> Source: [sk182184](https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk182184)

# sk182184 - URL Filtering - Category "Risk"

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Solution ID | sk182184 |
| Date Created | 2024-04-09 |
| Last Modified | 2025-01-16 |
| Technical Level | General |
| Products | Security Gateway |
| Versions | R82.10, R82, R81.20, R81.10 (EOS), R81 (EOS) |
| OS | Gaia |

## Solution

### Overview

When a user on an internal network connects to a URL through a Security Gateway with the enabled URL Filtering Software Blade, the Security Gateway inspects the URL before it allows this connection:

1. The Security Gateway sends the URL to the URL Filtering Categorization Service to get the assigned category.
2. The Security Gateway allows or block this connection based on the configured Access Control Policy.

The URL Filtering Categorization Service assigns these categories to each URL:

1. The primary category (for example, "Search Engines / Portals", "File Storage and Sharing")
2. The risk level (starting in April 2024):
   * Critical Risk
   * High Risk
   * Medium Risk
   * Low Risk
   * Very Low Risk

The risk level is an additional category you can use in the Access Control Policy.

For example, URLs that contain malicious content have the "High Risk" category, and URLs that contain benign or safe content have "Low Risk" or "Very Low Risk" category.

### Important Notes

URLs that have the "Low Risk" or "Very Low Risk" category are considered safe.

We do **not** recommend to configure your Access Control Policy to block access to URLs **only** based on the category "Low Risk" or "Very Low Risk" because this would block access to multiple common URLs (such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on).

### Notes

* You can see the URL Filtering Categorization Service at: [URL Categorization page](https://urlcat.checkpoint.com/urlcat/main.htm)  
  Related SK: [sk98489 - How to resolve URL miscategorization](https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk98489)
* For more information about URL Filtering, see:
  * [Security Management Administration Guide](https://support.checkpoint.com/product/184#f-commonsource=C.%20Documentation) for your version \> Chapter "Creating an Access Control Policy" \> Section "Creating Application Control and URL Filtering Rules"
  * [sk92743 - ATRG: URL Filtering](https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk92743)

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