A secure web gateway is a piece of hardware or software that monitors data moving between your network and the Internet (or cloud). It enforces company security policies on employee devices while filtering URLs to prevent breaches.
Cyberattacks are at an all-time high, while remote workforces are a reality for most businesses. With malware as a service option now cheap and easy to obtain, business networks are at serious risk.
Real-Time Monitoring
Unlike firewalls that filter at the network level, secure web gateways offer a centralized security control point. They act as a proxy between internal users and the public Internet, inspecting all incoming and outgoing web traffic to prevent threats like malware infection, cyberattacks, and data loss.
As such, they can enforce policies that limit who, what, where, and when internal users can use their favorite web apps like cloud storage or collaboration tools without compromising the organization’s security stance. This includes limiting the usage of unsanctioned web apps that may contain dangerous code or malware and blocking the downloads of such content.
Additionally, an SWG can inspect web pages for any potentially sensitive information to keep such data out of the hands of external parties. This feature enables it to look for patterns and phrases matching social security numbers, credit card numbers, medical records, intellectual property, and other confidential data. The SWG then blocks the outgoing web page, preventing sensitive data from leaving the company’s network.
Companies like Versa Networks, offer SWG solutions that can interact with trustworthy threat information sources to enhance the rule sets for its security policies. This is crucial because hackers constantly create new dangerous software and attack plans to surpass conventional security measures. By incorporating the latest threat intelligence, an SWG can be more effective at detecting phishing sites and other threats that traditional security solutions might not recognize.
URL Filtering
A secure web gateway provides granular, real-time control over websites and content. Administrators can use filtering databases to match web traffic against known malicious URLs or categories. Depending on the policy, access to a website can be allowed, blocked, or marked with a “caution” action. Administrators can also set duration and bandwidth quotas.
Viruses, malware, phishing, and other threats may hide on seemingly harmless or legitimate websites. A secure web gateway can prevent users from visiting these sites and downloading potentially dangerous payloads. This protects the users’ devices and the organization’s network from infection.
Cybercriminals increasingly rely on fake or compromised websites to gather data or infect devices. These sites can be designed to mimic recognizable brands or government sites, enticing users into providing information like login credentials or credit card details or downloading files that infect the device and network with malware.
A secure gateway can block access to websites that harbor these threats, minimizing productivity impacts and tying up critical network resources. This reduces the risk of liability and improves regulatory compliance. A security gateway can also employ data loss prevention (DLP) functionality. To stop data theft, this inspects outgoing data for specific patterns and phrases that match social security numbers, credit card details, medical records, intellectual property, and other sensitive information.
SSL/TLS Decryption
Many organizations rely on web applications and services, especially cloud-based ones. Secure web gateways (SWGs) can protect against these kinds of threats by inspecting and enforcing policies on traffic between the internal network and the public Internet or cloud-based apps.
For example, when users try to access a file on a popular aggregation website that hosts both benign and malicious programs, your security team can use an SWG to safely inspect the file, figuring out if it poses a threat before allowing it into your network. Likewise, SWGs can help with data loss prevention (DLP) by scanning outbound traffic for patterns that match social security numbers, credit card information, medical records, or intellectual property and blocking it.
Moreover, SWGs that provide SSL/TLS inspection can decrypt and inspect encrypted traffic to identify and block hidden threats. By comparing the encrypted connection to a list of known malware signatures, SWGs can spot and block attacks that attempt to cloak command-and-control traffic or exfiltrate stolen data. SWGs can help protect your organization from cyber threats while enabling a business-critical digital transformation.
Data Loss Prevention
A secure web gateway combines multiple technologies to inspect and protect data from malware and malicious website traffic. It provides a layer of security that is often missing from an organization’s cybersecurity solution.
Located at the perimeter of your network, the SWG sits between internal endpoints and the Internet, allowing policies to determine whether or not traffic is allowed. This enables IT to enforce policies around who, what, and when internal users can access the web, blocking sites that may contain malware, phishing attacks, or otherwise violate company policy.
These tools are essential for businesses, especially when employees work from home or remote locations and use unsecured public WiFi networks to connect to the company network. Attackers know this trend and design online prompts similar to legitimate ones, encouraging users to input their login information or download sensitive files. An SWG with DLP can detect and block unsanctioned web apps that could allow cyber threats to enter the corporate network.
An SWG with full-path URL visibility decrypts and inspects SSL/TLS encrypted traffic, ensuring malicious content cannot evade inspection. It also provides anti-malware protection by analyzing code in Internet traffic and scanning files uploaded or downloaded to prevent infection. Unlike firewalls, which compare incoming traffic against known signatures at the network level, SWGs use multiple techniques to examine and analyze Internet traffic and content in real time.
