Why is a secure web gateway important? What are the reasons why this is gaining more popularity today? Let us explore the reasons below.
Why Is a Secure Web Gateway Important?
A secure web gateway (SWG) is important due to many reasons. Firstly, an SWG offers companies the ability to control what type of content is being passed to their users. Secondly, an SWG offers the ability to control where the data is coming from and where it is going. This helps companies in preventing identity theft and other malicious activities such as phishing, spam, viruses, and cyber attacks.
Thirdly, an SWG helps in managing bandwidth costs. When a company does not have an SWG in place, there are various threats such as bots and proxies that can take over the web servers and cause them to get attacked. This will then end up with slower response times and higher bandwidth costs. By having SWG in place, you will be able to mitigate this problem.
Fourthly, an SWG helps to prevent employees from accessing external websites that are not related to work. If your company has a policy of blocking websites that are not business-related, then it is important to have an SWG in place. This is to enforce this policy. So that your employees are not able to gain access to sites that are not business-related or may harm the company’s reputation in any way.
Lastly, an SWG helps companies ensure compliance with various regulations such as:
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),
- SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act),
- PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard),
- FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
- And more.
So, make sure you use an SWG if you want to stay compliant with these regulations.
Why Use Secure Web Gateway
Securing your web gateway is the first step towards protecting you from cyberattacks that could lead to data breaches leading to financial loss. Even if your company does not handle any sensitive data or process transactions on its website, you need to make sure that your website has an SWG in place for protection against cyber attacks.
Thus, companies need to start by implementing an SWG to protect themselves from cyber-attacks. It helps in protecting against the following:
- Phishing attacks. This is when a hacker sends out an email that appears to be from a legitimate company. Such as an online banking website or Paypal. This is a very effective and popular way of stealing users’ login credentials. Thus, this can lead to financial loss.
- Proxy attacks. Proxies are intermediate computers through which communication is passed. Proxies can be used by hackers to carry out phishing attacks, spamming, and other malicious activities. A proxy server is also used by hackers as a stepping stone before they can attack your servers.
Last Words
In conclusion, using SWG is essential to keep your company safe from attacks that can cause financial loss as well as downtime. This is why you should make sure that every company has an SWG in place. Thus, you need to make sure that your web gateway is secure.