Introduction
There are times that you can’t access some websites in your web browser. You also can’t access some applications at work. What you can only access are the ones provided on your desktop. A whitelisting software put these restrictions in place.
To protect your network from threats, administrators use various kinds of whitelists. What is a whitelist then? A whitelist contains the list of allowed websites and email addresses on a network. A whitelist of applications and devices is also possible using whitelisting software.
You will learn more about whitelisting in the next section. You will also know the advantages of using whitelisting software like SecureBox.
What Is Whitelisting?
What is a whitelist? This is a list that contains the things that have permission to run, to open, and to execute on a network. There are many types of whitelist. They are the following:
●Application whitelist
●Website whitelist
●Email whitelist
●IP address whitelist
Software that has whitelisting features is advisable. The logic behind a whitelist is to deny all and permit some. So by default, all unknown entities aren’t allowed access to the network’s resources. Only those that are on the whitelist have permission and access on the network.
Imagine if there are no application, website, IP, and email whitelisting. A network that doesn’t use whitelisting software is vulnerable to many threats. The opposite of whitelisting is blacklisting. This is a list of things that aren’t allowed on a network. The logic behind this one is to allow all and deny some.
You are now aware of what is whitelisting. We’ll discuss whitelisting software in details in the next section.
What Is Whitelisting Software?
A whitelisting software allows admins to have control over the network. This allows them to permit only those things that are on the whitelist. Whitelisting software is a security solution that every network should have.
A typical whitelisting software enables you to whitelist websites and email addresses only. SecureBox gives you the ability to whitelist applications and IP addresses as well. There are a lot of other features that SecureBox offers.
You will know the advantages of using whitelisting software in the next section.
What Are The Advantages of Using Whitelisting Software?
There are a lot of threats that a network faces. These threats come in different forms like the ones below:
1. Viruses
2. Trojans
3. Worms
4. Rootkits
5. Spyware
6. Adware
7. Ransomware
8. DDoS attacks
9. Man-in-the-middle attacks
10. Network sniffing attacks
Those are some of the threats a network faces every day. Using whitelisting software would counter the majority of these threats. Here are some of the advantages of using whitelisting software:
Whitelisting Software: Advantage #1
Whitelisting software blocks unknown and suspicious programs. This prevents threats like malware from entering your system or network. This feature alone counters most threats already. SecureBox is also known for being an award-winning intrusion detection and prevention software.
SecureBox watches over your network for any suspicious activity 24/7. The whitelisting feature adds more layers of security which is a good practice. Remember the logic behind whitelisting which is to deny all and permit some only.
Whitelisting Software: Advantage #2
Whitelisting software allows applications on the whitelist to run in a secure way. SecureBox has another feature that helps with whitelisting. SecureBox uses application containerization technology. A secure container will hold the application.
Inside this container, each application is invulnerable to external threats. So if a malware program manages to infiltrate the network, it can’t still harm the applications. The apps are like inside another dimension of which any malware don’t have access to.
Whitelisting Software: Advantage #3
Whitelisting software prevents access to websites outside of the whitelist. This is another good way of preventing threats. A user will not have the ability to visit unknown websites and click on harmful links. Users can only visit approved websites.
Network admins would only allow client-approved websites. Most of the time these are the company’s websites. Whitelisting websites is also a good security practice.
Whitelisting Software: Advantage #4
Whitelisting software is configurable to act as an email spam filter. A user will only get emails from people in their contacts list. So spam and phishing emails will not be successful.
The goal of these spam and phishing emails is for a user to click on the malicious links on the email’s body. This will let the cybercriminal take control of the user’s account. Email whitelisting prevents this situation from happening.
Whitelisting Software: Advantage #5
A network admin can restrict which devices are allowable on the network. Whitelisting software like SecureBox makes this possible through IP address whitelisting. Every physical device on a network has a corresponding address. This is the IP address.
A network admin can control the connected devices on the network. Devices that are not on the IP address whitelist has no access to the network. This prevents external devices from injecting malware into the network.
Conclusion
You have learned what a whitelisting software is and the benefits of using it. You have understood the various advantages of using SecureBox. SecureBox is an all-in-one security solution everyone should have. Sign up now and get a free demo!
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