Block Search Results When Strict Safe Search Is Off
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Block Search Results When Strict Safe Search Is Off

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Block Search Results When Strict Safe Search Is Off

Enforce safe search by blocking search results for end users on supported search engines until they set the safe search settings to the strictest level.
Where can I use this?
What do I need?
  • Prisma Access (Cloud Management)
  • Prisma Access (Panorama Managed)
  • NGFW (Cloud Managed)
  • NGFW (PAN-OS or Panorama Managed)
Notes:
  • Legacy URL filtering licenses are discontinued, but active legacy licenses are still supported.
  • Prisma Access
    usually include
    Advanced URL Filtering
    capabilities.
If you enable Safe Search Enforcement, the default behavior of the firewall is to block search results for end users searching on Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, or Youtube search engines until they set their safe search setting to the strictest available option. By default, the URL filtering safe search block page displays in their browser. The predefined block page provides a link to the search settings for the search engine used, so that users can adjust the safe search setting. You can customize the safe search block page to meet your organization’s specific needs.
If you plan to use this method to enforce safe search, communicate this policy to your end users before implementing it. If you prefer to automatically redirect end users’ search query URLs to strict safe search versions, then enable strict safe search transparently.
Palo Alto Networks can no longer detect if Google SafeSearch is on due to changes in Google’s implementation. As a result, the firewall cannot enforce safe search using this method. You may still enforce safe search transparently. However, we cannot guarantee that Google will filter out explicit images and content.

Cloud Managed

If you’re using Panorama to manage
Prisma Access
:
Toggle over to the
PAN-OS
tab and follow the guidance there.
If you’re using
Strata Cloud Manager
, continue here.
  1. Enable Safe Search Enforcement in a URL Access Management profile.
    1. Select
      Manage
      Configuration
      Security Services
      URL Access Management
      .
    2. Under URL Access Management Profiles, select an existing profile or
      Add Profile
      to create a new one. Configuration options appear.
    3. Under
      Settings
      , select
      Safe Search Enforcement
      .
    4. Save
      the profile.
  2. (
    Optional
    ) Restrict the search engines that end users can access.
    1. Select
      Manage
      Configuration
      Security Services
      URL Access Management
      .
    2. Under
      Access Control
      ,
      Search
      ( ) for the
      search-engines
      category.
    3. Set Site Access for the
      search-engines
      category to
      block
      .
      In a later step, you’ll create a custom URL category (URL List type) with the search engines you want to allow.
    4. Save
      the profile.
  3. Apply the URL Access Management profile to Security policy rules that allow traffic from clients in the trust zone to the internet.
    To activate a URL Access Management profile (and any Security profile), add it to
    profile group
    and reference the profile group in a Security policy rule.
  4. Create a custom URL category for the supported search engines.
    In the next step, you’ll configure the firewall to decrypt traffic to this custom category.
    1. Select
      Manage
      Configuration
      Security Services
      URL Access Management
      .
    2. Under
      Access Control
      , for Custom URL Categories,
      Add Category
      .
    3. Enter a
      Name
      for the category, such as
      SearchEngineDecryption
      .
    4. For
      Type
      of custom URL category, select
      URL List
      .
    5. Under
      Items
      ,
      Add
      the following entries to the URL list:
      • www.bing.*
      • search.yahoo.*
      • yandex.com.*
    6. Save
      the custom category.
    7. Configure Site Access for the new custom URL category.
      1. Under URL Access Management Profiles, select the profile you configured earlier.
      2. Under Access Control, select the new custom URL category. It appears in the Custom URL Categories section above External Dynamic URL Lists and Pre-Defined Categories.
      3. Set
        Site Access
        to
        allow
        .
      4. Save
        your changes.
  5. Because most search engines encrypt their search results, you must enable SSL Forward Proxy decryption so the firewall can inspect the search traffic and detect the safe search settings.
    Under the
    Services and URLs
    section of the Decryption policy rule, click
    Add URL Categories
    . Then, select the custom URL category you created earlier. New custom categories sit at the top of the list.
    Save
    the Decryption policy rule.
  6. Select
    Push Config
    to activate your changes.
  7. Verify the Safe Search Enforcement configuration.
    This verification step only works if you use block pages to enforce safe search. There is an alternative verification step if you enable safe search transparently.
    1. From a computer behind the firewall, disable the strict search settings for a supported search provider. For example, on bing.com, click the
      Preferences
      icon on the Bing menu bar.
    2. Set the
      SafeSearch
      option to
      Moderate
      or
      Off
      , and click
      Save
      .
    3. Perform a Bing search (or search using another provider) to see if the URL Access Management safe search block page displays instead of search results:
    4. Use the link on the block page to update the safe search setting to the strictest setting (
      Strict
      in the case of Bing), and then click
      Save
      .
    5. Perform a search again from Bing and verify that filtered search results display instead of the block page.

PAN-OS & Panorama

  1. Enable Safe Search Enforcement in a URL Filtering profile.
    1. Select
      Objects
      Security Profiles
      URL Filtering
      .
    2. Select an existing profile to modify or clone the default profile to create a new profile.
    3. On the
      URL Filtering Settings
      tab, select
      Safe Search Enforcement
      .
  2. (
    Optional
    ) Restrict the search engines that end users can access in the same URL Filtering profile.
    1. On the
      Categories
      tab,
      Search
      ( ) for the
      search-engines
      category.
    2. Set Site Access for the
      search-engines
      category to
      block
      .
      In a later step, you’ll create a custom URL category (URL List type) with the search engines you want to allow.
    3. Click
      OK
      to save the profile.
  3. Apply the URL Filtering profile to Security policy rules that allow traffic from clients in the trust zone to the internet.
    1. Select
      Policies
      Security
      . Then, click the rule to which you want to apply the URL Filtering profile.
    2. On the
      Actions
      tab, find Profile Setting. For
      Profile Type
      , select
      Profiles
      . A list of profiles appears.
    3. For
      URL Filtering
      profile, select the profile you created earlier.
    4. Click
      OK
      to save the Security policy rule.
  4. Create a custom URL category for the supported search engines.
    In the following step, you’ll specify that you want to decrypt traffic to the sites in the custom category.
    1. Select
      Objects
      Custom Objects
      URL Category
      and
      Add
      a custom category.
    2. Enter a
      Name
      for the category, such as
      SearchEngineDecryption
      .
    3. Add
      the following entries to the
      Sites
      list:
      • www.bing.*
      • search.yahoo.*
      • yandex.com.*
    4. Click
      OK
      to save the custom category.
    5. Configure Site Access for the new custom URL category.
      1. Go to
        Objects
        Security Profiles
        URL Filtering
        and select the URL Filtering profile you configured earlier.
      2. On the
        Category
        tab, select the new custom URL category. It appears in the Custom URL Categories section above External Dynamic URL Lists and Pre-defined Categories.
      3. Set
        Site Access
        to
        allow
        .
      4. Click
        OK
        to save your changes.
  5. Because most search engines encrypt their search results, you must enable SSL Forward Proxy decryption so the firewall can inspect the search traffic and detect the safe search settings.
    On the
    Service/URL Category
    tab of the Decryption policy rule,
    Add
    the custom URL category you created earlier. Then, click
    OK
    .
  6. Commit
    your changes.
  7. Verify the Safe Search Enforcement configuration.
    This verification step only works if you use block pages to enforce safe search. There is an alternative verification step if you enable safe search transparently.
    1. From a computer behind the firewall, disable the strict search settings for a supported search provider. For example, on bing.com, click the
      Preferences
      icon on the Bing menu bar.
    2. Set the
      SafeSearch
      option to
      Moderate
      or
      Off
      , and click
      Save
      .
    3. Perform a Bing search (or search using another provider) to see if the URL Filtering Safe Search Block page displays instead of search results:
    4. Use the link on the block page to update the safe search setting to the strictest setting (
      Strict
      in the case of Bing), and then click
      Save
      .
    5. Perform a search again from Bing and verify that the filtered search results display instead of the block page.

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