Secure Web Gateway On A Shoestring Budget. How much does it cost to get a secure web gateway? There are several options out there, ranging from free to $1,500+ per month. Which option should I choose?
The Internet has become ubiquitous, allowing us to access information at our fingertips. However, this convenience comes at a price. Hackers now have the ability to steal personal data and even take over entire networks. This means that every organization or individual who uses the Internet needs to invest in security measures.
Various measures are there to make a network more secure, including security software, firewalls and virtual private networks. However, all these measures can be bypassed by an experienced hacker. This is why organizations should invest in a Secure Web Gateway (SWG), which protects the intranet from attacks originating from the Internet.
How to choose
The first step when choosing an SWG is to decide how this gateway will be of use. Is it for a single department or for all the employees in the company? The next step is to determine how much money must be on this project.
Finally, it’s essential to identify which features are essential and which ones are optional.
However, before we start discussing each feature and how much it costs, let’s define what a secure web gateway is and what it does.
How does an SWG work?
An SWG acts as a proxy for every Internet user on an organization’s internal network. And ensures that their actions cannot be monitored or tampered with by any other user. This means that all external access requests are collected, filtered according to pre-defined policies and then sent to the Internet via the company’s firewall.
An important feature of an SWG is the ability to log all actions that have been performed on the internal network as well as on the Internet. This way administrators will be able to identify if someone has attempted to access unauthorized content or if they have tried to enter information into fields where they shouldn’t have done so.
Average Price: Free!
Open source SWGs
Open source SWGs are available for anyone who wants them – there’s no need for purchasing software licenses or paying for support from extra staff members. However, some open source SWGs may lack certain features that more advanced users may find useful.
So it wouldn’t hurt to check with your IT department before deciding on an open-source option. It might be more cost-effective to purchase an off-the-shelf secure web gateway instead of developing one from scratch using open-source code.
Many companies choose open source software because of its flexibility. And because it doesn’t require any maintenance costs. However, you should keep in mind that there are several limitations when using open-source secure web gateways.
Open source setback
There’s no full support team available 24/7, and no additional features added. And there won’t be any bug fixes or security updates if vulnerabilities are present in the future.
Open source SWGs don’t have a vendor lock-in. Further, means that if you’re not completely OK with a particular open source SWG, you can easily move to another solution.
Free secure web gateways on the market- available
There are a number of free secure web gateways on the market. However, most of these solutions have limited features and are not very secure. They have insufficient encryption and lack even the most basic of protections against attacks from the Internet.
If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on your SWG solution, there are always off-the-shelf products for a reasonable price. The main advantage of this option is that it will work right out of the box. It won’t require any development or maintenance efforts on your part. And there will be no additional costs for purchasing software licenses or support services.
Custom code SWG
If you need a very specific type of SWG that supports very advanced features and provides maximum security, you might want to consider developing it yourself using custom code. This option will require in-house development and maintenance efforts in order to add new features or fix any bugs that may appear in the future.
However, developing software is not cheap and it’s important to understand what exactly an SWG can do and whether it’s worth spending so much money on it. As you’ll see below, there are some functionalities that you might never need – so it’s important to weigh up all pros and cons before starting work on your SWG solution. Average Price: $50-$300 per user