Umbrella Content Filtering [new] 📍

As the sole IT manager for a hybrid workforce of 150 employees, I was losing sleep over two things: users clicking malicious links at home, and students/employees bypassing our on-premise web filter using VPNs or personal hotspots.

Deploying Cisco Umbrella (formerly OpenDNS) solved both problems in about 30 minutes. Here is my honest take after 18 months of use. 1. Roaming Client is a lifesaver. Unlike traditional filters that only work when you are plugged into the corporate network, Umbrella’s lightweight roaming client follows the user everywhere. Whether they are at Starbucks, home, or a hotel, the DNS filtering is active. No more "I wasn't on the VPN so I didn't know" excuses. umbrella content filtering

Finally, DNS-level filtering that works outside the office walls Rating: 4.7/5 As the sole IT manager for a hybrid

Once you configure the policy groups, it runs silently. I spend maybe 15 minutes a week looking at the "Investigations" dashboard to see what was blocked. The reporting is clean enough to show auditors without heavy editing. Whether they are at Starbucks, home, or a

9/10. Deploy it yesterday. Your SOC will thank you.

You need to block specific substrings of a URL (e.g., youtube.com/watch?v=... but not the homepage). You need a free solution for a tiny office.

We previously used a major antivirus vendor's web filter. Umbrella blocks malicious domains (malware, phishing, C2 callbacks) noticeably faster. It blocks newly registered domains (NRDs) that often host zero-day attacks before signature updates even exist.