Secure Web Gateway Services. Web gateways are software applications that allow businesses to manage their websites from a single location. They provide a range of services such as SSL encryption, password management, and email delivery.
There are several ways to improve the security of your web gateway services. In this article, I’ll show you techniques that will help you achieve this goal.
Best Tips to Improve Secure Web Gateway Services
Keep The Web Gateway Software Up To Date
Web gateways work by intercepting traffic and acting upon it. Therefore, they come under constant attack from hackers who attempt to exploit any vulnerabilities that they may have.
The best way to keep your web gateway up to date is to install security patches whenever they become available.
It’s important to keep your web gateway software up to date because:
Updating the software from time to time helps you install security patches that close some of the vulnerabilities. Security patches are often released for older versions of a web gateway. Because security researchers often find and report these vulnerabilities even for old versions of the software. In some cases, you may not be able to patch these vulnerabilities unless you upgrade your software to the latest version.
Turn Off Remote Administration If You Don’t Need It
Remote administration allows users to log into a web gateway from remote locations and manage it from there. For example, an employee can log into their company’s website from home and check whether everything is working properly from there.
This feature is useful but also poses a risk since hackers can gain access to the web gateway using this feature and use it against you. For example, if a hacker gets admin access to your web gateway then they can do whatever they want with it including:
Accessing sensitive data such as user passwords, credit card details, business information etc…
Hijack your website by placing malicious content on it without you knowing about it! Make changes to the firewall rules which would allow them access to your network!
Use A Network Firewall
To Protect The Web Gateway Server From Hackers And Malware Attacks
Many businesses use network firewalls at the perimeter level (i.e., between their network and the Internet) to protect their network from hackers and malware attacks.
However, there are also many businesses that do not use any firewall at all. These businesses rely solely on their web gateway servers to protect them from hackers. This is a bad idea! Network firewalls are much better at protecting networks than web gateways.
Use A Web Application Firewall
To Protect The Web Gateway Server From SQL Injection AttacksWeb application firewalls are used by many companies today to protect their websites from SQL injection attacks (among other things).
The most popular ones include ModSecurity, WAFarm, CloudFlare WAF, etc…These services can provide you with some protection against SQL injection attacks but only if you configure them correctly and they are updated regularly.
However, web application firewalls will not be able to protect your web gateway server against SQL injections unless they are running inside it (i.e., in-line mode). The reason is that the web gateway is the first point of contact for all traffic that flows through it.
Use A Two Factor Authentication System
To Protect Access To The Administration Console. There was a recent report from Verizon where security researchers found critical vulnerabilities in Ubiquiti Networks’ Unifi Controller software which is used by businesses worldwide to manage their Wi-Fi networks.
One of these vulnerabilities allowed hackers to gain access to business networks by exploiting a weakness in the Unifi Controller software’s default password policy which allowed users to set weak passwords such as ‘admin’ or ‘123456’.