How secure is your web gateway? Fighting For Secure Web Gateway: The Samurai Way.
Fighting For Secure Web Gateway: The Samurai Way
Secure Web Gateway is not a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing, daily process of finding and fixing vulnerabilities in your web gateway. How secure is your web gateway?
That all depends on you. It depends on the daily vigilance of your security team, who are busy searching your web gateway for vulnerabilities. Also, it depends on the skills of your developers, who are busy patching up those vulnerabilities.
And it depends on the commitment of your organization at large, who are buying into your security mission. This supports it with their actions and dollars. The web gateway is the face of your security program to the Internet.
It’s what people see when they try to access a protected site or service. This is when they send you a file over FTP or try to access a database, or attempt to log in using SSH. It’s what they see when they’re infected by malware or a virus and report it to you via email.
So, this face must be as welcoming as possible. That it serves as an effective gatekeeper — not just in terms of stopping intruders from getting in.
Legitimate Users Responsibility
But in terms of helping legitimate users do their jobs without friction. That it be secure so that intruders can’t get in on purpose or accidentally. Since that legitimate users can’t intentionally or accidentally cause damage themselves.
The most effective web gateways have all these properties and more: they’re fast. They don’t delay legitimate users for a moment longer than necessary. If someone wants to get into a site or service, they should be able to do so instantly.
They’re transparent. If someone is blocked from accessing a site or service, they should understand why immediately. There should be no need for them to contact a human being for an explanation.
If someone contacts you with questions about access controls, you should have immediate answers for them right there in your Web UI. But not force them to submit a ticket and wait days before hearing back from you. They’re comprehensive.
Best Web Gateways Technologies
The best web gateways are built from a combination of technologies — some old, some new. They work together in concert to create an effective defense against the modern threats you face. There are four key components to this “belt-and-suspenders” approach.
An on-premises component that sits between enterprise resources (like servers and databases). Then the internet makes sure that only authorized users can gain access to them. An online component that sits between your enterprise users and their resources — like Web servers, FTP servers, and databases — gives them secure access.
An active component that sits between your enterprise users and their applications, like Web browsers and email clients. This is making sure they can connect securely to resources without friction or risk. And an automated component that ensures these technologies are always up-to-date with the latest security patches, fixes, and configurations — so you don’t have to worry about it yourself.
You need security engineers who are skilled in Web application development and vulnerability management. Since they can build these systems from scratch and maintain them over time. You need developers who are skilled in high-performance, highly-secure Web application development, and infrastructure management.