Exceptions

Exceptions allow the default action for a category to be overridden for specified users, groups, and roaming users, and for defined time periods.

Note that Require user authentication is not available for category exceptions, because for an exception to be applied, the cloud service must be aware of the users - they must already be authenticated. If a user has not been authenticated, but wants to access a category that has an exception for a user or a group, the cloud service automatically asks the user to authenticate.

Note: If you set up an Allow exception, note that this overrides only the Block action on URL categories. It does not bypass any other actions, including user authentication and antivirus analysis.

When you select a category, the Category Exceptions section at the bottom of the page shows the number of exceptions applied to that category. If no category is selected, the list shows all category exceptions that have been defined.

On occasion you may want to add users to exceptions for policies they are not yet using or leave users in an exception list for a policy they no longer use. This allows you to set rules for users before they are moved between policies—for example, when policy assignment has been changed in an LDAP directory. If you add an unknown user or if the user belongs to another policy, you receive a message to this effect. You can save rules that include users in other policies as well. These users are shown in the exception list with a red asterisk.

The exceptions table provides the following summary information about each rule:

  • The name assigned to the rule.
  • The category or categories to which the rule applies. If there are multiple categories in the exception, click the link to see the category list.
  • The users and groups to which the rule applies. If none are shown, it applies to all users of the policy.
  • The time period to which the rule applies.
  • The action for the rule, and whether it applies only to roaming users.
  • The state of the exception rule - on or off. You can change the rule’s state in this table by clicking the State switch.