Here we will discuss secure web gateway vs web application firewall. Also, we will know how you can use both of these within your organization. So, read on.
Secure Web Gateway vs Web Application Firewall
To begin, a secure web gateway (SWG) refers to a firewall that is placed in front of a web application. SWG is called so because it acts as an intermediary between the internet and an organization’s web server. The main job of the SWG is to offer protection to the organization’s web server from outside attacks.
A web application firewall (WAF), on the other hand, refers to a firewall that protects the web application itself from attacks and not the webserver. WAF allows or blocks traffic based on certain predefined rules. Rules are created by administrators and are based on the type of service, users, access rights, etc.
So, in a nutshell, an SWG offers protection from outside attacks while a WAF offers protection from inside attacks.
Features of a Secure Web Gateway
An SWG acts like an intermediary between a company’s web server and corporate clients. It keeps track of each client session and acts like a man in the middle. From this perspective, it makes sure that no unauthorized user can access a company’s resources or steal confidential data or information from corporate clients.
Moreover, it offers protection from Distributed Denial of Service attacks. Since it keeps track of each client session and can block traffic coming from illegitimate source IPs that are trying to attack the webserver.
It also offers protection from SQL injection attacks since it compares all incoming client requests with existing database contents. As well as database schema before sending out any response. Further, it provides support for SSL termination so that traffic between corporate clients and the organization’s web server is encrypted.
Features of Web Application Firewall
A WAF acts like an intermediary between a web application and internet users while providing maximum security to both system administrators. As well as end users’ data/information against malicious attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and more.
Further, it can protect against Distributed Denial of Service attacks. It can detect and block any malicious traffic coming from outside sources. Also, it offers protection from malicious bot activity through weblogs, URL filtering, and more.
Moreover, it can protect against unauthorized access to sensitive data by keeping track of each user session and providing a rigid security policy based on roles, users, and other factors.
Using SWG and WAF Together
If companies want to protect their web server as well as a web application, they can use both SWG and WAF together. As an example, consider a scenario where there is an internet-facing web server that has access to an internal network. Thus, two firewalls will be needed for maximum protection.
In doing this, they can use SWG to protect the webserver and the data stored on it. And, WAF to protect the web application. Further, they can use an SSL terminator to terminate SSL connections from corporate clients before they reach the webserver. This way, data/information is encrypted between corporate clients and the organization’s web server.