Firewalls are a critical component of network security, serving as a protective barrier between your internal network and the vast internet. While firewalls are designed to block potentially harmful traffic, they may also restrict access to legitimate URLs, causing disruptions to essential services. Allowing these links in your firewall provides a solution to this issue, allowing specific URLs to bypass the default blocking rules and ensuring smooth and secure access to trusted resources. In this support article, we will guide you through the process of whitelisting links in your firewall and offer best practices to maintain network security.

Understanding Allowlisting

Allowlisting is a security practice that involves creating a list of approved URLs or IP addresses that the firewall permits to access your network. By doing so, you grant these URLs unrestricted access, ensuring seamless connectivity to essential services while maintaining strong security measures.

Importance of Allowing URLs:

Certain web applications, services, or APIs require external connections to function optimally. When these URLs are blocked by the firewall, it can lead to service disruptions, failed updates, or issues with critical features. Whitelisting URLs ensures that these legitimate resources can be accessed without compromising the overall security of your network.

Allowing the URLs:

To Allow the provided URLs in your firewall, follow these steps:

1. Access Firewall Settings: Log in to your firewall management console or interface using your administrator credentials.

2. Locate the Whitelist Section: Depending on your firewall's interface, the term for URL whitelisting may differ. Look for options such as "URL Filtering," "Allowed URLs," or "Whitelist."

3. Add the URLs: Within the whitelist section, add the provided URLs one by one. Be sure to include both "http://" and "https://" versions of the URLs, as some resources require secure connections.

4. Handling Subdomains: For URLs with dynamic components or subdomains (e.g., `widget.intercom.io`), check if your firewall supports wildcards, like "*.intercom.io," to include all subdomains. If not, add each subdomain individually.

5. Save and Apply Changes: After adding all the URLs to the allowlist, save your settings and apply the changes. Your firewall will now allow access to the whitelisted URLs.

Adding Rosalyn’s Essential URLs to Firewall Allowlist

To ensure seamless access to essential Rosalyn services and applications while maintaining network security, we kindly request you to add the following URLs to your firewall allowlist:

Considering Temporarily Disabling the Firewall (Recommended by Rosalyn if URLs malfunction):

Temporarily disabling the firewall should be treated as an exception and performed only under specific, well-defined circumstances. Disabling the firewall removes crucial protection, exposing your network to potential threats.

Note: We recommend temporarily disabling the firewall if whitelisting URLs does not solve the problem.

Allowing links in your firewall is an essential security practice that enables trusted resources to access your network while maintaining robust protection against cyber threats. By following the steps and outlined in this article, you can ensure seamless access to critical services and applications without compromising your network's security. Temporary disabling of the firewall should be approached with extreme caution and performed only when necessary.