How to gain secure web gateway? With the growth of the web and the popularity of social media, cybercriminals are finding new ways to steal data and cause damage to computers. Hackers now often target websites that offer services for free or charge little money.
They’re also becoming more sophisticated at stealing personal information such as credit card numbers and bank account details. If you run a website, you should take steps to ensure its security. This guide explains how to secure a web gateway.
How A Web Gateway Works
A web gateway is a point of entry to your network server. It acts as a firewall that blocks any unwanted traffic from entering the network.
When using a web application, the web gateway checks all the traffic and determines if it’s malicious or not. It also monitors the activity of users and blocks them if they’re trying to access restricted content.
Types Of Web Gateways
A web gateway is either hardware or software-based. Hardware-based gateways are usually more expensive than software-based ones because they have more features. However, most organizations settle for software-based web gateways because they’re a less expensive option.
Software Versus Hardware Gateways
The main difference between these two types of gateways is how they operate. Software gateways use an application on the network server while hardware gateways have an operating system and CPU on the network server itself. Both are effective in blocking malicious traffic, but there are some differences:
- Software-based gateways are less expensive and easy to deploy and maintain. However, they’re not as secure as hardware-based systems.
- Hardware-based gateways offer greater security and performance because they run an OS and CPU on the network server itself. However, they’re more expensive to deploy and maintain.
How To Secure A Web Gateway
There are ways to make your web gateway more secure and block unauthorized traffic:
1. Enable Strong Authentication
Strong authentication keeps hackers away from accessing your network by requiring a username, password and two-factor authentication.
Two-factor authentication requires the user to enter a password plus something else (like a token or a PIN) before gaining access to the system. Two-factor authentication is a strong security measure that can be implemented to protect the web gateway.
2. Block Unusual Traffic
By using an intrusion detection system (IDS), you’ll be able to detect attacks on your network, system or applications. After detecting such an attack, you can block it using an IDS firewall.
An IDS/firewall combination is recommended as it acts as a firewall that blocks all unwanted traffic while an IDS warns of potential attacks on your network server.
3. Control Access To Resources
A firewall provides protection against unwanted traffic by controlling access to resources on the server. Additionally, It controls what users are allowed to do on the server through packet filtering.
4. Monitor Activity And Audit Logs
Monitoring activity requires you to regularly check logs for the unusual behaviour of users or threats that have entered your network through the web gateway.
An audit log records which actions were taken on a web application or website so you can use it for forensic purposes if an issue arises with your website or application later on.
5. Use Encrypted Traffic
Encrypting traffic makes it harder for hackers to steal information from your network server through data breaches because they can’t read it without having the necessary decryption key.
6. Employ Antivirus Software
Antivirus software scans all incoming traffic for viruses and malware that can harm your website or application server in any way possible (including stealing personal information).
7. Security Software
Security software is highly recommended because it protects you against data theft by encrypting data securely while also offering additional features such as blocking spam email and preventing phishing scams from reaching users’ inboxes.