As part of an ongoing market research effort, Secure Computing commissioned Forrester
Consulting in November 2008 to conduct a study of Web filtering requirements and trends across small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) and enterprises. Also in November 2008, McAfee acquired Secure Computing.1 This study is an update of a similar commissioned study Forrester Consulting conducted on behalf of Secure Computing in October 2007. The purpose of this study is to understand how various factors and trends - including Web 2.0 usage, changing business requirements on the Web, and the prevalence of remote workers - impact users' views on and requirements of Web filtering technologies.
We surveyed 253 IT and security professionals who are primary IT decision-makers about Web security technologies. Their roles include director of IT, director of IT security, enterprise architect, information security officer, and network security architect. The organizations surveyed have at least 500 Internet users. Thirty-four percent of those we surveyed have more than 5,000 Internet users.
We found that Web 2.0 usage remains prevalent in organizations of all sizes, including those that have less than 1,000 Internet users. Many also anticipate their Web 2.0 usage to increase for the foreseeable future.
We also found that the role of Web filtering is changing from a security-centric function to more of a business function. More and more organizations are using Web filtering beyond defending against Web threats. Rather, they are incorporating functions such as productivity management, traffic quality of service (QoS) management, and even single sign-on (SSO). As organizations' worker populations becomes more mobile and distributed, many indicated that mobile filtering is an increasingly important new requirement for Web filtering solutions.
Given the rising complexity of Web communications and the nonrelenting Web threats, we
recommend that organizations look to vendors with these future-looking capabilities: 1) Web malware detection; 2) a solid in-the-cloud infrastructure; 3) a strong consolidation and integration strategy; and 4) the ability to perform fine-grained controls for Web 2.0 applications.
