A whitelist is a cyber security strategy in which pre-approved users, entities, actions, IP addresses, email addresses, domain names, or applications are allowed access to a specific service while others are automatically denied access by default.
Whitelisting is a quick and easy way to safeguard computers and networks from inappropriate materials and potentially harmful threats on the internet.
So, instead of continuously identifying and blocking malicious codes, IT security teams simply identify trustworthy agents, sources, and applications and pre-approve them for access to a given system. At the same time, other unverified entities are denied access.
A good example of whitelisting is when an email spam filter prevents unsolicited email messages or spam from getting to the recipient’s inboxes. However, relevant messages sometimes get blocked, and well-crafted spam messages sometimes slip through, but with the whitelist option within the spam filter, it will have the power to permit what the user wants into the mailbox explicitly.
Benefits of whitelist
If implemented properly, whitelisting can eliminate many cybersecurity problems. It will prevent unauthorised access and reduce the risk of malware infection, spamming, phishing attacks, and cyber intrusion. This will give IT security teams better control over what can run or access their systems. They can spend more time monitoring the approved entities instead of filtering access.
Whitelisting Best Practices
To effectively implement and maintain whitelists, it is best to follow some rules, which are listed below:
- Place users into groups, and they should be in different whitelist categories based on their job functions.
- Document and categorise all whitelist objects to monitor their activities effectively.
- Perform regular whitelist reviews to add or remove entities and apps and keep the list up to date.
- Be as specific as possible when creating a whitelisted object.
- Whitelist only essential or crucial applications and leave out the nonessential ones.