While training users to recognize scams and practice good online security practices is important, cyber criminals always find new ways to attack organizations. Secure web gateways (SWG) help to keep them out by analyzing internet traffic to and from internal networks. A SWG may be a software solution, a virtual appliance or hardware that sits along the network perimeter. It inspects incoming and outgoing traffic, using company policies to make decisions.
Malware Detection and Prevention
A Secure Web Gateway provides a crucial barrier between a cyber attack and your organization’s data. With more and more threats launched through URLs, a SWG can help prevent your staff from visiting hazardous websites. For example, social networking sites account for 8.71% of malicious URLs that cybercriminals impersonate in their attacks. Employees visiting these fake sites may be redirected to harmful ones that can hijack browsers and capture confidential information. To protect against malware, SWGs scan network traffic and examine file attachments to find malicious code. SWGs also have a range of features, such as URL filtering, which filters out known unsafe websites, and sandboxing, which runs potentially malicious code in a controlled environment to see how it behaves. Other popular features include anti-malware protection, which finds and removes malware within Internet traffic or files that have been uploaded, and data loss prevention (DLP), which prevents sensitive or unauthorized data from leaving the network.
As the workplace becomes more distributed, vendors like Versa Networks help enforce security policies for workers wherever they are – even when working remotely or using mobile devices through SWG. Next-generation SWG combines key capabilities, such as SWG+CASB+DLP, into a single platform to provide real-time, granular control of thousands of managed and unmanaged cloud apps and web content to block malicious activity and enforce the business policy.
Access Control
A secure web gateway (SWG) is a network firewall that protects the enterprise against cyber threats launched through websites and cloud-based applications. It inspects web and application traffic from the endpoint to the Internet or the corporate network and from the Internet back to the endpoint, thereby preventing sensitive data leaks and keeping malware and other malicious code from entering the network.
To function, a gateway must be placed in line with all web and DNS traffic between internal endpoints and the Internet, encapsulating the requests and responses on behalf of each client device. A gateway checks each proposal against Akamai’s real-time threat intelligence and identifies suspicious URLs early in the kill chain to stop zero-day attacks before they cause damage.
The gateway also scans encrypted* HTTPS traffic for malicious code, content, and sites that could compromise the integrity of an organization’s business data or systems. Some SWGs include native or built-in data loss prevention (DLP) to prevent sensitive company data from being leaked out of the network.
With cyberattacks at an all-time high and the proliferation of remote work that has made it easier for employees to access corporate data from their homes or other locations via unsecured devices on unknown public networks, the role of SWG is crucial. Next Gen SWGs are designed to protect against these risks without slowing workflows or stifling the use of critical apps and tools.
P2P Application Control
As more and more employees work remotely, protecting devices from malware on the Internet or in cloud applications is vital. A Secure Web Gateway (SWG) prevents users from accessing websites that might infect their devices and compromise the corporate network. In addition to URL filtering, SWGs typically use sandboxing, a technique that simulates a user’s environment and executes potentially malicious code to ensure it behaves as expected. SWGs also block phishing and impersonation attacks that target employees with fake websites that look like genuine business, banking or government sites. They prevent sensitive information from leaving the corporate network by preventing employees from visiting fraudulent websites that ask for personal details such as credit card numbers and social security numbers.
Firewalls function at the packet level and rely on signature-based threat detection. SWGs, however, inspect data at the application level and provide specific controls for SaaS business apps such as messaging (iMessage, WhatsApp, etc.), video conferencing services and productivity tools. They also decode SSL web traffic to allow inspection for threats, policy violations and compliance issues. This is because around 50% of cyberattacks are disguised using encryption. In addition, supporting SASE architecture enables a next-generation Secure Web Gateway to perform granular security checks on outbound traffic for unique patterns that might indicate data leaks.
Network Visibility
With cyberattacks at an all-time high and remote work being a reality for many businesses, it’s important to deploy a comprehensive security solution. SWGs are essential to a layered security approach, protecting users and applications from threats. SWGs help companies protect against cyberattacks by providing several security features such as URL filtering, content filtering, malware detection and prevention, phishing protection and data leak prevention. Some gateways also offer SSL inspection and advanced threat defense. In addition, some gateways provide granular control of online traffic, classifying web traffic based on fields and properties such as HTTP(S), application name, etc. This enables policy enforcement by regulatory mandates such as PCI-DSS and European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), enhancing risk management and compliance operations.
As the Internet continues to evolve, cybercriminals develop new techniques to access a company’s sensitive information. One of the most common attack vectors involves tricking employees into visiting malicious websites that appear legitimate and downloading suspicious payloads. This can result in financial loss and damage to a company’s reputation. To combat these issues, a SWG can prevent staff from visiting hazardous sites by using P2P application control to monitor and block all file-sharing programs. This includes applications for sharing music, movies and games and software pirated versions of popular applications.
