FortiGuard Web Filtering Service vs. Sophos Web Content Filtering

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FortiGuard Web Filtering Service
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Fortinet headquartered in Sunnyvale, California offers the FortiGuard Web Filtering Service, a web content filter.N/A
Sophos Web Content Filtering
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
UK headquartered Sophos offers web content filtering.N/A
Pricing
FortiGuard Web Filtering ServiceSophos Web Content Filtering
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
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Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FortiGuard Web Filtering ServiceSophos Web Content Filtering
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FortiGuard Web Filtering ServiceSophos Web Content Filtering
Considered Both Products
FortiGuard Web Filtering Service
Chose FortiGuard Web Filtering Service
FortiGuard Web Filtering Service has a superior interface and requires fewer steps to make it work.
Sophos Web Content Filtering

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
FortiGuard Web Filtering ServiceSophos Web Content Filtering
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

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Medium-sized Companies
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.2 out of 10
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.2 out of 10
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FortiGuard Web Filtering ServiceSophos Web Content Filtering
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(6 ratings)
9.0
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FortiGuard Web Filtering ServiceSophos Web Content Filtering
Likelihood to Recommend
Fortinet
FortiGuard Web Filtering Service is well-suited for an organisation that is able to funnel all its Internet connectivity through one device, i.e., the office environment - or perhaps where WFH workers are using a remote desktop or VPN. It allows management/IT to minimise risk by blocking websites that may be harmful, as well as websites that may enable data leakage, or even are websites that people ought not to be visiting in the workplace.
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Sophos
Before Sophos, I would receive scammers regarding tradeshow lists. People wanted me to pay for lists, but these people weren't actually from the tradeshows. I can now block those, and have received much fewer of those scams. I am also able to open emails within quarantine to view them before deleting, releasing, allowing, or blocking. I use this to my advantage, and am able to make better decisions on what to do with the emails.
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Pros
Fortinet
  • FortiGuard Web Filtering Service effectively protects websites. There is no need to install the root certificate on all PCs inside the network.
  • The database signature updates every hour, so we don't need to spend time updating the website to blacklist or whitelist.
  • It can protect very well. Whereas, some traditional proxies can not do that. For example, others can not block Youtube or Facebook.
  • It can also protect the search keyword, like in Youtube or other social media, Google, etc.
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Sophos
  • Sophos does an excellent job of category-based content filtering. It's easy to configure and flexible for many environments with the ability to tighten or loosen restrictions as requirements determing.
  • Sophos' built-in capabilites can force safe search rules to protect against content work-arounds like Image search and search engines in general.
  • The Sophos XTreme architecture also helps improve the overall performance of the Web Content Filtering solution. It is very quick and very transparent when in use on the network.
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Cons
Fortinet
  • Some websites are classified as Meaningless content, especially links used in emails to unsubscribe from lists. Luckily FortiGuard Web Filtering Service is responsive about reclassifying those quickly.
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Sophos
  • It only allows UTF-8 encoded characters.
  • It does not support metadata.
  • It does not support comments in the custom filter file.
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Support Rating
Fortinet
Took a little longer for support to get our problem solved, but when the upper tier tech support was involved, we got excellent customer support.
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Fortinet
We selected FortiGuard Web Filtering because it came in the service bundle with our FortiGate unit. After testing the service for a couple of months, we disabled the web filtering that was running on our client machines and have not looked back. It's been easy to manage, effective, and fast. There isn't much more you can ask for from a filtering solution.
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Sophos
Sophos has been a much easier product to configure and eventually manage, with preset rules and policies to start off right out of the box, saving administrators time from adding every category and or site. However you can add/import all know good company sites (internal url's) as well as local sites for a safer settings. (know sites)
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Return on Investment
Fortinet
  • We can be confident staff cannot inadvertantly or deliberately access websites that contain porn, or other non-safe for work content
  • We can be confident staff cannot inadvertantly or deliberately access harmful and malicious websites
  • We can be confident data leakage is minimised
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Sophos
  • Super positive impact, the Sandstorming Add On, it increases protection at it's maximum level (for new or existent/variant threats).
  • Customers often have the need of a system capable of report everything that the network is being handed, Sophos Web Content Filtering achieves this.
  • The ROI is very fast since top management quickly see results on filtering and reporting of what is really going on within their networks.
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ScreenShots