A secure web gateway (SWG) is a proxy that intercepts network traffic, analyzing it for compliance with corporate policies. SWGs can be deployed as hardware appliances, software, or a cloud-delivered service. SWGs are increasingly essential to protect employees from cyber threats as the workplace shifts toward remote workforce settings. SWGs offer protection layers, including URL filtering, malware detection, and sandboxing to block zero-day attacks.
Malware Detection
What is SWG in cyber security? A SWG (secure web gateway) monitors all web traffic and enforces centralized security policies to protect users from cyberattacks and threats. It can be a software solution, a cloud-based service, or a physical appliance. It identifies malware and other malicious content using URL filtering, SSL decryption, and application control techniques. SWGs use a database of known lousy website categories and URLs to block access to websites with dangerous codes. They also employ sandboxing to test for malware by running potentially suspicious code in an emulated environment to detect and prevent the release of malicious payloads. Unlike firewalls that function at the packet level, SWGs inspect web traffic at the application level. This provides deep visibility into web traffic and protects against malware that spy, tamper, or hijack applications. SWGs can also decrypt SSL, allowing them to observe and inspect encrypted communication, thereby providing enhanced protection against attacks that hide or encrypt their activity behind TLS encryption.
A key feature of SWGs is that they can block P2P (peer-to-peer) software, which is famous for sharing music, movies, and games but can also be used by hackers to distribute and download illegal content, including malware. In addition, they can perform real-time analytics to identify high-security risk applications and take action to block them or restrict their use.
URL Filtering
A secure web gateway (SWG) uses a proxy server to intercept and analyze Internet traffic passing over it. It also monitors and enforces acceptable use policies for network access. SWGs can be deployed as on-premise appliances or as software in the cloud. Some combine on-premise and cloud-delivered security, including next-generation firewalls, malware protection, phishing detection, and URL filtering in one integrated platform. SWGs inspect real-time web traffic to ensure it doesn’t violate corporate policies and expose the organization to cyber threats. They can block individual URLs or groups of URLs based on keywords, phrases, and their metadata. They can also block websites based on their reputation or security rating. This prevents employees from visiting inappropriate and dangerous websites and reduces the risk of phishing attacks, ransomware infections, and other malware infestation.
Some SWGs also have a sandboxing capability to run malicious code in a controlled environment to test for malicious behavior. This helps reduce false positives, leading to alert fatigue and ineffective rule blocking. And since most malware infections are done by downloading malicious files from the web, SWGs can stop them from entering the corporate network by examining and blocking all inbound and outbound downloads, even those containing hidden payloads. This includes sandboxing of all files and links embedded within emails.
HTTPS Inspection
With cyberattacks at an all-time high and remote workforce putting more data at risk than ever, organizations must ensure a solid layered security strategy. This means implementing solutions like secure web gateways (SWG) that offer various functions, including URL filtering, malware detection, SSL inspection, advanced threat defense, and legacy malware protection. Unlike firewalls, which work at the packet level, secure gateways are inline and stand between all incoming and outgoing web traffic to inspect and monitor in real-time. This helps prevent malware infections, data exfiltration, and other threats from infecting devices and compromising networks.
SWGs perform inbound and outbound HTTPS inspection to examine encrypted traffic. This is achieved by decrypting the data, inspecting the contents, and then re-encrypting it before sending it to its destination. This protects against vulnerabilities that could expose sensitive information, such as a weak certificate. The gateway can also identify data and file patterns that are indicative of a particular kind of threat. For example, it can detect patterns that match social security numbers, credit card details, and medical records to keep sensitive corporate data from being exfiltrated to malicious actors. Ideally, your SWG will integrate with reputable threat intelligence solutions and incorporate this into its rulesets to improve the effectiveness of this functionality. This is particularly important as new threats are constantly evolving and gaining sophistication.
Web Isolation
Whether hardware, software, or a virtual appliance, a secure web gateway (SWG) acts as an organization’s checkpoint for the Internet.
The SWG monitors all incoming traffic and outgoing data to ensure it meets the organization’s security policies. This protects against malware, suspicious and malicious website traffic, and even data exfiltration, preventing sensitive information from leaving the network. SWGs are critical in today’s workplace, especially with the shift toward remote task forces. With most cyberattacks occurring through the Internet, it is vital to have a solid layered security strategy in place for organizations of all sizes. In addition to malware detection, SWGs offer URL filtering and web isolation. The former involves examining a given website or application for threats and allowing or disallowing access based on predetermined security rules. This can be done using a blocklist and content inspection or sandboxing, which tests the code for threats by executing it in an isolated environment to see if it behaves like known malware. Another feature of SWGs is web isolation, which routes potentially risky websites to a remote browser in an isolated virtual environment. This allows the user to view the page in a read-only mode, reducing the risk of downloading malicious objects or files.
How SWGs Work?
SWGs work by intercepting and analyzing all web traffic passing through them. They use a variety of techniques to identify and block threats, including:
- URL filtering: SWGs can block access to known malicious websites by maintaining a database of known bad URLs.
- Malware detection: SWGs can detect malware in web traffic using a variety of methods, including signature-based detection, heuristic detection, and sandboxing.
- Application control: SWGs can block access to certain applications or websites based on corporate policies.
- Data loss prevention (DLP): SWGs can prevent sensitive data from being exfiltrated from the organization by inspecting web traffic for patterns that match sensitive data, such as credit card numbers and social security numbers.
Benefits of SWGs
SWGs offer a number of benefits to organizations, including:
- Improved security: SWGs can help to protect organizations from a wide range of cyberthreats, including phishing attacks, ransomware infections, and data breaches.
- Reduced risk: SWGs can help to reduce the risk of compliance violations by enforcing acceptable use policies.
- Increased productivity: SWGs can help to improve productivity by blocking access to distracting websites and applications.
- Improved visibility: SWGs can provide visibility into web traffic, which can be used to identify and investigate security incidents.
Comparison of SWGs and Firewalls
| Feature | Secure Web Gateway | Firewall |
|---|---|---|
| Inspects traffic at the application layer | Yes | No |
| Can block access to malicious websites | Yes | No |
| Can detect and block malware | Yes | Yes |
| Can enforce acceptable use policies | Yes | No |
| Can prevent data loss | Yes | No |