List of Website URL Categories – Master Database

URL CATEGORIES

URLs are categorized into the Websense Master Database in accord with the following definitions. Websense utilizes a combination of proprietary classification software and human inspection techniques, both for initial categorization and in its program of quality review.

Suggestions for changes to the database may be submitted through the Suggest a URL form.

URL Category Datasheet
Baseline URLs
Bandwidth Categories (also known as Bandwidth PG)
Productivity Categories (also known as Productivity PG)
Websense Security Filtering (also known as Security PG)

Baseline URLs

Abortion
Sites with neutral or balanced presentation of the issue.
- Pro-Choice -- Sites that provide information about or are sponsored by organizations that support legal abortion or that offer support or encouragement to those seeking the procedure.
- Pro-Life -- Sites that provide information about or are sponsored by organizations that oppose legal abortion or that seek increased restriction of abortion.
Adult Material
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Adult Content -- Sites that display full or partial nudity in a sexual context, but not sexual activity; erotica; sexual paraphernalia; sex-oriented businesses as clubs, nightclubs, escort services; and sites supporting the online purchase of such goods and services.
- Lingerie and Swimsuit -- Sites that offer images of models in suggestive but not lewd costume, with seminudity permitted. Includes classic 'cheese-cake,' calendar, and pinup art and photography. Includes also sites offering lingerie or swimwear for sale.
- Nudity -- Sites that offer depictions of nude or seminude human forms, singly or in groups, not overtly sexual in intent or effect.
- Sex -- Sites that depict or graphically describe sexual acts or activity, including exhibitionism; also, sites offering direct links to such sites.
- Sex Education -- Sites that offer information about sex and sexuality, with no pornographic intent.
Advocacy Groups
Sites that promote change or reform in public policy, public opinion, social practice, economic activities, and relationships.
Business and Economy
Sites sponsored by or devoted to business firms, business associations, industry groups, or business in general.
- Financial Data and Services -- Sites that offer news and quotations on stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles, investment advice, but not online trading. Includes banks, credit unions, credit cards, and insurance.
Drugs
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Abused Drugs -- Sites that promote or provide information about the use of prohibited drugs, except marijuana, or the abuse or unsanctioned use of controlled or regulated drugs; also, paraphernalia associated with such use or abuse.
- Marijuana -- Sites that provide information about or promote the cultivation, preparation, or use of marijuana.
- Prescribed Medications -- Sites that provide information about approved drugs and their medical use.
- Supplements and Unregulated Compounds -- Sites that provide information about or promote the sale or use of chemicals not regulated by the FDA (such as naturally occurring compounds).
Education
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Cultural Institutions -- Sites sponsored by museums, galleries, theatres (but not movie theatres), libraries, and similar institutions; also, sites whose purpose is the display of artworks.
- Educational Institutions -- Sites sponsored by schools and other educational facilities, by non-academic research institutions, or that relate to educational events and activities.
- Educational Materials -- Sites that provide information about or that sell or provide curriculum materials or direct instruction; also, learned journals and similar publications.
- Reference Materials -- Sites that offer reference-shelf content such as atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, formularies, white and yellow pages, and public statistical data.
Entertainment
Sites that provide information about or promote motion pictures, non-news radio and television, books, humor, and magazines.
- MP3 and Audio Download Services-- Sites that support downloading of MP3 or other sound files or that serve as directories of such sites.
Gambling
Sites that provide information about or promote gambling or support online gambling, involving a risk of losing money.
Games
Sites that provide information about or promote electronic games, video games, computer games, role-playing games, or online games. Includes sweepstakes and giveaways.
Government
Sites sponsored by branches, bureaus, or agencies of any level of government, except for the armed forces.
- Military -- Sites sponsored by branches or agencies of the armed services.
- Political Organizations -- Sites sponsored by or providing information about political parties and interest groups focused on elections or legislation.
Health
Sites that provide information or advice on personal health or medical services, procedures, or devices, but not drugs. Includes self-help groups.
Illegal or Questionable
Sites that provide instruction in or promote nonviolent crime or unethical or dishonest behavior or the avoidance of prosecution.
Information Technology
Sites sponsored by or providing information about computers, software, the Internet, and related business firms, including sites supporting the sale of hardware, software, peripherals, and services.
- Computer Security -- Sites that provide information about or free downloadable tools for computer security.
- Hacking -- Sites that provide information about or promote illegal or questionable access to or use of computer or communication equipment, software, or databases.
- Proxy Avoidance -- Sites that provide information about how to bypass proxy server features or to gain access to URLs in any way that bypasses the proxy server.
- Search Engines and Portals -- Sites that support searching the Web, news groups, or indices or directories thereof.
- URL Translation Sites -- Sites that offer online translation of URLs. These sites access the URL to be translated in a way that bypasses the proxy server, potentially allowing unauthorized access.
- Web Hosting -- Sites of organizations that provide hosting services, or top-level domain pages of Web communities.
Internet Communication
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Web Chat -- Sites that host Web chat services or that support or provide information about chat via HTTP or IRC.
- General Email -- Site that provide email services open to general use.
- Organizational Email -- Log in sites for corporate or institutional email systems.
- Text and Media Messaging -- Sites that enable the sending of messages and other content via SMS, EMS, MMS, or similar protocols.
Job Search
Sites that offer information about or support the seeking of employment or employees.
Militancy and Extremist
Sites that offer information about or promote or are sponsored by groups advocating antigovernment beliefs or action.
Miscellaneous
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Content Delivery Networks -- Commercial hosts that deliver content to subscribing websites.
- Dynamic Content -- URLs that are generated dynamically by a Web server.
- File Download Servers -- Web servers whose primary function is to deliver files for download.
- Image Servers -- Web servers whose primary function is to deliver images.
- Images (Media) -- URLs ending with image filenames.
- Network Errors -- URLs with hosts that do not resolve to IP addresses.
- Private IP Addresses -- IP addresses defined in RFC 1918, 'Address Allocation for Private Intranets.'
- Uncategorized -- Sites not categorized in the Websense Master Database.
News and Media
Sites that offer current news and opinion, including those sponsored by newspapers, general-circulation magazines, or other media.
- Alternative Journals -- Online equivalents to supermarket tabloids and other fringe publications.
Racism and Hate
Sites that promote the identification of racial groups, the denigration or subjection of groups, or the superiority of any group.
Religion
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Non-Traditional Religions and Occult and Folklore -- Sites that provide information about or promote religions not specified in Traditional Religions or other unconventional, cultic, or folkloric beliefs and practices.
- Traditional Religions -- Sites that provide information about or promote Bahai, Buddhism, Christian Science, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Shinto, and Sikhism, as well as atheism.
Shopping
Sites that support the online purchase of consumer goods and services except: sexual materials, lingerie, swimwear, investments, medications, educational materials, computer software or hardware, alcohol, tobacco, travel, vehicles and parts, weapons.
- Internet Auctions -- Sites that support the offering and purchasing of goods between individuals.
- Real Estate -- Sites that provide information about renting, buying, selling, or financing residential real estate.
Social Organizations
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Professional and Worker Organizations -- Sites sponsored by or that support or offer information about organizations devoted to professional advancement or workers' interests.
- Service and Philanthropic Organizations -- Sites sponsored by or that support or offer information about organizations devoted to doing good as their primary activity.
- Social and Affiliation Organizations -- Sites sponsored by or that support or offer information about organizations devoted chiefly to socializing or common interests other than philanthropy or professional advancement.
Society and Lifestyles
Sites that provide information about matters of daily life, excluding entertainment, health, hobbies, jobs, sex, and sports.
- Alcohol and Tobacco -- Sites that provide information about, promote, or support the sale of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products or associated paraphernalia.
- Gay or Lesbian or Bisexual Interest -- Sites that provide information about or cater to gay, lesbian, or bisexual lifestyles, including those that support online shopping, but excluding those that are sexually or issue-oriented.
- Hobbies -- Sites that provide information about or promote private and largely sedentary pastimes, but not electronic, video, or online games.
- Personals and Dating -- Sites that assist users in establishing interpersonal relationships, excluding those intended to arrange for sexual encounters and excluding those of exclusively gay or lesbian or bisexual interest.
- Restaurants and Dining -- Sites that list, review, advertise, or promote food, dining, or catering services.
- Social Networking and Personal Sites -- Sites chiefly devoted to personal expression by individuals (as in diaries or personal blogs) or small groups, often but not necessarily involving multiple links to similar sites.
Special Events
Sites devoted to a current event that requires separate categorization.
Sports
Sites that provide information about or promote sports, active games, and recreation.
- Sport Hunting and Gun Clubs -- Sites that provide information about or directories of gun clubs and similar groups, including war-game and paintball facilities.
Tasteless
Sites with content that is gratuitously offensive or shocking, but not violent or frightening. Includes sites devoted in part or whole to scatology and similar topics or to improper language, humor, or behavior.
Travel
Sites that provide information about or promote travel-related services and destinations.
User-Defined
User-defined category.
Vehicles
Sites that provide information about or promote vehicles, including those that support online purchase of vehicles or parts.
Violence
Sites that feature or promote violence or bodily harm, including self-inflicted harm; or that gratuitously display images of death, gore, or injury; or that feature images or descriptions that are grotesque or frightening and of no redeeming value.
Weapons
Sites that provide information about, promote, or support the sale of weapons and related items.
Bandwidth Categories (also known as Bandwidth PG)
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Internet Radio and TV -- Sites whose primary purpose is to provide radio or TV programming on the Internet.
- Internet Telephony -- Sites that enable users to make telephone calls via the Internet or to obtain information or software for that purpose.
- Peer-to-Peer File Sharing -- Sites that provide client software to enable peer-to-peer file sharing and transfer.
- Personal Network Storage and Backup -- Sites that store personal files on Internet servers for backup or exchange.
- Streaming Media -- Sites that primarily provide streaming media content, such as movie trailers.
Productivity Categories (also known as Productivity PG)
Parent category that contains the categories:
- Advertisements -- Sites that provide advertising graphics or other ad content files.
- Freeware and Software Download -- Sites whose primary function is to provide freeware and software downloads.
- Instant Messaging -- Sites that enable instant messaging.
- Message Boards and Forums -- Sites that host message boards, bulletin boards, and other unaffiliated discussion forums.
- Online Brokerage and Trading -- Sites that support active trading of securities and management of investments.
- Pay-to-Surf -- Sites that pay users to view websites, advertisements, or email.

Websense Security Filtering (also known as Security PG)

Available as an add-on module to Websense Enterprise; included with the purchase of Websense Web Security Suite. Parent category that contains the categories: Malicious Websites, Spyware, Phishing and Other Frauds, Potentially Unwanted Software, Bot Networks, and Keyloggers.

Bot Networks – Sites that host the command-and-control centers for networks of bots that have been infiltrated into users’ computers. Excludes web crawlers.
Keyloggers -- Sites or pages that download programs that run in the background recording all keystrokes, and which may also send those keystrokes (potentially including passwords or confidential information) to an external party.
Malicious Websites -- Sites that contain code that may intentionally modify end-user systems without their consent and cause harm.
Phishing and Other Frauds -- Sites that counterfeit legitimate business sites for the purpose of eliciting financial or other private information from users.
Potentially Unwanted Software – Sites that use technologies that alter the operation of the user's hardware, software, or network in ways that diminish control over the user experience, privacy, or the collection and distribution of personal information.
Spyware -- Sites or pages that download software that, without the user's knowledge, generates HTTP traffic (other than simple user identification and validation).

Additional Categories Only Available With Websense Web Security Suite

Extended Protection

Potentially Damaging Content -- Sites likely to contain little or no useful content
Elevated Exposure -- Sites that camoflage their true nature or identity, or that include elements suggesting latent malign intent.
Emerging Exploits -- Sites found to be hosting known and potential exploit code.