Network Policies define which URLs the Workspot Enterprise Browser is allowed to connect to. This prevents the Browser from accessing undesirable URLs.
These rules are declared in Workspot Control, downloaded by the Workspot Client, and enforced by the Workspot Enterprise Browser. (The policies have no effect on other Workspot products, just the Enterprise Browser.)
Network policies are a mandatory field in every Workspot Group definition. Each Workspot user is assigned to a Group, so each user has a Network policy.
The Workspot Enterprise Browser compares every URL it is asked to load to the rules in the Network Policy to decide whether to access the URL or not. This includes not only the Web page itself but images, ads, tracking URLs, and resources such as external fonts and CSS files.
The Workspot Enterprise Browser doesn’t have an address bar, so users can’t enter arbitrary URLs themselves. Instead, users always start in a Web Application. But some Web Applications allow relatively arbitrary navigation via their own pages. Network policies can restrict this.
Creating a Network Policy
Control has a single predefined Network Policy, the “Default Network Policy.” This has a policy of “Allow all URLs.”
To provide access restrictions, create a new Network Policy:
In Workspot Control, go to the “Policies” page and click “Add a New Policy.”
On the “Add a New Policy” page, give the policy a name, select “Network Policy” as the “Policy Type,” and select at least one Group from the “Select Groups” list.
After you select “Policy Type,” the URL list will appear.
You can have a list of URLs to allow (blocking all others) or a list of URLs to deny (allowing all others) but not both.
Choose the type of list that best serves your needs and enter URLs you want to allow or block.
Use the examples shown on the screen as a syntax guide.
Type the first URL in the empty text box.
To add more URLs, press the “+” icon, then type the URL into the empty text box that appears.
To delete a URL, click its “-” icon.
The order of the URLs doesn’t matter.
Click “Add Policy.”
The Policy is now active for the Groups you selected. The Workspot Clients will download the Policy at their next heartbeat interval (every five minutes) or when the Client user selects “Refresh Configuration.”
Editing a Network Policy
In Control, click on “Policies > policyname” to enter the “Edit Network Policy” page, which is equivalent to the “Add Network Policy” page.
Effect of Blocking on the Enterprise Browser
Accessing a Blocked URL
You will see an error page similar to the one above if:
You click on a link in a Workspot Web Application that attempts to take you to a blocked site.
You block the main URL of a Workspot Web Application so it can’t load.
In these cases, you see both an error page and an error popup. Both give the URL that failed and report that it has been blocked. The popup also gives the name of the Web Application.
Other Blocks
You may see popups reporting that resources referenced by the page have been blocked, resources no one has clicked on. The popup above refers to a yahoo.com advertising URL.
These popups start with the name you’ve assigned to the Web Application, then the URL, then the notice that “some content has been blocked.”