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Whether you’re a one-person operation or a growing business with a full team, we’re here to help. Get in touch and let’s talk about what we can do for you.
Whether you’re a one-person operation or a growing business with a full team, we’re here to help. Get in touch and let’s talk about what we can do for you.
If you run a business in Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham, Swindon, Gloucester, or anywhere across the South West, your staff are accessing the internet every day and not all of it is safe. At We Do Your IT Support, we use web filtering to stop staff from reaching malicious websites, phishing attacks, and risky AI tools before the page even loads.
Web filtering is about controlling internet access in a smart, automated way. It is not about spying on your team’s activity. It is one layer in a wider security stack alongside endpoint protection, email security and data governance.
Web filtering is a security layer that checks every website request against a blocklist and a set of company rules before the page loads. If the destination is malicious, used in phishing, or against your policies, the connection is blocked before anything reaches the device.
To give some scale to the problem: in 2025, researchers identified over 100 million newly observed domains in a single year, with roughly a quarter classified as malicious or suspicious. Fake Microsoft 365 login pages designed to steal login credentials remain one of the most common phishing attacks, while ransomware download sites and command-and-control domains continue to target SMBs.
Web filtering also covers productivity and content policy. Employers use it to restrict non-work-related sites: for example, limiting access to gambling, adult content or high-risk streaming during working hours. It also keeps bandwidth for the work that needs it. None of this has to be heavy-handed; policies can be tuned to your business.
URL filtering allows or blocks access based on website URLs, so you can target specific web pages rather than blocking an entire website.
A traditional firewall protects the network perimeter. It sits at the boundary of your office network and controls what comes in and goes out based on rules: ports, IP addresses and basic traffic types. When everyone worked in the office on the same network, that was often enough.
That is no longer how most businesses operate. Staff work from home on domestic routers, join public Wi-Fi in cafés and use mobile devices from client sites. Once a device leaves the office it is outside your firewall, and clicking a malicious link on hotel Wi-Fi can still reach business data, email and cloud services. Filtering at the DNS or endpoint level travels with the device, so the protection applies wherever someone connects.
Take a salesperson checking work email on their own laptop at a customer meeting. Without an agent on that device there is nothing stopping a harmful site loading. With one, malicious pages and phishing sites are still blocked, without you needing any control over the home router or the public DNS resolver.
Even inside the office, a firewall relying on static rules cannot keep pace with the thousands of new malicious sites created every day. Modern filtering pulls in live threat intelligence feeds, so your protection updates automatically. Unrestricted internet access, whether in the office or out of it, is a security risk no business should accept.
Both DNS filtering and endpoint web filtering are forms of web filtering, but they work at different points in the connection and suit different situations.
DNS filtering works at the point a device looks up a domain name. If the domain is on a blocklist, the connection is refused before any data is transferred. It is configured by changing the DNS settings on your router or firewall, which makes it quick to deploy across a single site. Because it is network-centric, it stops applying when a device moves to home broadband or public Wi-Fi unless that device is locked to the same resolver.
Endpoint web filtering is software installed on each laptop, desktop or server. It controls web access from that device on any network, and it can inspect full URLs, subdomains, browser behaviour and application-level traffic. The protection travels with the device, which is what makes it right for remote and hybrid workers.
| DNS filtering | Endpoint web filtering | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | On the network (router/DNS settings) | On each device (agent installed) |
| Travels with the device? | Only if device DNS is locked | Yes works on any network |
| Granularity | Domain-level blocking | Full URL, subdomain, category, app-level |
| Best for | Fixed office, single-site, shared Wi-Fi | Remote workers, hybrid teams, BYOD, multi-site |
| Setup | Change DNS settings on router | Install agent on each endpoint |
For most SME clients across the South West, We Do Your IT Support favours endpoint-level web filtering. It delivers consistent protection whether people are in Bristol, at home in Bath, or meeting a client in London. It covers internal users and anyone on a bring your own device arrangement, without depending on the office router.
Modern web filtering does more than block a few dodgy websites. It enforces web security, compliance, and acceptable use, including how staff interact with AI tools.
We Do Your IT Support deploys DNS filtering as part of our AI Security Pack for South West SMBs. It is our preferred web filtering solution because it is endpoint-based, requires no on-site hardware, and delivers advanced web filtering without complexity.
Our DNS filtering agent sits on each Windows endpoint and server. Because the agent is on the device, protection follows the user: in the office, at home, or on public Wi-Fi. That is what makes it work for hybrid and remote staff.
The tool blocks by category: malicious websites, phishing, adult content, gambling and unapproved AI tools. Alongside those, you can set allow-lists and deny-lists for individual sites.
Policies can be tailored by role. Marketing might need social media where finance does not. We design these rules in plain English, with sensible defaults and a simple way for staff to request access to a blocked site when there is a good reason.
The blocklist and threat intelligence update continuously, so new phishing domains, C2 domains and malicious adtech are caught without manual tweaking.
There is no appliance to buy or manage. Deployment is done remotely, usually within hours and with minimal disruption.
DNS filtering sits inside a layered approach alongside endpoint protection, email filtering, backup and the data governance tools we already manage for clients. It is one part of a practical stack, not a silver bullet.
Cyber Essentials is the UK government-backed scheme that sets a baseline for cyber security. Many SMBs across the South West certify to win contracts, satisfy procurement or meet insurer expectations.
The requirement, in plain English: boundary firewalls and internet gateways must restrict access to only the services and websites a business needs. Filtering does not replace your firewall. It strengthens the same control, and it gives you evidence. The scheme also brings personal devices and cloud services into scope, which is where network-only controls leave a gap for remote staff. Here is what filtering covers:
Since 2023, tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and dozens of niche AI services have made it easy for staff to paste sensitive data into third-party systems without thinking twice. Gartner predicts 17% of cyberattacks will use generative AI by 2027, and the risk from unapproved AI tool usage is growing just as fast.
Web filtering allows businesses to define which AI tools are allowed (Microsoft Copilot within Microsoft 365, for example) and which are blocked by default, such as personal ChatGPT accounts and consumer AI chatbots. This is done through allow-list and deny-list rules at the domain and subdomain level.
That reduces the risk of staff leaking client data, HR information or financial records into AI tools whose terms, storage locations and data protection standards the business does not control.
Web filtering for business is a control that decides which websites and online services staff can reach, based on safety and company policy, before any web pages load. It blocks malicious websites, phishing pages, malicious content, and inappropriate websites and We Do Your IT Support manages it so business owners do not need technical skills. If a member of staff clicks a phishing link, they see a warning block page instead of the fake login screen. It protects users from accessing websites that could compromise the business, and lets you filter content based on your own acceptable use rules.
DNS filtering works at the DNS level by controlling which domains can be looked up via DNS queries. It uses a specially configured DNS resolver or public DNS resolver to intercept requests across a network, making it effective for fixed offices and simple networks. It operates within an any cast network infrastructure for speed and reliability. Endpoint web filtering runs on each device and makes decisions locally, regardless of the network. It covers laptops, remote workers, and bring your own device arrangements. We Do Your IT Support mainly deploys endpoint-level DNS filtering so web protection follows the device wherever it goes no matter the network.
Yes. Endpoint-based web filtering works wherever the device has internet access home broadband, hotel Wi-Fi, 4G hotspot because the control is on the laptop, not the office router. If a staff member working from home clicks a malicious link in a phishing email, the site is blocked even though they are off the corporate network. This is particularly important for businesses with hybrid working across Bristol, Bath, and remote locations. Cloud-based web filtering provides flexible protection for remote workers and ensures consistent internet security across the business.
Cyber Essentials does not always use the words “web filtering”, but it does require boundary firewalls and internet gateways that restrict access to what is necessary for business. Filtering sits alongside your firewall and is one of the simplest ways to evidence this requirement, especially for remote staff. DNS filtering and supporting security policies can be configured to align with Cyber Essentials expectations. We Do Your IT Support helps with both configuration and the assessment questionnaire.
Yes. Web filtering can block or allow specific AI tools by domain, so businesses can choose to block users from accessing personal ChatGPT accounts or other AI chatbots while allowing Microsoft Copilot or other approved services. This reduces the chance of staff pasting sensitive data into uncontrolled AI platforms, helping protect users and supporting wider AI governance. We Do Your IT Support includes these AI controls in our AI Security Pack, with DNS filtering at the endpoint. It also helps you manage which specific websites are accessible, and block malicious content from AI-adjacent services.
You do not need to buy a new firewall appliance or replace your internet connection to get effective web filtering in place. Cloud web filtering can reduce overall costs by 60% for businesses compared to traditional hardware, and modern solutions are designed for SMBs, not just large enterprises.
Here is how onboarding typically works with We Do Your IT Support:
Ready to take the next step? Contact We Do Your IT Support today to book a Copilot security review or enquire about our AI Security Pack. Whether you are in Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham, Swindon, Gloucester, or anywhere across the South West, we offer both remote and on-site support to get web filtering and AI controls working for your business, with no pressure and no jargon.
