User guide

Proxy Settings
128 Firebox X Edge e-Series
About the HTTP proxy
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a request/response protocol between clients and servers. The HTTP
client is usually a web browser. The HTTP server is a remote resource that keeps or creates HTML files, images,
and other content. When the HTTP client starts a request, it establishes a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
connection on port 80. An HTTP server listens for requests on port 80. When it receives the request from the
client, the server replies with the requested file, an error message, or some other information.
The HTTP proxy is a high-performance content filter. It examines web traffic to identify suspicious content that
can be a virus or other type of intrusion. It can also protect your web server from attacks from the external
network.
With an HTTP proxy filter, you can:
 Adjust timeout and length limits of HTTP requests and responses to prevent the proxy from using too
many network resources and to prevent some types of attacks.
 Customize the deny message that users see when they try to connect to a web site that the HTTP
proxy blocks.
 Filter web content MIME types.
 Block specified path patterns and URLs.
 Deny cookies from specified web sites.
To enable the HTTP proxy, see Enable a proxy
. Then, if you choose, edit the proxy definition as described in
Add or edit a proxy policy
.
On the Outgoing tab, you can set rules that filter traffic based on IP addresses, network addresses or host
ranges. For information about these settings, see Set access control options
.
For information about the settings on the HTTP Settings tab, see:
 HTTP proxy: Proxy Limits
 HTTP requests: General settings
 HTTP responses: General settings
 HTTP proxy: Deny message
 HTTP proxy exceptions
For information about filtering HTTP content using the settings on the HTTP Content tab, see:
 HTTP responses: Content types
 HTTP requests: URL paths
 HTTP responses: Cookies
You can use the HTTP proxy with the WebBlocker security subscription. For more information, see
About WebBlocker
.
HTTP proxy: Proxy Limits
On the HTTP Settings tab, you can adjust the timeout and length limits of HTTP requests and responses. This
stops the HTTP proxy from using too many network resources and can prevent some types of attacks. You can
also customize the deny message that users see when they try to connect to a web site that the HTTP proxy
blocks, and add the IP addresses of web sites that you want to bypass the HTTP proxy.