What Is Whitelisting?
Over the last few weeks, Pioneer-360 has been receiving a significant increase in requests to whitelist websites that are being blocked by our firewalls at our client’s locations. Whitelisting is a cybersecurity strategy that approves a list of websites and allows people on your network to only access the approved list of websites, while blocking all others. We do this to help create an IT environment with a reduced risk, by preventing access to untrusted sites. So, why have we been seeing an increase in requests to whitelist more websites?
There are ongoing geopolitical circumstances worldwide leading to this. Web servers are ridiculously easy to hack and to impersonate, and web hosts move sites and change locations often to save themselves money. Pioneer-360 does not make changes to our client’s firewall security unless it is client-requested. Our Firewalls are setup to block every country in the world except for the USA & Canada, we then whitelist specific websites in other countries based on client’s needs and requests. When a change is requested, we make sure the requested website is secure before we whitelist it, by thoroughly vetting each request to keep our clients secure and safe from the threat of hacking.
Whitelisting Challenges
Pioneer-360 also understands the challenges that come with whitelisting; the frustrations it can cause for end users in addition to the cumbersome process of managing it yourself. As a SOC 2 Type II Certified MSP/MSSP, allowing us to manage your network can greatly reduce your risk profile while proving you peace of mind. Firewalls are an essential layer of security for your network, but that’s only the beginning.
Additional Security Features
Opening access to your firewall is always a risk, so to combat that risk, we encourage additional security features to be used across your network. Two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication are great ways to additionally secure your accounts. Pioneer-360 also provides Employee Security Training to our clients to put a focus on the things you can do personally to increase your organization’s security. With human error causing over 92% of data breaches, Pioneer-360 understands the importance of focusing on people by empowering your employees through self-improvement, personal protection, and engaging training.
Pioneer-360 understands that each client we partner with has different needs, and different websites they want access to. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of cybersecurity to ensure the safeguarding of client data, but that can look different for each organization with different security and compliance requirements. If you have questions or want to talk to Pioneer-360 about whitelisting a website, please contact us today.
