How Does Application Control Work?

Application control using App Rules and App Control utilizes SonicOS Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to scan application layer network traffic as it passes through the gateway and locate content that matches configured applications. When a match is found, these features perform the configured action. When you configure App Rules policies, you create global rules that define whether to block or log the application, which users, groups, or IP address ranges to include or exclude, and a schedule for enforcement. Additionally, you can create App Rules policies that define:

• Type of applications to scan
• Direction, content, keywords, or pattern to match
• User or domain to match
• Action to perform

The following sections describe the main components of App Rules:

• About App Control Policy Creation
• About App Rules Policy Creation
• About Match Objects
• About Application List Objects
• About Action Objects