Glossary > Whitelist
A whitelist is a list of trusted entitiesâIP addresses, email addresses, or applicationsâallowed access to a certain system or network, while everything else is denied.
A whitelist is just like a guard that lets in only pre-approved, trusted entities into a system or network. Itâs like a VIP list for your e-mail or network security. It ensures that only those you trust get in. For example, in an email filtering technique, you maintain a list of accepted email addresses, allowing only emails from those addresses to reach your inbox while filtering out all others. Such a proactive approach goes on to protect you from spam, malware, and phishing attacks. Whitelisting, on the other hand, does the opposite. It will only allow those that you have explicitly trusted and does not block out all of the rest of the previously known threats.
Whitelisting presents an extra stage of security by allowing only depended-on resources to be accessed. For example, an agency that has its internal network whitelisted would require connection to its servers through unique IP addresses. This technique significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access and proves useful in high-security environments, such as banks or government agencies, where safeguarding essential information and controlling access is crucial.
Whitelisting works by maintaining a list of authorized entities that are allowed access to a system or network. A web application, for example, might have a whitelist that would allow only specific IP addresses into the admin panel and reject all others. As a result, you must continuously update this list with new trusted entities and remove those that are no longer needed. You can do this at the network security level, including firewalls, and at the application security level, including software permissions, to provide a strong defense against unauthorized access.
What is the difference between a whitelist and a blacklist?
A whitelist permits only allowed entities, while a blacklist blocks some known bad/unwanted entities.
Is the whitelist configurable?
Yes, for sure. You can configure the whitelist with IP addresses, email addresses, applications, or any other entities you want to trust.
What are some common uses of whitelisting?
Email filtering, network security, software access control, and website management use whitelisting as one of their often-utilized components to ensure that only trusted entities can interact with the subject systems.
Whitelisting explained: How it works and where it fits in a âŚ
Whitelisting vs Blacklisting: Whatâs the Difference?
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