Industries we serve

Industries We Serve

Every sector filters the web for different reasons: guest Wi-Fi in a hotel, client confidentiality in a law firm, plant networks in a factory. The category data underneath is the same, and that is what we license.

We supply the URL categories that firewall, DNS, secure web gateway and MSP vendors build into the filters these industries run.

One database, every sector

120Mcategorized domains

59web filtering categories

703IAB Content Taxonomy v3 categories

~300knew domains categorized daily

How category data serves an industry

The filter an organisation buys turns our categories into policy. Four things change from sector to sector, and each depends on the quality of the data.

Which categories to block

A casino resort and a bank treat Gambling very differently. The category must be accurate either way.

Where filtering runs

Guest Wi-Fi, office LAN, plant floor, fleet tablets or remote laptops. Our files run in DNS, proxy, agent and firewall products.

Which rules apply

Sector rules and standards set expectations for access control, logging and data protection.

What gets reported

Boards, auditors and insurers want category-level evidence, not raw URL lists.

Ten industries in detail

For each sector below: the filtering needs we see most often, the categories that matter, and the compliance hooks that shape policy. Rules change, so always check the current version of any law or standard.

Restaurants and hospitality

Hotels, restaurant groups, cafes, resorts and venues offering guest Wi-Fi.

Typical filtering needs

Family-friendly guest Wi-Fi without heavy login friction
Keeping streaming and file sharing from choking shared bandwidth
Locking down booking, kitchen display and payment terminals
Staff devices limited to work tools during shifts

Relevant categories

AdultMalware / Phishing / SuspiciousFile Sharing/P2PStreaming MediaRestaurants & DiningTravelFood & Drink

Allow Travel and Restaurants & Dining so guests can reach airlines, maps and menus.

Compliance hooks

PCI DSS for networks that touch card payments
Local rules on public Wi-Fi and harmful content where children may connect
Data protection law for any guest login data

Retail

Store chains, e-commerce operations, franchise networks and shopping centres.

Typical filtering needs

Point-of-sale and back-office machines allowed only to business sites
Seasonal and temporary staff on shared devices
In-store customer Wi-Fi that reflects the brand
Blocking phishing aimed at store managers and buyers

Relevant categories

Malware / Phishing / SuspiciousParked / For-Sale DomainsGamblingShoppingMarketplaces / Classifieds / AuctionsAdvertising/Marketing

Marketing and merchandising teams often need Shopping and Marketplaces open for competitor research.

Compliance hooks

PCI DSS scope reduction by limiting what POS devices can reach
Consumer data protection rules for loyalty and Wi-Fi sign-up data
Acceptable use policy for staff, signed at onboarding

Insurance

Insurers, brokers, claims handlers and agencies holding personal and health data.

Typical filtering needs

Stopping credential phishing aimed at agents and adjusters
Controlling uploads to personal cloud storage
AI tool governance so policyholder data is not pasted into unapproved tools
Claims staff still able to research medical and legal sites

Relevant categories

Malware / Phishing / SuspiciousVPN / Proxy / AnonymizersCloud Storage / File HostingAI / LLM ToolsHealth & MedicineAutomotive & Transportation

Motor and property claims teams rely on Automotive & Transportation and Real Estate sites daily.

Compliance hooks

NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation (23 NYCRR 500) for insurers licensed in New York
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act safeguards in the US
DORA for EU insurers, which covers ICT risk management

Legal

Law firms, in-house legal teams, courts support services and legal process providers.

Typical filtering needs

Protecting client confidentiality from phishing and data leaks
Researchers who must read content on drugs, weapons and violence for cases
Controlled access to AI drafting tools
Policy that follows lawyers working from home and court

Relevant categories

Malware / Phishing / SuspiciousFile Sharing/P2PAI / LLM ToolsGovernment & LegalCloud Storage / File HostingNews/Media

Litigation teams often need an exception group for sensitive categories during discovery work.

Compliance hooks

ABA Model Rule 1.6(c): reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of client information
Bar and regulator guidance on technology competence and AI use
Client security questionnaires and outside counsel guidelines

Fintech

Payment firms, neobanks, lending platforms, crypto services and wealth apps.

Typical filtering needs

Engineering teams that need code hosting and developer tools open
Blocking anonymizers that hide data exfiltration
Fraud teams researching scam and phishing sites safely
Category data inside the product itself, for link scanning or merchant risk

Relevant categories

VPN / Proxy / AnonymizersMalware / Phishing / SuspiciousCryptocurrencyDeveloper Tools / Code HostingRemote Access ToolsGambling

Merchant onboarding teams use Gambling, Adult and Cryptocurrency labels to flag higher-risk sellers.

Compliance hooks

PCI DSS for card data environments
SOC 2 controls requested by partner banks and enterprise clients
DORA for in-scope EU financial entities; GLBA in the US

Manufacturing

Factories, industrial suppliers, automotive and electronics producers.

Typical filtering needs

Plant floor workstations allowed to reach only vendor and update sites
Stopping remote access tools from opening paths into OT networks
Protecting designs and trade secrets from upload to personal storage
Shared terminals used by shift workers

Relevant categories

Remote Access ToolsMalware / Phishing / SuspiciousFile Sharing/P2PCloud Storage / File HostingBusinessComputers & Technology

An allow-list built from Business and Computers & Technology suits machines that should barely browse.

Compliance hooks

IEC 62443 and NIST SP 800-82 guidance for industrial control system security
CMMC for suppliers to the US Department of Defense
NIS2 for in-scope EU manufacturers

Energy

Utilities, oil and gas, renewables operators and grid service companies.

Typical filtering needs

Strict browsing limits near control systems and substations
Field crews on rugged tablets in remote locations
Fast blocking of newly registered phishing domains aimed at the sector
Blocking anonymizers and remote access on operational networks

Relevant categories

Malware / Phishing / SuspiciousRemote Access ToolsVPN / Proxy / AnonymizersParked / For-Sale DomainsScienceGovernment & Legal

Engineering teams need Science and Government & Legal open for standards, permits and weather data.

Compliance hooks

NERC CIP standards for the North American bulk electric system
TSA security directives for US pipeline operators
NIS2 for EU energy entities

Transportation

Logistics firms, airlines, rail operators, ports, fleets and public transit.

Typical filtering needs

Driver and crew tablets limited to routing, logs and dispatch
Passenger Wi-Fi on trains, buses and planes that stays suitable for families
Depot and warehouse terminals shared across shifts
Phishing aimed at freight booking and payment staff

Relevant categories

AdultMalware / Phishing / SuspiciousStreaming MediaAutomotive & TransportationTravelGaming

Passenger networks often limit Streaming Media by bandwidth instead of blocking it.

Compliance hooks

NIS2 for EU transport entities in air, rail, water and road
TSA cybersecurity requirements for certain US rail and aviation operators
Public Wi-Fi content expectations set by transit authorities

Nonprofit

Charities, foundations, community organisations and youth programmes.

Typical filtering needs

Simple, low-maintenance filtering on tight budgets
Shared devices used by volunteers and visitors
Safe browsing in youth, shelter and community centre settings
Protecting donor data from phishing and fake invoice scams

Relevant categories

AdultMalware / Phishing / SuspiciousGamblingHate/DiscriminationSocial NetworkingReligion & Spirituality

Advocacy groups often need Political and Religion & Spirituality open for their own work.

Compliance hooks

PCI DSS for online donation pages and card processing
Safeguarding policies where children or vulnerable adults use devices
Data protection law for donor and beneficiary records

Pharmaceuticals

Drug makers, biotech labs, contract research and pharmacy chains.

Typical filtering needs

Researchers who must read drug and chemistry content without being blocked
Protecting research data and trial information from leaks
AI tool controls for teams working with unpublished data
Validated lab systems kept off the open web

Relevant categories

Malware / Phishing / SuspiciousFile Sharing/P2PIllegal DrugsHealth & MedicineScienceAI / LLM Tools

Multi-category ranking stops medical and chemistry sites being blocked as Illegal Drugs.

Compliance hooks

FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and GxP expectations for computerized systems
HIPAA where patient health information is handled in the US
NIS2 for in-scope EU pharmaceutical manufacturers

Category policy at a glance

A quick comparison of how the ten sectors above usually treat a few categories that cause the most debate. These are typical starting points, not rules.

Industry	AI / LLM Tools	Social Networking	Streaming Media	Remote Access Tools
Restaurants and hospitality	Allow on guest Wi-Fi	Allow	Bandwidth limit	Block on guest Wi-Fi
Retail	Approved tools only	Marketing teams	Limit in stores	IT only
Insurance	Approved tools only	Allow, monitor	Limit	IT only
Legal	Approved tools only	Allow	Limit	IT only
Fintech	By team	Allow	Allow	Engineering and IT
Manufacturing	Office only	Office only	Block on plant floor	Block on OT networks
Energy	Office only	Office only	Block near operations	Block on OT networks
Transportation	Office only	Passenger Wi-Fi only	Bandwidth limit	Block on fleet devices
Nonprofit	Allow, monitor	Allow	Limit on shared devices	IT only
Pharmaceuticals	Approved tools only	Allow, monitor	Limit	Block on lab systems

Category names in firewalls and gateways differ from ours.

Five network settings, five filtering profiles

Across the ten industries, the same five network settings come up again and again. Each one calls for a different filtering profile, even inside a single company.

Guest and public Wi-Fi

Hotels, stores, transit and nonprofits. Block adult and malicious sites, limit heavy streaming, keep everything else open. DNS filtering is the usual fit.

Office network

Every sector. Security categories blocked, productivity categories limited by group, AI tools managed by an approved list.

Operational technology

Factories, energy and transport control rooms. Allow-list only: vendor update sites and a short list of business tools.

Field and fleet devices

Drivers, field crews and store staff. Locked to the apps and sites the job needs, with policy enforced by an agent or mobile management.

Remote laptops

Lawyers, brokers and analysts working from anywhere. Policy follows the device through an agent or cloud proxy.

What every industry asks of category data

Sector needs differ, yet the questions buyers put to filter vendors are strikingly similar. These are the ones our data is built to answer.

Question from the sector	What the data provides
Will new phishing sites be caught before staff click?	About 300,000 newly registered domains categorized every day, rechecked after a week and after a month.
Will our niche suppliers and regional sites be known?	120 million categorized domains, well beyond the 20 million most visited that cover 99.99% of traffic.
Can researchers reach sensitive topics without opening everything?	Several ranked categories per domain, so a medical or legal site is not treated like the topic it covers.
Can we control AI tools by type?	An AI / LLM Tools category plus a set of 16,000+ AI tool domains in 18 categories, updated daily.
Can we prove the filter works?	Regular manual validations measure accuracy, with validation reports available to licence holders.
Can it run inside our own systems?	Downloadable CSV, Parquet and JSON files that run on-premise, including air-gapped networks, plus a lookup API.

Need finer topic labels for advertising, media or content analysis? The same file carries the IAB Content Taxonomy, with 703 categories in version 3. See our category taxonomy page.

More industries with their own pages

These sectors have detailed pages of their own, with deeper policy and deployment notes.

Finance and health

Banking web filteringData loss, phishing and regulator expectations for banks. Healthcare web filteringClinical access needs next to patient data protection.

Public sector and security

Federal government web filteringAgency networks and federal security frameworks. State and local governmentMunicipal offices, public libraries and citizen Wi-Fi. Military and defenseStrict policy for defense networks and contractors. Law enforcementInvestigators who need controlled access to risky content. Cybersecurity companiesCategory data inside security products and SOC tools.

Education

Higher education web filteringOpen research networks with targeted security controls.

Service providers and technology

ISP web filteringNetwork-level and subscriber filtering for internet providers. MSP web filteringMulti-tenant filtering for managed service providers. SaaS web filteringCategory data embedded in software products. TelecommunicationsCarrier-grade filtering for mobile and fixed networks. Media web filteringBrand safety and newsroom access needs.

Workplaces

Corporate web filteringEnterprise policy, reporting and governance. Small business web filteringSimple, affordable protection for small teams. Remote workforcePolicy that follows staff off the office network.

Who licenses our data for these industries

The organisations above rarely license data directly. They buy filters from vendors and providers who do, and those vendors embed our categories.

Firewall and gateway vendors

Use the categories as the URL filtering engine in their appliances and cloud services. See OEM licensing.

DNS filtering providers

Load the database into resolvers, with RPZ and list exports for licensed customers.

MSPs and telecom groups

Offer filtering to many client sectors from one platform. One of Europe's largest telecom groups is among our licence holders.

Browser isolation and SaaS

A large virtualization and browser isolation vendor uses our categories to decide which sites to isolate.

Want to understand the full product first? Start with the web filtering database overview or the list of web filtering categories.

For vendors: turning sector needs into product presets

Vendors who serve several industries often ship sector presets on top of our categories. A simple four-step path keeps those presets honest and easy to maintain.

Pick the sectors

Choose the industries your customers come from and list the network settings each one runs.

Map categories to actions

For each sector, mark every category as block, limit, monitor or allow. The tiles above give a starting point.

Test on real traffic

Run a pilot customer from each sector in monitor mode and review what would have been blocked.

Review each quarter

New categories of risk, such as AI tools, appear fast. Revisit the presets on a fixed schedule with your customers.

Presets live in your product, not in our data, so your team stays in control of the defaults your customers see.

Questions about industries

Do you sell web filters to businesses in these industries?

No. We license URL category data to the vendors, MSPs and service providers who build and run filters for these industries.

Are there industry-specific categories?

The 59 categories are the same for every industry. What changes is which categories a policy blocks, limits or allows, and the IAB Content Taxonomy adds finer topics where a sector needs them.

Does using your data make a business compliant?

No data set makes a business compliant on its own. Category data supports the technical controls that regulations and standards ask for; each organisation must check the current rules that apply to it.

Build filtering for your industry customers

Tell us which sectors your product serves and how it deploys. We will show how the categories fit. Starter database tiers from $999; enterprise and OEM licences are quoted per deployment.

Talk to us