Encrypted Client Hello’s impact on Web Filtering

Encrypted Client Hello (or ECH for short) is a privacy encryption method that’s been enabled on some websites globally by third parties, which includes a very small percentage of websites used by schools. If a website has ECH enabled, it makes it difficult for N4L’s Firewall to see the information that’s required to block websites and known security threats – meaning that if it was a website (or category of websites) your school has previously asked us to block, it could now bypass our Web Filtering and be accessible for students. 

We’re looking into options to safely disable ECH on our network. In the meantime, if you’re concerned about the impact of ECH there are actions you can take – but these will need to be done by your school or IT provider. Disabling ECH will mean Web Filtering would go back to working as expected for all websites. For more information take a look at our guidance here or reach out to our Customer Support team via [email protected].