For 20 years, Olfeo has been combining Internet browsing with trust, thanks to its unique on-premise filtering proxy solution. More than 500,000 users in 1,000 mid-sized companies, large SMEs, and government agencies trust Olfeo to keep their online activities safe. And with good reason, because unlike other solutions on the market, Olfeo recognizes more than 99% of content and offers the highest level of security. Its secret? Zero Trust Internet Access technology: authorizing trusted URLs rather than attempting to block malicious ones. Olfeo thus offers a sovereign web security solution that is both human and technological; in a word: positive! Today, by offering a SaaS version, it is responding to the new expectations and uses of its customers.
Restoring confidence in web browsing
Three key figures for 2022 to know about cybersecurity in France.
43,000 high-impact attacks resulted in relatively serious data loss or business disruption.
The average cost of this type of attack: €3.9 million.
13 million malicious URLs are created every month.
1: Checkpoint study – January 2023
2: IBM Study 2022
3: Akamai study – September 2022
With the widespread use of HTTPS protocol for websites, many attacks are now "hidden" in encrypted web traffic and are more difficult to detect... Due to its growing volume, the web has become the main vector for attacks. But should we really try to identify them all? Olfeo's answer to this question is "No."
To prevent users from downloading malware while surfing the Internet, which could have a serious impact on their business, Olfeo has taken a counterintuitive approach. Industry players are exhausting themselves updating lists of prohibited URLs (or block lists), but the exponential growth in their number has now rendered this approach obsolete (13 million malicious URLs are created every month). The cybersecurity expert preferred to build a filtering proxy based on a whitelist: Zero Trust Internet Access technology. This decision has enabled it to be selected by industrial and government organizations, for which Internet content filtering must be flawless in order to eliminate any risk of cyber threats. In their cases, only the whitelist is capable of providing the high level of security expected. It is not without reason that it is recommended by ANSSI.
Allow rather than prohibit: the Olfeo method
Thanks to comprehensive browsing history, analyzed over the years and based on the practices of more than 500,000 users, Olfeo has a thorough understanding of Europeans' habits in this area. Its teams are also well versed in national regulations governing Internet access, which has enabled them to check more than 20 million domains to date, corresponding to several hundred million URLs!
At no time can an employee whose IT system is protected by Olfeo access a site that is not listed in the database, even if they accidentally click on a phishing link in an email, which is the channel through which 94% of malware is delivered (source: Data Breach Investigations Report). No need to wonder anymore: if Olfeo allows me to browse this site, it means that it poses no direct risk.
Due to the comprehensiveness of the certified URL database, more than 99% of user connection requests are successful. When an employee attempts to visit a site that is not listed by Olfeo, they are blocked by default. They are then automatically sent to the publisher. An initial check by AI analyzes the semantics of the content. This is then validated by a human operator to avoid false positives. If the site is deemed reliable, it is immediately added to the whitelist and the user can visit it.
Meeting new market expectations with SaaS
Until now, Olfeo has only developed its solution on-premise, i.e., by deploying it directly on its customers' information systems, mainly large SMEs, mid-sized companies, and government agencies. While some want to continue to control their entire IT value chain, others are now looking to simplify the management of their cybersecurity and are opting for SaaS solutions. Olfeo understands this expectation. After a year of testing with selected customers, the company has announced the launch of the SaaS version of its web security gateway. The objective is twofold: to make itself more widely accessible and to align its innovative offering with new market needs.
Security in SaaS: simplicity and expertise
While offering the same level of security as its initial solution, SaaS mode promotes greater mobility. Wherever they are—at home, at the office, or in a coworking space—employees who connect to their company's network from a PC equipped with the Olfeo SaaS solution are automatically protected. Another advantage of SaaS mode is its simplicity and speed of operation: the solution is up and running in just one hour, while Olfeo takes care of all IT management and maintenance.
The more accessible SaaS mode should appeal to players who are primarily looking for efficiency, reliability, and speed. By adopting Olfeo SaaS, these companies will also be choosing a sovereign offering, created and hosted in France and therefore not subject to the Cloud Act. Furthermore, Olfeo guarantees the confidentiality of data transiting through its Cloud.
Compatible with GDPR regulations, this solution also ensures compliance with French law, which reminds companies of their obligation to protect their employees from exposure to objectionable websites (child pornography, content promoting violence, racism, or terrorism, in particular). It also ensures compliance with the company's internal policy on web browsing.
This virtuous combination—technology, compliance, and sovereignty—guarantees future Olfeo SaaS users safe and secure web browsing, with complete confidence!
