be visible and shared with sub-organizations, allowing you to manage policy availability across your organizational hierarchy.
- Click the add button.
Core Policy Components
When editing a policy within the Protection menu , you can configure several distinct filtering layers to build your desired security posture:
Filtering Layer | Focus & Description |
|---|---|
Malware | The foundation of network security. Blocks access to known malicious domains, phishing pages, ransomware delivery sites, and botnet command centers. |
Content | Allows you to block websites based on their subject matter. Use this to filter out inappropriate content like adult sites, gambling, or time-wasting platforms like social media. |
Proactively blocks DNS resolutions for domains hosted in specific high-risk countries, reducing your exposure to international cyber threats. | |
Your custom Allow and Block lists. This layer overrides all other category settings, ensuring you can strictly allow a specific trusted domain or forcefully block an unwanted one. | |
Natively enforces the strict safe-search mode on major search engines (such as Google, Bing, and YouTube) to filter explicit images and videos directly from search results. |
DNS Filtering Policy Examples
- Guest Wi-Fi Policy: Apply strict Malware protection, restrict access to inappropriate websites through Content filtering, enable Geoblocking for high-risk regions, define specific Exceptions when necessary, and activate Safe Search to limit exposure to explicit content.
- Staff Policy: Enable Malware protection, customize Content filtering to balance security and productivity, configure Geoblocking according to business requirements, use Exceptions to allow trusted business resources, and enable Safe Search when appropriate.