Clearswift Web Appliance ENW review
Clearswift’s latest web filtering appliance offers extensive workplace AUPs and aims to get tough with the wave of new web threats. In this exclusive review we see whether it succeeds.
Clearswift’s web access policies do present a steep learning curve to newcomers but once you’re familiar with them they are easy enough to create. Better controls for IM and P2P apps would be welcome but the new features in this latest v2.0 version do make the Web Appliance ENW a highly versatile solution for strictly controlling and monitoring web access in the workplace.

We found installation in the lab simple enough as we connected the appliance to the main network, pointed a web browser at its default IP address and ran through a quick start routine. This asks for basic information including your licenses, network addresses, mail server details plus proxy settings and finishes up by securing all administrative access.
As we went for the standard proxy mode we needed to configure our test clients to point at the appliance. This was a manual process but larger sites can easily achieve this using AD group policies or PAC (proxy auto-configuration) scripts.
The main management interface hasn't changed a great deal but it does see a few design tweaks to make it even easier to use. The web console opens with an informative display showing a graphical overview of system health, a list of alerts and swift access to the various Centers.
Web filtering policies, user management, system configuration and report creation are placed under different Centers making for easier access. Usefully, the appliance immediately applies a default web access policy to all users but we'd recommend taking time to understand how the policies work before fiddling with them.
The fundamentals behind Clearswift's web filtering haven't changed from when we last looked at the previous ENW model. Rather than reiterate them take a look at the review we ran in 2008, which describes the processes.
We mentioned that the lack of scheduling was a drawback and Clearswift has now included this to allow policies to be active at specified times. You can also apply limits on the amount of time a user may browse a particular category for but support for scanning HTTPS encrypted traffic is still an optional feature.
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Dave is an IT consultant and freelance journalist specialising in hands-on reviews of computer networking products covering all market sectors from small businesses to enterprises. Founder of Binary Testing Ltd – the UK’s premier independent network testing laboratory - Dave has over 45 years of experience in the IT industry.
Dave has produced many thousands of in-depth business networking product reviews from his lab which have been reproduced globally. Writing for ITPro and its sister title, PC Pro, he covers all areas of business IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, network security, data protection, cloud, infrastructure and services.
-
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prediction about AI in software development is nowhere nearly to becoming a reality
News In March, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei claimed up to 90% of code would be written by AI within six months – his prediction hasn't quite come to fruition.
By Ross Kelly Published
-
Veracode bolsters leadership team for next growth chapter
News The application security vendor has named Anthony Barkley as chief strategy officer and Diana Bushard as general counsel
By Daniel Todd Published
-
UK government programmers trialed AI coding assistants from Microsoft, GitHub, and Google – here's what they found
News Developers participating in a trial of AI coding tools from Google, Microsoft, and GitHub reported big time savings, with 58% saying they now couldn't work without them.
By Emma Woollacott Published