A secure web gateway (SWG) filters and blocks cyber attacks. It can also be used to control access to apps and websites. Firewalls can block threats at the network level based on blocklists and static signatures, but they don’t decrypt and inspect SSL traffic. That leaves organizations vulnerable to threats concealed within encrypted traffic.
Detecting Malware
What is the role of SWG security? An SWG security solution can detect malware attacks by monitoring web traffic, applying acceptable use policies, and blocking access to inappropriate websites. This allows organizations to ensure that workers are productive without compromising corporate cybersecurity. In addition to traditional signature-based threat detection, an SWG security system uses machine learning algorithms to identify malware and other suspicious behavior.
This enables them to catch threats that blocklists or other tools may not have previously identified. SWG solutions can also decrypt and inspect encrypted web traffic – including SSL/TLS – to prevent blind spots that can leave the network vulnerable to attack. SWG solutions can also detect data leaving the organization, helping to prevent insider threats and accidental or unintentional data leaks.
They can do this by intercepting outgoing communication that contains sensitive information like security credentials, credit card details, or controlled documents such as engineering drawings. SWG security is often a component of a comprehensive cybersecurity solution that includes a firewall as a service (FWaaS), cloud access security broker (CASB), and data loss prevention (DLP).
A purpose-built zero trust and SD-WAN solution provides advanced threat protection, anti-malware, sandboxing, an SWG, CASB, and DLP under one unified platform for complete visibility and granular control over all web traffic. This helps eliminate the need for multiple-point products and ad-hoc management, which can increase complexity and create a more significant opportunity for cyberattacks.
Detecting Phishing Attacks
SWG Security helps prevent malware and other cyberattacks by detecting and blocking malicious code traffic. It uses signature-based and behavior-based detection technologies and enforces the organization’s security policies. SWG security can also detect phishing attacks, which often include emails or websites that impersonate legitimate sites such as online shopping and banking services.
It also enables organizations to filter out content and websites that may violate corporate policies, such as gambling, pornography, violence, terrorism, and malware distribution sites. Using its deep inspection capabilities, SWG Security can decrypt SSL/TLS sessions and scan the underlying data for signs of malware or other threats otherwise obscured by encryption.
This function is essential because many of the most common malware types now rely on SSL/TLS to evade detection by antivirus engines and firewalls. Most SWG solutions now provide reporting and monitoring functionality, giving security teams visibility into their web traffic, policy violations, and threat activity.
They can also integrate with adjacent security technologies such as zero-day anti-malware and data loss prevention (DLP) to provide better protection and a single pane of glass management for easier monitoring and enforcement. Additionally, they can support a hybrid and multi-cloud security architecture by operating on-premise or in the cloud. This is especially important because centralized firewalls can increase latency and reduce worker productivity.
Detecting Social Engineering Attacks
Sitting in line between users, the web, and software as a service (SaaS) applications, an SWG security solution intercepts every incoming and outgoing internet traffic to inspect it for potential threats or vulnerabilities. Like a security guard checking bags at the airport before passing them onward, an SWG security solution ensures that everything entering and leaving the organization’s network complies with predefined security policies.
The inspection process may include URL filtering, which blocks user access to malicious websites or those that violate acceptable use policies. Some SWGs also offer sandboxing capabilities that run a copy of a suspicious website in an emulated network environment to detect malware.
Other SWGs use content inspection to analyze the data in each incoming and outgoing internet packet to determine whether it is by organizational policy. SWGs can also be integrated with data loss prevention (DLP) solutions to prevent the unauthorized transmission of sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or intellectual property, from the organization’s network via the web. With granular web application control, SWGs can block or limit the usage of specific web apps and widgets based on user roles and departments.
In addition, an SWG security solution can integrate with identity and access management solutions to ensure that only authorized users can access the internet and internal systems. It can also integrate with cloud security technologies to secure the organization’s cloud-based SaaS applications and services.
Detecting Fraud
As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, traditional SWG solutions that rely on hashes and static signatures to detect malware, phishing attacks, and other threats may not be enough. With remote task forces increasing and workers accessing corporate applications over unsecured Wi-Fi, SWG Security can help prevent critical data loss by detecting fraud and other suspicious activities when employees open cloud applications or download files to personal file-sharing accounts.
SWG Security can also help protect against malware delivered via encrypted web traffic. By examining SSL packets, an SWG solution can detect and block suspicious websites that pose as legitimate sites, such as online banking or e-commerce platforms. Some SWG solutions include sandboxing capabilities to run a copy of a suspicious website in an emulated network environment to test for malware and other threats. SWG Security can be deployed independently as a standalone environment or integrated into a cybersecurity platform with CASB, SD-WAN, and zero trust network access (ZTNA) capabilities to form a unified, secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. A SASE architecture provides a powerful defense against a broad range of cyberattacks that could threaten the integrity of an organization’s digital foundation.
