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Getting Started > The Forcepoint URL Database
The Forcepoint URL Database
Administrator Help | Forcepoint Web Security and Forcepoint URL Filtering | v8.5.x
Related topics:
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Real-time updates
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Configuring database downloads
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Review Forcepoint URL Database download status
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Resuming Forcepoint URL Database downloads
The Forcepoint URL Database houses the category and protocol definitions that provide the first step in enhancing your Internet security (see Managing access to categories, protocols, and cloud apps).
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Categories are used to group websites (identified by URL and IP address) with similar content.
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Protocol definitions group Internet communications protocols used for similar purposes, like transferring files, or sending instant messages.
With Forcepoint Web Security, the Forcepoint URL Database provides an initial sorting mechanism to help prioritize real-time analysis, as well as many of the names and descriptions that appear in reports on analyzed content.
A limited version of the URL database is installed with Filtering Service, but it is a good idea to download the full Forcepoint URL Database as soon as possible to enable comprehensive policy management and reporting.
To download the Forcepoint URL Database for the first time, enter your subscription key in the Initial Setup Checklist that appears when you first open the Web module of the Security Manager. (If Filtering Service must go through a proxy to perform the download, also configure proxy settings in the checklist.)
The process of downloading the full database may take a few minutes or more than 60 minutes, depending on factors such as Internet connection speed, bandwidth, available memory, and free disk space.
After the initial download, Filtering Service downloads database changes on a schedule that you establish (see Configuring database downloads). Because the Forcepoint URL Database is updated frequently, by default, database downloads are scheduled to happen daily.
If the Forcepoint URL Database is more than 14 days old, your web protection software stops policy enforcement.
To initiate a database download at any time, or to view the status of the last database download, the date of the last download, or the current database version number, go to the Status > Dashboard and click Database Download in the toolbar at the top of the content pane.
Real-time updates
In addition to scheduled downloads of the full database, 2 types of smaller, partial updates occur when needed.
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Real-time database updates
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Real-Time Security Updates™
Real-time database updates
A real-time database update might be used, for example, to recategorize a site that was temporarily miscategorized. These updates ensure that sites and protocols are managed appropriately.
Filtering Service checks for database updates every hour. The most recent updates are listed on the Status > Alerts page (see Reviewing current system status).
Real-Time Security Updates
Real-Time Security Updates provide an added layer of protection against Internet-based security threats. Installing these updates as soon as they are published reduces vulnerability to new phishing (identify fraud) scams, rogue applications, and malicious code infecting mainstream websites or applications.
With Forcepoint Web Security, these updates allow malicious sites to be blocked based on Forcepoint URL Database categorization, rather than real-time analysis, reducing load on the analytic components and potentially improving performance.
Filtering Service checks for security updates every 5 minutes. Because the updates tend to be small, they do not disrupt normal network activity.
Use the Settings > General > Database Download page to enable Real-Time Security Updates (see Configuring database downloads).

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Getting Started > The Forcepoint URL Database
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