How do I get reports on my company's internet access?

Outside of a specific context, the word "report" brings to mind something few people enjoy analyzing and even fewer create. However, this scenario, contextualized in a corporate environment that requires analyzing internet access, is indeed highly sought after, especially by managers and IT professionals.

On the one hand, technology professionals seek a way to generate statistics and figures visible to their managers, attempting to "prove" that time wastage and malware infections on company computers stem from access that shouldn't be allowed. On the other, managers want to be aware of the company's internet usage and try to identify problems with wasted internet time using access reports.

In this article, you'll learn why companies should obtain and analyze internet access reports and also learn a simple and easy way to obtain this information.

Reasons to obtain internet access reports

There are countless reasons why companies seek out tools that offer internet access reports. Most of them are linked to the desire to increase productivity and security within the company's internet. But there are other reasons, as you'll see in the following sections.

Slowness in the company network

Unauthorized access and computers infected with malware degrade network performance and can delay or even make tasks impossible for many or all employees who use the company's network on a daily basis.

Companies experiencing slow network speeds look for reports to identify which devices are consuming all of their internet bandwidth, for example.

Lack of focus and wasting time on the internet

In environments where the internet is used extensively to perform work tasks, it is common for it to be used for other purposes, such as accessing social networks , messaging applications, videos, music, news, among many others.

Given this, it's natural for managers and IT professionals to look for access reports to identify which sites outside their scope of work are being accessed and then block them in some way.

Excessive cost of equipment maintenance

We know that not all companies have one or more IT professionals. These companies typically hire third-party maintenance professionals when necessary to reduce costs. However, when the internet is used inappropriately, equipment maintenance costs can be higher than having a full-time professional on-site.

Furthermore, infected computers cause damage to the systems used by the company to perform its daily work, in addition to leaving the company's data vulnerable to cyberattacks, which can cause high maintenance costs in the case of malware, or even lead to the blocking of operations for an indefinite period in cases of cyberattack.

Benefits of access reports

Imagine being able to quickly visualize your company's entire internet usage landscape and understand various aspects that were previously "unclear." What information would you like to know first?

Well, many wouldn't know exactly what to answer, but the benefits and possibilities are many, and perhaps you can find out how to answer this question more easily after reading the text below.

Perception of team time wastage on the internet

By implementing an internet access management and control solution within your company, you can view important information in access reports.

Perhaps one of the most sought-after features by small and medium-sized business managers is a report on which websites are being accessed. This allows them to identify potential causes of wasted work time online.

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and many others can be consuming your team's attention and focus online while they're working.

Access reports can make it easier to decide which sites should be filtered and which employees or groups of employees will receive different access rules than others, benefiting the team's overall productivity without sacrificing the productivity of those who require specific access.

Identify equipment infected with malware

Comprehensive tools for managing a company's internet can provide reports on access to websites considered harmful, including by device. This reduces the workload of professionals responsible for identifying virus and malware infections and allows them to fix the problem before it becomes more serious.

Furthermore, when identifying which devices are performing this type of access, and then taking appropriate action, the company's data and systems remain protected from cyberattacks and breaches in the company's internet security.

Improved company network performance

As we mentioned earlier, unlimited internet access in the workplace can cause a lot of headaches.

Malware can use the infected device's internet connection to mine digital currencies, corrupt files and systems, and compromise the overall performance of the company's network.

Having a network performance report by device makes it easier to identify which device is infected and makes the network healthy and available for work tasks.

How do I get reports on my company's internet access?

In smaller settings with few devices, access reports can be generated manually or using simpler, free solutions. However, in business environments with multiple devices, users, and departments, internet access management and control solutions are more appropriate, as they provide automatic, customizable reports tailored to business needs.

Some of the most common solutions include Cisco Umbrella (OpenDNS), Lumiun Box , DNS Filter , Fortinet FortiGate , pfSense , and proxying on a Linux server. However, these solutions vary significantly and don't always adapt to the diverse needs of a business environment.

Interface, technical support, reports, and features are decisive factors when choosing an internet access management tool for companies.

Lumiun Box, however, is a Brazilian solution, aimed at small and medium-sized companies, with features and functionalities aimed exclusively at this audience, and also with payment in local currency.

In the following lines, you will see the reports generated by the Lumiun solution and the main characteristics of each one.

Lumiun DNS Reports

Lumiun DNS offers a comprehensive set of reports that allow you to monitor and analyze internet usage on your network, aiding in security and access control. These reports are accessible through the control panel, in the "Reports" section, and are divided into three main categories:

1. Statistics: In this section, you get an overview of your internet usage, including:

• Request Volume: Graphs showing the number of requests released and blocked over time.
• Most Visited Domains: List of the websites most visited by users.
• Most Blocked Domains: Identification of the sites that had the most blocked access attempts.
• Most Active Filters: Information about which filters or applications are blocking the most access.

These statistics allow us to identify usage patterns and potential threats to network security.

2. Logs by Period: Here, you can generate detailed reports for specific periods, up to 7 days within a 60-day range. These logs can be exported in CSV format, facilitating analysis and sharing of information.

3. Real-Time Logs: This feature allows you to monitor DNS requests made on your network in real time. It's useful for identifying unwanted access or unexpected blocks, enabling immediate action.

In addition to these features, Lumiun DNS offers:

• Data Export: Ability to export reports in PDF or CSV formats for external analysis or presentations.
• Custom Filters: Apply filters by location, period and type of request (released or blocked) for more precise analysis.
• Internal Device Identification: When configured correctly, it is possible to identify the internal IP addresses of the devices that made each request, providing greater control and security.

These features make Lumiun DNS an effective tool for monitoring and managing internet usage in corporate environments, contributing to network security and productivity.

Lumiun Box Reports

Lumiun Lumiun Box has a reporting module that helps you save time and find information that can be useful for network security and employee productivity.

Within the Lumiun Boxreporting module, you can view a variety of reports, many of which can be customized to your needs. See some below.

Dashboard

On the first page of the Lumiun Box control panel, the first report can be viewed. It contains statistical data that summarizes the previous day's access, including the number of accesses and blocks, peak access times, harmful sites blocked, and most accessed and blocked sites.

Real-time access

With Lumiun Box you can monitor internet access in real time for all devices and users on the network.

Through an automatically updated table, access requests are displayed, identifying the time, site, equipment, user, and whether the request was approved or blocked.

Devices that access social networks the most

On the Lumiun Boxdashboard, you can view the report of devices that access social networks the most in a given period.

Most blocked sites

In the report, you can see which sites were blocked the most during the specific period.

Devices that make the most requests to harmful sites

In bar format, this security report shows which devices make the most attempts to access malicious websites. This allows you to quickly identify devices that may be infected.

Access report by application

This report provides information about a specific application. In the case below, Facebook, it displays the total number of accesses, total number of blocks, peak access times, the devices with the most access, and much more.

If you suspect that a specific application is disrupting your team's focus, this report can easily answer your questions.

Accesses by period

This report displays a line graph of access request behavior over a given period. It's widely used to define and measure times for blocking and enabling internet access within a company, identifying the most idle periods and peak internet usage.

Traffic speed

This displays the company's average internet download and upload speeds during a specific time slot. This makes it easy to see when the internet is most used and whether this is interfering with task performance.

If there's a spike in consumption, you can click on a specific point on the graph to see in detail which devices caused the spike. This makes it easy to apply a download or upload limit rule to specific groups of devices.

Internet Access Control Guide for Businesses

Throughout this article, you've realized the importance of obtaining relevant information in company internet access reports. However, to generate these reports, you need to use an internet access control tool. With this in mind, we've created the Internet Access Control Guide for Companies , which you can access for free at any time, or download and share with your colleagues and friends.

The Guide covers some topics such as:

• Why control internet access in the company?
• Some solutions
• 5 steps to complete internet access management
• Use cases
• Internet access control for remote employees
• Internet access control for multiple networks from a single panel
• Success stories
• Free Materials

We hope the Internet Access Control Guide for Businesses can help you in some way.

The internet is an extremely useful source of information and a work tool for companies. However, like almost everything, it has its drawbacks. Balancing internet use in the business environment is important and should be part of everyday business practices.

I believe that if you were looking for information about your company's internet access reports, you've identified several possibilities after reading this.

Until later!