Websafe Integration

The Websafe service can be used on Hwb managed devices to provide user-specific web filtering using Smoothwall’s Cloud Filter extension.

This involves adding Hwb’s Entra ID as a directory on the Smoothwall server and syncing Hwb users and groups to the Smoothwall environment. The Smoothwall admin will need to map the Hwb web filter groups to the Smoothwall group to assign the appropriate levels of filtering.

The Smoothwall Cloud Filter extension is supported on:

Chromebooks
Edge and Chrome browsers on Windows devices
Edge and Chrome browsers on macOS devices

The extension is not available for iPads, but the same functionality is available by using the Smoothwall Browser app.

Information

Information on configuring and using Websafe with Hwb managed devices is available from your Websafe support representative. Due to the nature of this service, it is vital that it is fully understood and implemented following the guidelines.

Information

The sync token is valid for 2 years from creation. It is the responsibility of the Smoothwall admin to request a renewal before expiry.

Hwb web filter groups

The connection in Smoothwall is configured to only include users within the local authority during the directory sync. Hwb web filter groups, containing these users, are also included in the sync, and can be mapped to filter policies in the Smoothwall admin console. The Hwb web filter groups are named with the prefix ‘WF-XXX’ (where XXX the local authority identifier).

Default Hwb web filter groups

Each local authority is given a number of default web filter groups, consisting of staff and learner year groups. Each school’s staff and learner year groups are then nested in the corresponding web filter groups. Since the school groups are maintained by the provisioning service the web filter groups are kept up to date.

For example, a year 6 group in a school would be nested in the WF-XXX-Year6 Hwb web filter, so any year 6 learners in that school would get the web filter policy assigned to that web filter group in Smoothwall. In fact, all year 6 learners in any school in the local authority would get the web filter policy assigned to the WF-XXX-Year6 Hwb web filter group (unless overridden by a policy applied to a custom Hwb web filter group). This gives consistent filtering to all schools.

Custom Hwb web filter groups

Custom Hwb web filter groups are intended to provide further flexibility, allowing individual users or school groups to have additional web filter policies. These can be used to augment the policies applied to the default Hwb web filter groups or to override them.

For instance, if social media is blocked for all staff by a policy assigned to the WF-XXX-Staff group, this could be allowed for staff in single school by adding the XXXYYYY Teachers group to a custom Hwb web filter group called ‘WF-XXX-Allow Social Media’ which is allowed access and has a higher priority in Smoothwall.

Custom Hwb web filter groups can only be created by a local authority admin, however, school Hwb administrators are able to add or remove individual users or learner registration/class/year groups to them via controls in the school dashboard.

Warning

Hwb are not responsible for configuring or applying any web filter policies to users or groups. This must be done by the Smoothwall admin through the Smoothwall admin portal, ensuring the policies and priorities are correct.

1. Navigate to Administration > Web filter groups
2. Under Custom web filter user groups click Add Group
3. Enter a group name – this will be prefixed with ‘WF-XXX-’
4. Click Add
1. Navigate to Administration > Web filter groups
2. Under Custom web filter user groups select the target group
3. Click Add user to group
4. In Section, select the location the user is in
5. Enter the user and click Search
6. Double click the user in the search results to confirm selection
7. Click Add
You may need to refresh the page to see the added user in the member list.
Individual users can also be added to a custom Hwb web filter group through the school dashboard. This can be done by the local authority admin or a school Hwb administrator.
These users will be displayed as members of the custom Hwb web filter group on the Web Filter Group page.
1. On the school dashboard, navigate to Administration > View Users > View Learners/Staff
2. Select one or more users to add to the custom Hwb web filter group
3. Click Selected users > Assign to group
4. Select Web Filter group as the ‘Group Type’
5. Select the custom Hwb web filter group from the dropdown
6. Click Add to group
1. Navigate to Administration > Web filter groups
2. Under Custom web filter user groups select the target group
3. Click Add user to group
4. Select the desired school to see their groups
5. Select one or more school groups
6. Click Add
You may need to refresh the page to see the added group in the member list.
Learner class, year, or registration groups can also be added to a custom Hwb web filter group through the school dashboard. This can be done by the local authority admin or a school Hwb administrator.
These groups will be displayed as members of the custom Hwb web filter group on the Web Filter Group page.
1. On the school dashboard, navigate to Administration > View groups
2. Using the filter, find the learner group to be added to the custom Hwb web filter group
3. Click Manage Group Assignment
4. Select Web Filter group as the ‘Group Type’
5. Select the custom Hwb web filter group from the dropdown
6. Click Add to group
1. Navigate to Administration > Web filter groups
2. Under Custom web filter user groups select the target group
3. Click Remove next to the target user or group in the Users/Groups list.
Digital Champions can also remove individual users or learner groups they’ve added to a custom Hwb web filter group.
1. Follow steps 1-5 for adding a user or group to a custom Hwb web filter group
2. Click Remove from group
Admins can use the “WF-XXX-BlockedUsers” to block Internet access for users by following the steps to add a user group to a custom Hwb web filter group above.

This group must be mapped to an appropriate policy in Smoothwall that prevents Internet access.

Warning

When managing individual users or learner groups in the school dashboard, all custom Hwb filter groups created by the local authority will be available. Care must be taken to ensure that Digital Champion do not add users or learner groups to the wrong custom Hwb web filter group.

Websafe Integration

Hwb web filter groups

Default Hwb web filter groups

Custom Hwb web filter groups

Create a custom Hwb web filter group

Add users to a custom Hwb web filter group

Add school groups to a custom Hwb web filter group

Remove users/groups from a custom Hwb web filter group

Blocking Internet access for a user