Technology

Blocked Web Sites

Last modified 3/21/2023

If a website is determined to be high risk, or marked as malicious by our current firewall policies,  or the site cannot provide that information of how secure it is, it will be blocked.  Some sites are blocked by Illinois State's firewall automatically from previous issues or have been locked administratively. Here's what to do and how to request access to these sites. 

Request Change Through Palo Alto Networks 

To request change and identify if the site is a risk please visit Palo Alto Networks URL filtering - Test A Site

Step 1. Navigate to Palo Alto Networks URL filtering - Test A Site

Step 2.  Copy and paste or type the website into the search bar and check the captcha. 

Step 3. Press search to see the sites information and what category risk it is. See example below: 

Test a Site example screen image

Step 4. If needed, click the Request Change button and get your site's risk reduced and able to get through the ISU net firewall. 


Cisco Umbrella Blocked Sites 

 The Information Security Office is in the process of blocking access to sites deemed malicious. You may get a different web page alerting you of the blocked site depending on the browser used to access it. (See Figure 1). 

Figure 1

If you encounter a blocked page with the ‘Report an Incorrect Block’ link at the bottom, you can use that to prompt a review of the page (See Figure 2).

Figure 2

If the option above in Figure 2 does not appear and you would like to request a review to unblock a page, please contact the Technology Support Center at (309) 438-4357, who can then forward your request for further review. You can also visit ITHelp.IllinoisState.edu and send us a service ticket requesting the page to be reviewed for unblocking.