Web Filter Appliance Adds Feature To Protect Against Proxy Abuse

School Guardian, an SME and education focused Web filter appliance announced they have added a feature to help prevent proxy abuse, a significant problem in the K-12 market. We've talked about the use of anonymous proxies in previous posts here, and some of the solutions around it using features like real time rating of new websites/proxies. From The Journal:

School Guardian, in its latest version offers a feature known as SSL Interception, which helps to prevent students from using anonymous proxies such as Ultrasurf and Vtunnel.

These sites allow users to engage in online activities "anonymously," so that sites they visit and Web filters that monitor their activity will not know the Web address where the activity originates.

The current standard for blocking access such sites is to use "SSL certificate checking," which confirms the validity of a site's electronic certificate. However, advances in Web security technology have sparked corresponding advances in methods to undermine such technology, and today site content can be encrypted against filters, and obtaining an electronic certificate is easier than ever.

While SSL Interception has long been a feature of Enterprise proxies, this is a nice enhancement for the K-12 market.