Secure Web Gateway (SWG) protects users and data from advanced internet security threats. They also help enforce internet policy compliance. Next-gen SWGs unify CASB and DLP critical capabilities into one platform. They provide granular control of thousands of sanctioned and shadow IT apps and cloud services, ensuring they comply with security policies.
Security
Secure web gateways are a checkpoint to safeguard the organization from malware and suspicious or malicious website traffic. They also help protect critical and sensitive data from being exfiltrated outside the network. For example, a secure gateway can deny unauthorized files from leaving the network by blocking them on the edge. This is known as zero trust network access.
As an added layer of security, a SWG can help prevent cyberattacks by encrypting web traffic. This makes it hard for attackers to spy on or tamper with data in transit because all they will see is a string of undecipherable scrambled characters. SWGs also use emulation to detect malware by running code in an emulated environment.
A SWG is a must-have for businesses that require employees to work remotely. Attackers target employees working from home or in other locations by launching online pop-ups that mimic legitimate websites and prompt them to enter login information, share data, or download a file. This is often done without the employee’s knowledge to steal personal information or sabotage the company’s reputation.
An SWG can prevent this by blocking unauthorized or unproductive websites and ensuring the most critical applications are available. It can also enforce compliance policies across the enterprise to keep users, data, and the business safe.
Compliance
Secure web gateways are an important part of a layered security solution. They block malware in user-initiated Internet traffic and protect the organization from data breaches. They also help enforce network-related corporate and regulatory policy compliance standards. With the growth of remote task forces, safeguarding organizational data from cyberattacks has become increasingly difficult. These attacks are at an all-time high, with “crimeware as a service” options allowing just about anyone to obtain and deploy sophisticated malware that can disrupt the digital foundation of organizations.
Many of these threats enter the network via unsanctioned software applications, so it’s critical to incorporate a secure web gateway into your cybersecurity program. It monitors web usage 24/7 and protects internal users from malicious apps, preventing them from becoming victims of data breaches and other cyberattacks.
In addition, a secure gateway can inspect encrypted (SSL) and unencrypted traffic. This is crucial because employees are using more and more cloud-based tools to collaborate, and some of these applications have a large share of their traffic in SSL form. With the granular control provided by a secure gateway, it’s easier to manage and enforce policies for users in the office or on the go. For example, some gateways can identify patterns and phrases in outbound data that match social security numbers, credit card information, medical records, or intellectual property. These tools can then detect these patterns and prevent the outflow of sensitive data from the enterprise.
Usability
Secure Web Gateways (SWGs) are security solutions that filter malware encountered in user-initiated web and Internet traffic. They help prevent data breaches and enforce corporate and regulatory policy compliance standards. These technologies may be deployed as software or a physical appliance and can be found in the data center, at the network edge, or in the cloud.
These solutions include URL filtering, malicious code detection and prevention, and application control for popular web-based applications like instant messaging (IM) or Skype. Some also incorporate CASB and DLP functionality as native or integrated features. Because SWGs are positioned between the endpoint and the Internet, they can analyze content at an application layer. This is crucial because evasive threats operating at the application level often bypass traditional firewall defenses. However, SWGs can protect against these attacks by terminating and emulating web browser or application traffic to provide more advanced analysis.
Many SWGs also detect outgoing traffic and check it for patterns of sensitive information such as social security numbers, credit card data, or medical records. Outgoing web traffic can then be blocked by the gateway, which helps to prevent data leaks and theft. Some vendors also incorporate sandboxing capabilities to detonate potentially dangerous payloads from mysterious threats safely. These capabilities make SWG an essential component of the modern security stack.
Cost
A Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is a system that protects an organization’s network from cyberattacks by monitoring, identifying, and enabling only secure Internet access. It also enforces policies based on an organization’s specific data. This granularity allows it to meet compliance requirements such as those of the payment card industry data security standard or the European Union’s general data protection regulation.
A SWG is a software solution or a hardware appliance that resides at the network’s edge and inspects incoming and outgoing web traffic. It uses company policy to determine whether the traffic should be allowed, blocked, or quarantined. The system can also detect unauthorized applications and prevent the leakage of sensitive data from the network.
In addition to preventing cyberattacks, the SWG also reduces costs by improving productivity and reducing the number of false alerts generated by other security products. It also helps to ensure that critical applications are always available. The SWG can also prioritize high-value incidents and apply the appropriate policies.
The SWG also enables enterprises to improve security by protecting users from threats when using cloud applications remotely. This can be done by encrypting all outgoing web traffic and checking URLs against a database of approved websites. The SWG can also perform real-time analytics to localize and prioritize higher-risk applications.
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