FW4015 20.0v1 Troubleshooting Web Policies On Sophos Firewall

Copyright © 2024 Sophos Ltd
Troubleshooting Web
Policies on Sophos
Firewall
Sophos Firewall
Version: 20.0v1
[Additional Information]
Sophos Firewall
FW4015: Troubleshooting Web Policies on Sophos Firewall
January 2024
Version: 20.0v1
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Troubleshooting Web Policies on Sophos Firewall - 1

Copyright
Copyright ©
© 2024
2023 Sophos
Sophos Ltd
Ltd
Troubleshooting Web Policies on Sophos Firewall

In this chapter you will learn how RECOMMENDED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
to troubleshoot when a website ✓ How to configure web protection on Sophos
that users need to access is Firewall
included in a category that is
blocked.
DURATION 3 minutes
In this chapter you will learn how to troubleshoot when a website that users need to access is
included in a category that is blocked.

Unexpected Policy Action 1
The most common issue encountered with web policies is when a website, or part of a webpage is
blocked by a policy. This may be intended, but it could be a site that users need to access but is
included in a category that is blocked.

You should first review the web filter log in the log viewer. You can filter this using username, IP
address and URL to help you find the relevant entries.
In this example, we can see that Facebook has been blocked with the category Social Networking.

By hovering over the log entry, we can find more information. We can see the firewall rule and web
policy IDs, and we can see that the category was part of the ‘Unproductive Browsing’ user activity.

In the advanced log view, you can click on the web policy ID to open it in the parent web admin
console window.

There is no separate rule in this web policy for the Social Networking category, but from the log we
saw that it was part of the Unproductive Browsing user activity.

There are several ways to resolve the issue, depending on whether you want to allow the site for all
users or a subset of users. Here we are removing Social Networking from the Unproductive Browsing
user activity.

When we save it there is the option to ‘Save for all’ which will update the original user activity, or
‘Save copy’, so that other policies using this user activity are not affected.
If you wanted to allow Social Networking for a subset of users, you could also create a web policy rule
above the Unproductive Browsing rule to explicitly allow Social Networking for the desired users and
groups.

With the policy updated the website will be accessible.

Chapter Review
The first step is to view the web filter log. Filter by username, Ip address and URL to find the relevant
entries and show the category of the blocked site.
Hovering over the log entry shows the firewall rule and web policy IDs. It will also show which user activity
contains the category.
The action to take depends on whether all users or a subset of users require access to sites in the
category.
Here are the three main things you learned in this chapter.
The first step is to view the web filter log. Filter by username, IP address and URL to find the relevant
entries and show the category of the blocked site.
Hovering over the log entry shows the firewall rule and web policy IDs. It will also show which user
activity contains the category.
The action to take depends on whether all users or a subset of users require access to sites in the
category.


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Troubleshooting Web Policies on Sophos Firewall - 1

Troubleshooting Web Policies on Sophos Firewall

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Unexpected Policy Action 1

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Unexpected Policy Action 2

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Unexpected Policy Action 2

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Unexpected Policy Action 2

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Unexpected Policy Action 2

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Unexpected Policy Action 2

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Unexpected Policy Action 2

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Unexpected Policy Action 3

With the policy updated the website will be accessible.

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