What's the difference between the "Pass" and "Allow" lists?


This article applies to:

  • R3000

Question:

What's the difference between the "Pass" and "Allow" lists?

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Beginning with R3000 software version 2.0.00.32 and UP, the category profile screens contains four columns, or lists. They are: Pass, Allow, Warn, Block.

The "Pass" and "Allow" lists might seem redundant, but there is a difference. The "Pass" list simply holds categories that you want to allow access to. As for the "Allow" list, think of it as a "whitelist." (In previous versions, it was known as the "Always Allow" list).

Here's an example of how to utilize the "Allow, Block, Warn Pass" listings:

Your organization wants to block Pornography, but the Marketing Department needs to see playboy.com because they advertise there. You can't take playboy.com out of the "Pornography/Adult Content" category because then everyone can see it. So, you add playboy.com to a CUSTOM category and set it to "Allow" for the Marketing Department's IP Group profile.

When making filtering decisions, the R3000 normally looks at the "Allow, Block, Warn, Pass" in that order. The "Allow" Custom category or whitelist is treated differently. If the R3000 finds a base URL in the "Allow" list, it stops at that point and simply allows the request through; the other lists are not checked. We do not recommend moving entire 8e6-Supplied Categories into the "Allow" list -- remember, this is a whitelist. It's best to use a custom category and insert specific URLs, as needed.

Suppose you have "http://www.pictures.com" in your "Allow" list. If a user goes to... http://www.pictures.com/PornPics the user will NOT get blocked because the base URL (pictures.com) is in the "Allow" whitelist. You should always be aware of what's in your "Allow" list. If you move entire categories in the "Allow" list, you might run into situations where you think a site is getting blocked, but it isn't because the URL is in the "Allow" whitelist. Note: “Allow” will not take precedence over “Minimum Filtering Level”, if the site in question is blocked in a category under “Minimum Filtering Level”, then the site will be blocked.

This article was previously published as:
8e6 KB 276483

Last Modified 12/7/2009.
https://support.trustwave.com/kb/KnowledgebaseArticle12306.aspx