{"id":4896,"date":"2022-01-26T16:39:57","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T20:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/endpoint-security\/?p=4896"},"modified":"2022-01-26T16:40:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T20:40:16","slug":"secure-web-gateway-as-a-game-changer-in-enterprise-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/endpoint-security\/secure-web-gateway-as-a-game-changer-in-enterprise-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Secure Web Gateway as a Game-Changer in Enterprise Security"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Secure<\/p>\n

As part of Solutions Review’s Premium Content Series\u2014a collection of contributed columns written by industry experts in maturing software categories\u2014David Balaban, a computer security researcher with over 18 years of experience in malware analysis and antivirus software evaluation, shares insights on Secure Web Gateway (SWG) technology.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span>The Secure Web Gateway (<\/span><\/span>SWG<\/span><\/span><\/a>) technology has been around for years, but it still raises many questions among corporate IT teams. How does it differ from a conventional proxy server and a Next-Generation Firewall (<\/span><\/span>NGFW<\/span><\/span><\/a>)? Will it become a feature of\u00a0<\/span>Cloud Access Security Broker (<\/span><\/span>CASB<\/span><\/span><\/a>) systems, or is it destined to play a critical role in the increasingly popular Secure Access Service Edge (<\/span><\/span>SASE<\/span><\/span><\/a>) frameworks? What problems do organizations face when implementing SWGs? What are the challenges of SSL inspection<\/span> when dealing with web applications? Let’s try to find out.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SWG Capabilities and Use Cases<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

There is an opinion that a Secure Web Gateway is a fancy marketing term coined to boost the sales of garden-variety proxy servers. However, this is a misconception. SWGs have more features that range from web access security and traffic filtering to commonplace routing, data collection, and analysis. Essentially, it is a security-centric tool for implementing the classic functions of a proxy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When proxy servers emerged to optimize users’ online activities, the data they processed was subject to caching due to low channel bandwidths. Later on, the addition of security mechanisms to the caching functionality gave rise to SWG. These solutions have since absorbed many security features, becoming the “Swiss Army knife” for providing granular, controlled, adequately separated access for corporate users. The minimum features of such a tool include web filtering, malware protection, and application control.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Modern SWGs can incorporate one or more antivirus cores, prevent targeted attacks, and integrate with numerous third-party protection systems, such as Data Loss Prevention (<\/span>DLP<\/span><\/a>) and anti-phishing tools, through readily available APIs. They can also work in concert with endpoint security solutions by instantly reporting information about indicators of compromise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some users can’t grasp the difference between NGFW and SWG since their features overlap in many ways. However, when a complete cycle of web application protection is required, the latter is your best bet. It terminates suspicious HTTP \/ HTTPS connections, allowing for much more detailed analysis and, if necessary, modification of web traffic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Types of Secure Web Gateways Are Out There?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

SWG facilitates the separation of duties between IT and InfoSec. That’s why these systems are prevalent among large companies\u2014however, many examples of their deployment in relatively compact organizations, such as universities. The cloud SWG sector is currently on the rise \u2013 this is primarily due to the growing interest of small companies in such services. There are two categories of cloud-based Secure Web Gateways:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n