Untitled Document

Greetings,

We hope you have all adjusted to the New Year and are now knee deep (or maybe head deep) in trying to accomplish your goals for the year like we are here at Wavecrest. This year we are focusing on several new enhancements for our products as well as some new tools for you to get more information about your Wavecrest product.

With that said, one of the first things we have done this year is create a new Wavecrest Computing blog. On our blog, you will find information on the latest releases, product tips, news and more. This way you will have access to all the current information in one place. The Wavecrest Computing blog is located at http://blog.wavecrestcomputing.com, so if you find some time, have a quick look and subscribe to it.

In this issue, we included an article about how to read and use Wavecrest’s reports. Questions come up occasionally about some of the terminology used on our reports and what the data means. For some of you, this article may just be a refresher, but we’re hoping that while you may be familiar with the content, you will pass the article on to managers or others in your organization that view reports. This will especially be helpful to anyone that may be new to your company and Wavecrest’s CyBlock or Cyfin software.

In addition to the article, you will find some information on the latest releases to Cyfin Reporter and CyBlock ISA, and finally, the Tech Tip, brought to you by our excellent technical support team.

The Wavecrest Team

Reading Wavecrest Reports

It is important to understand the definitions of terms used in a report so that the data is understandable and useful. In CyBlock and Cyfin reports, Wavecrest uses several different terms to identify the data that you are viewing. For example, in a Wavecrest report you will see the terms hits, visits, download time and more. This article will define these terms and help you gain more knowledge about Wavecrest’s reports. In turn, this will help with the implementation and review of your acceptable use policy.

Hits. Hits are recorded in the logfile any time a user accesses a URL or Web page from his/her browser. A typical Web page is made up of many different elements (i.e., text, images, banner ads, audio, flash, etc.). As a result, clicking on a single URL can generate multiple logfile entries, one for each element downloaded. Each of these “downloads” represents a “hit.” On average, 70% of all hits are elements downloaded as a result of a user clicking on a hyperlink.

Visits. Visits are a type of hit. A “visit” is the singular act of requesting a URL through a browser or clicking on a hyperlink to request that a Web page or other object be downloaded. The typical Web page contains many different elements that are downloaded separately. As mentioned earlier, Wavecrest’s products refer to these as “hits” or “extraneous hits.” Unlike hits, “visits” count how many Web pages a user actually requested, ignoring all the other activity. The majority of Wavecrest’s reports display the number of visits, unless otherwise specified. In Wavecrest's reports, you will also notice a ‘percentage’ column next to the visits column. This column displays the percentage of all visits that was made by that particular user. (The same ‘percentage’ concept is used for category and classification reports.)

Download Time. In addition to ‘visits’ and ‘hits,’ Wavecrest’s reports include a column for “download time.” The purpose of this data item is to provide a rough estimate of the time a user devotes to Web activity. (Unfortunately, it is not possible to calculate the exact amount of time a user was actually online or viewing a particular page. The fact that a user downloaded a Web page to a browser does not necessarily mean that he or she was actually looking at that page while it was "open.") Therefore, Wavecrest defines ‘download time’ as the absolute smallest amount of time required to completely download a Web page (or visit), multiplied by the number of visits.

In Wavecrest’s reports, the smallest amount of time to download a Web page is set to 3 seconds. Therefore, if a user had 100 visits—multiplied by 3 seconds each—he or she would be allocated 300 seconds or 5 minutes of estimated download time. Download time is listed in DD:HH:MM:SS format where DD = Days, HH = hours, MM = minutes, and SS = seconds.

You may be thinking, “If you can’t actually calculate download time, why even display it on the reports?” Here is our view. Most of us think in terms of time, so with productivity in the forefront of our minds, Wavecrest believes it is helpful to relate visits to an amount of time, even if it is an ‘educated’ estimate. Download time gives you that. It is an estimated minimum amount of time that was spent surfing the Web, which helps you decide whether or not further investigation is needed.

Because download time is an estimated amount of time, you may find that 3 seconds does not adequately fit your network environment. If this is the case, you can always contact the Wavecrest technical support team and request that the download time be changed in your product to fit your needs.

Optional Reporting Tools. In addition to the various types of data included in Wavecrest’s reports, our Cyfin and CyBlock products include a couple of tools that help you determine if and when Web misuse or abuse has occurred. These tools are ‘classification labeling’ and ‘abuse thresholding.’

Classification. Wavecrest currently offers three classification settings that can be applied to each category: acceptable, unacceptable, or neutral. These settings are color-coded in the reports making it easy for you to quickly identify the acceptability of Web-use activity. For example, a green bar indicates that the activity was acceptable, orange indicates that the activity was unacceptable, and gray indicates that the activity was neutral. You can set your classification settings by going to Advanced Settings – Category Setup – Classification on your product menu.

Abuse Thresholding. Another tool to help you easily identify abuse is the abuse thresholding feature in the product. This allows you to decide how many visits to each category are acceptable in a 24-hour period. If the threshold is ever exceeded, the report will show the excess visits via a red bar. Abuse threshold policies can be set by going to Advanced Settings – Report Settings – Abuse Thresholds in your product menu.

Classification and abuse thresholding are excellent tools to implement as a supplement for your organization's acceptable use policy. It allows managers to clearly see when abuse has occurred with the confidence that the data reflects the organization's acceptable use policy. It gives managers the tools they need to quickly identify a Web abuse problem and determine if further investigation is needed.

For more information on how to set up, schedule, or run reports, you can always use the quick reference screens by clicking on the blue question mark icon in the top right hand corner of your product’s screen. You can also access the product manual by going to Help – Documentation in the product menu. And if you have any additional questions about reporting or product setup, contact Wavecrest technical support at support@wavecrest.net or 321-953-5351, ext. 4.

Product Updates: CyBlock ISA 5.8.6 and Cyfin Reporter 7.8.4

It is highly recommended that all CyBlock ISA customers and evaluators download the latest release by going to Administration - Product Update. Several enhancements and corrections were made to CyBlock ISA and these include:

MICROSOFT FIREWALL SERVICE correction. The issue involving the loading of the Wavecrest URL list which caused the Microsoft firewall service to stop has been identified and corrected. In addition, a 'safety net' feature was added to ensure that the CyBlock filter plugin will not cause the Microsoft firewall service to stop or fail to start.
WINDOWS 2003 SERVER SERVICE correction. A new Windows service for this product now corrects the service failure issue experienced on some Windows 2003 Server systems. NOTE: If you require a special 'Log On" account for this service, it will need to be configured again, as the new service will not retain this previous information.
CYBLOCK SERVICE correction. With the previous release, the system waited for the service to load the URL list before setting the service to "Running." The CyBlock service could then fail to set to "Running" because the list was taking too long to load. The loading of the list now goes to the job queue in a separate thread, allowing faster access to the browser interface and correcting the product service stoppage issue.
Microsoft MSDE database correction. Previous issues with configuring MSDE as your logfile type have been identified and corrected.

IMPORTANT NOTE: After installing the update, please verify that the Microsoft Firewall Service is running. If it is not, you will need to manually start the firewall service or reboot the machine.

To view the full release notes on CyBlock ISA, go to http://forum.wavecrest.net/viewtopic.php?t=1979.

A few enhancements and corrections were also made to Cyfin Reporter. Enhancements to Cyfin Reporter include an:

Event log that records when the product is started or stopped, when someone logs in or logs out, product errors, etc. The event log is located in ".../wc/cf/log/eventlog.html".
Reporting with Microsoft ISA Server using a SQL Database.

For full release notes on Cyfin Reporter, go to http://forum.wavecrest.net/viewforum.php?f=27.

Tech Tip: Selecting a Filename Format for Reports

Change the filename format of your reports by going to Advanced Settings - Report Settings - Filename Format in the product menu. You can select from several filename formats.

Remember that if you want to keep your reports over time and do not want them to be overwritten, select a more granular filename format. For example, if you have an Enterprise Site Analysis report scheduled to run monthly, and you want to keep a history of each monthly report, you do not want to choose the report filename ReportType_GroupOrID (e.g., SiteAnalysis_Enterprise). This will only cause the report to be overwritten each month. Instead, you will want to choose a more granular filename format, such as GroupOrID_ReportType_Date (e.g.,Enterprise_Site_Analysis_YYYYMMDD).

Online Support Forum

Connect with over 3,000 Wavecrest software users worldwide — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — at Wavecrest's online support forum.

Wavecrest's online support forum is a searchable forum of questions and answers related to Wavecrest software. The information is contributed by Wavecrest users and moderated by Wavecrest's technical support staff.

To access the support forum, go to http://forum.wavecrest.net/.

And remember, you can still reach Wavecrest technical support via email at support@wavecrest.net or by phone Monday – Friday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern Time at 877-442-9346 (toll free in the US and Canada) or 001-321-953-5351(International).

You are receiving this e-mail because you are a Wavecrest customer or have shown an interest in our products. Your relationship with us is important. Please know that the e-mail addresses of our subscribers will never be sold or distributed to other companies or lists.

If you wish to no longer receive the Wavecrest newsletter, please reply to this email with REMOVE as the subject.


IN THIS ISSUE Reading Wavecrest Reports New Product Updates Tech Tip: Filename Format Online Support Forum WAVECREST HOME	Greetings, We hope you have all adjusted to the New Year and are now knee deep (or maybe head deep) in trying to accomplish your goals for the year like we are here at Wavecrest. This year we are focusing on several new enhancements for our products as well as some new tools for you to get more information about your Wavecrest product. With that said, one of the first things we have done this year is create a new Wavecrest Computing blog. On our blog, you will find information on the latest releases, product tips, news and more. This way you will have access to all the current information in one place. The Wavecrest Computing blog is located at http://blog.wavecrestcomputing.com, so if you find some time, have a quick look and subscribe to it. In this issue, we included an article about how to read and use Wavecrest’s reports. Questions come up occasionally about some of the terminology used on our reports and what the data means. For some of you, this article may just be a refresher, but we’re hoping that while you may be familiar with the content, you will pass the article on to managers or others in your organization that view reports. This will especially be helpful to anyone that may be new to your company and Wavecrest’s CyBlock or Cyfin software. In addition to the article, you will find some information on the latest releases to Cyfin Reporter and CyBlock ISA, and finally, the Tech Tip, brought to you by our excellent technical support team. The Wavecrest Team Reading Wavecrest Reports It is important to understand the definitions of terms used in a report so that the data is understandable and useful. In CyBlock and Cyfin reports, Wavecrest uses several different terms to identify the data that you are viewing. For example, in a Wavecrest report you will see the terms hits, visits, download time and more. This article will define these terms and help you gain more knowledge about Wavecrest’s reports. In turn, this will help with the implementation and review of your acceptable use policy. Hits. Hits are recorded in the logfile any time a user accesses a URL or Web page from his/her browser. A typical Web page is made up of many different elements (i.e., text, images, banner ads, audio, flash, etc.). As a result, clicking on a single URL can generate multiple logfile entries, one for each element downloaded. Each of these “downloads” represents a “hit.” On average, 70% of all hits are elements downloaded as a result of a user clicking on a hyperlink. Visits. Visits are a type of hit. A “visit” is the singular act of requesting a URL through a browser or clicking on a hyperlink to request that a Web page or other object be downloaded. The typical Web page contains many different elements that are downloaded separately. As mentioned earlier, Wavecrest’s products refer to these as “hits” or “extraneous hits.” Unlike hits, “visits” count how many Web pages a user actually requested, ignoring all the other activity. The majority of Wavecrest’s reports display the number of visits, unless otherwise specified. In Wavecrest's reports, you will also notice a ‘percentage’ column next to the visits column. This column displays the percentage of all visits that was made by that particular user. (The same ‘percentage’ concept is used for category and classification reports.) Download Time. In addition to ‘visits’ and ‘hits,’ Wavecrest’s reports include a column for “download time.” The purpose of this data item is to provide a rough estimate of the time a user devotes to Web activity. (Unfortunately, it is not possible to calculate the exact amount of time a user was actually online or viewing a particular page. The fact that a user downloaded a Web page to a browser does not necessarily mean that he or she was actually looking at that page while it was "open.") Therefore, Wavecrest defines ‘download time’ as the absolute smallest amount of time required to completely download a Web page (or visit), multiplied by the number of visits. In Wavecrest’s reports, the smallest amount of time to download a Web page is set to 3 seconds. Therefore, if a user had 100 visits—multiplied by 3 seconds each—he or she would be allocated 300 seconds or 5 minutes of estimated download time. Download time is listed in DD:HH:MM:SS format where DD = Days, HH = hours, MM = minutes, and SS = seconds. You may be thinking, “If you can’t actually calculate download time, why even display it on the reports?” Here is our view. Most of us think in terms of time, so with productivity in the forefront of our minds, Wavecrest believes it is helpful to relate visits to an amount of time, even if it is an ‘educated’ estimate. Download time gives you that. It is an estimated minimum amount of time that was spent surfing the Web, which helps you decide whether or not further investigation is needed. Because download time is an estimated amount of time, you may find that 3 seconds does not adequately fit your network environment. If this is the case, you can always contact the Wavecrest technical support team and request that the download time be changed in your product to fit your needs. Optional Reporting Tools. In addition to the various types of data included in Wavecrest’s reports, our Cyfin and CyBlock products include a couple of tools that help you determine if and when Web misuse or abuse has occurred. These tools are ‘classification labeling’ and ‘abuse thresholding.’ Classification. Wavecrest currently offers three classification settings that can be applied to each category: acceptable, unacceptable, or neutral. These settings are color-coded in the reports making it easy for you to quickly identify the acceptability of Web-use activity. For example, a green bar indicates that the activity was acceptable, orange indicates that the activity was unacceptable, and gray indicates that the activity was neutral. You can set your classification settings by going to Advanced Settings – Category Setup – Classification on your product menu. Abuse Thresholding. Another tool to help you easily identify abuse is the abuse thresholding feature in the product. This allows you to decide how many visits to each category are acceptable in a 24-hour period. If the threshold is ever exceeded, the report will show the excess visits via a red bar. Abuse threshold policies can be set by going to Advanced Settings – Report Settings – Abuse Thresholds in your product menu. Classification and abuse thresholding are excellent tools to implement as a supplement for your organization's acceptable use policy. It allows managers to clearly see when abuse has occurred with the confidence that the data reflects the organization's acceptable use policy. It gives managers the tools they need to quickly identify a Web abuse problem and determine if further investigation is needed. For more information on how to set up, schedule, or run reports, you can always use the quick reference screens by clicking on the blue question mark icon in the top right hand corner of your product’s screen. You can also access the product manual by going to Help – Documentation in the product menu. And if you have any additional questions about reporting or product setup, contact Wavecrest technical support at support@wavecrest.net or 321-953-5351, ext. 4. Product Updates: CyBlock ISA 5.8.6 and Cyfin Reporter 7.8.4 It is highly recommended that all CyBlock ISA customers and evaluators download the latest release by going to Administration - Product Update. Several enhancements and corrections were made to CyBlock ISA and these include: MICROSOFT FIREWALL SERVICE correction. The issue involving the loading of the Wavecrest URL list which caused the Microsoft firewall service to stop has been identified and corrected. In addition, a 'safety net' feature was added to ensure that the CyBlock filter plugin will not cause the Microsoft firewall service to stop or fail to start. WINDOWS 2003 SERVER SERVICE correction. A new Windows service for this product now corrects the service failure issue experienced on some Windows 2003 Server systems. NOTE: If you require a special 'Log On" account for this service, it will need to be configured again, as the new service will not retain this previous information. CYBLOCK SERVICE correction. With the previous release, the system waited for the service to load the URL list before setting the service to "Running." The CyBlock service could then fail to set to "Running" because the list was taking too long to load. The loading of the list now goes to the job queue in a separate thread, allowing faster access to the browser interface and correcting the product service stoppage issue. Microsoft MSDE database correction. Previous issues with configuring MSDE as your logfile type have been identified and corrected. IMPORTANT NOTE: After installing the update, please verify that the Microsoft Firewall Service is running. If it is not, you will need to manually start the firewall service or reboot the machine. To view the full release notes on CyBlock ISA, go to http://forum.wavecrest.net/viewtopic.php?t=1979. A few enhancements and corrections were also made to Cyfin Reporter. Enhancements to Cyfin Reporter include an: Event log that records when the product is started or stopped, when someone logs in or logs out, product errors, etc. The event log is located in ".../wc/cf/log/eventlog.html". Reporting with Microsoft ISA Server using a SQL Database. For full release notes on Cyfin Reporter, go to http://forum.wavecrest.net/viewforum.php?f=27. Tech Tip: Selecting a Filename Format for Reports Change the filename format of your reports by going to Advanced Settings - Report Settings - Filename Format in the product menu. You can select from several filename formats. Remember that if you want to keep your reports over time and do not want them to be overwritten, select a more granular filename format. For example, if you have an Enterprise Site Analysis report scheduled to run monthly, and you want to keep a history of each monthly report, you do not want to choose the report filename ReportType_GroupOrID (e.g., SiteAnalysis_Enterprise). This will only cause the report to be overwritten each month. Instead, you will want to choose a more granular filename format, such as GroupOrID_ReportType_Date (e.g.,Enterprise_Site_Analysis_YYYYMMDD). Online Support Forum Connect with over 3,000 Wavecrest software users worldwide — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — at Wavecrest's online support forum. Wavecrest's online support forum is a searchable forum of questions and answers related to Wavecrest software. The information is contributed by Wavecrest users and moderated by Wavecrest's technical support staff. To access the support forum, go to http://forum.wavecrest.net/. And remember, you can still reach Wavecrest technical support via email at support@wavecrest.net or by phone Monday – Friday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern Time at 877-442-9346 (toll free in the US and Canada) or 001-321-953-5351(International). You are receiving this e-mail because you are a Wavecrest customer or have shown an interest in our products. Your relationship with us is important. Please know that the e-mail addresses of our subscribers will never be sold or distributed to other companies or lists. If you wish to no longer receive the Wavecrest newsletter, please reply to this email with REMOVE as the subject. © Copyright 1996-2008 Wavecrest Computing. All rights reserved.