The Rules → Categories screen helps you organize both domains and applications into manageable groups, so you can apply traffic policies more efficiently and consistently across your organization.

With this version, this screen was redesigned to combine and enhance two powerful concepts:

• Website Categories (based on domains)
• Application Categories (based on detected application traffic)

You can now enforce access control at two levels:

• Domain-level, using website categories
• Application-level, using traffic-recognized app groups

📍 To access this screen, go to Rules → Categories

Website Categories

Website categories help you manage access to groups of domains instead of defining individual entries. You can use these categories in firewall rules, especially in environments where you want to:

• Block or allow types of content (e.g., Gambling, File Sharing)
• Whitelist trusted services
• Enforce clean web usage policies

🔸 Website Categories Table

The Whitelist category is fixed at the top and allows you to bypass all filtering rules for the included domains. Any domain listed here is always allowed.

Domain Lookup

Use the search bar at the top of the screen to look up any domain. If the domain exists in a category, the result will show which one. This is especially helpful for:

• Preventing duplicate entries
• Understanding how a domain is currently handled

Create and Edit a Website Category

Click Create New to add a custom website category. Each category can then be managed using the ••• to:

• Edit its domain list
• Import domains via CSV (max 1,000 entries)
• Exclude specific domains even after they were included

You’ll see two management tabs:

• Included Domains – Domains actively evaluated by rules
• Excluded Domains – Domains ignored for auditing or exception purposes

Application Categories (NEW)

This new section introduces application-based traffic classification, giving you visibility and control over apps detected through your network activity—even when domain filtering is not enough.

These categories are:

• Predefined by the system
• Continuously updated based on recognized application signatures
• Read-only, but fully visible and referenceable in rules

Using Categories in Rules

You can reference both Websites, Website Categories, Applications, and Application Categories under the Destination field when creating Firewall Rules.

This gives you:

• A scalable way to define allow/block logic
• Unified control over domains and apps
• Easier maintenance of complex filtering policies

Updated November 05, 2025 14:56