SWIFT: A Secure Web Domain Filter in Hardware

The risk of becoming a victim of spam and phishing attacks increases in today's Internet. Various Web sites exhibit violent or illegal content. Unfortunately, many users are not able to protect themselves and their networks. Already now, some countries deploy systems to filter Web content. However, the existing solutions show high latency or over blocking. Thus, a novel Web filtering concept to protect users at the Internet service provider level is presented. The proposed system is able to detect and block illegal and threatening Web sites. The suggested scalable hardware-based approach can examine Internet domains in wire speed without over blocking. The Web filter serves as security measure for all connected users, especially for users with limited IT expert knowledge. The system is fully transparent for all network devices. Setup and maintenance can be made only by the Internet service provider administrator. Consequently, the suggested security system itself is safe from attacks from users and from the network side.