How To Secure Web Gateway & Web Filtering

In Association with Perimeter81

A secure web gateway offers protection against online security threats by enforcing company security policies and filtering malicious internet traffic in real-time. At a minimum, a secure web gateway offers URL filtering, application controls for web applications and the detection and filtering of malicious code. Data leak prevention features are essential. 

Secure web gateways (SWG) have become increasingly common as cyber criminals have grown more sophisticated in embedding threat vectors into seemingly innocuous or professional-looking websites. 

These counterfeit websites can compromise the enterprise as users access them, unleashing malicious code and unauthorised access in the background without the user's knowledge. The fake, criminal websites can be quite convincing.

Web filters are capable of preventing users from accessing sites that puts malicious code on the user's computer. Even on a small level, web filtering allows companies to block web sites that don't support an effective work day,as well as not fitting the requirements of their security policies.

And now Perimeter 81 has just launched its new Secure Web Gateway which also includes the highly in-demand Web Filtering features that are very popular among Network Security and IT managers. 

Benefits of Web Filtering: 

•  Protects employees and the corporate network from web-based malicious threats.

• Increases productivity by decreasing distractions from certain websites.

• Prevents shadow IT and the use of unauthorized sites for business purposes.

A Secure Web Gateway protects a company’s employees and network from the dangers of the Internet. 
Web filtering is the key feature of SWG that allows the admin to determine who can reach what URL or website, even if they are not connected to the network. Users can be allowed access, denied access, or warned against proceeding.

Pain Points that Web Filtering Addresses:

• Danger of hacks through phishing attempts of employees or employee access of malicious sites.

• Employee use of distracting or illicit sites (such as gambling sites) during work hours.

• Need to provide auditors with tracked web activity for compliance purposes.

How Web Filtering Works

With Perimeter 81, admins can set web filter rules using the same easy interface and quick deployment that the Perimeter 81 platform is known for. Unlike other rules in Perimeter 81, web filtering operates even when the employee is not connected to the network - in other words, the employee device is always protected with the agent running in the background.

Web Filter Rules

Web filter rules can be set per employee or employee group (for example, the marketing department may need access to social media sites to do their job, but the R&D department does not), and can also apply to specific days of the week or times. Admins can choose to block a specific site or an entire category, such as “Gaming” or “Phishing.” Categories are dynamically updated daily as new sites are identified.

Bypass Rules

There are certain cases when web filter rules should be bypassed. 

• If there are privacy regulations – for example, if employee access of healthcare or financial sites is not allowed to be tracked.

• If an application, such as Slack or Dropbox, needs unfiltered access.

For this we have Bypass Rules, which can be similarly set for specific employee groups, web categories, and programs.

Monitoring and Tracking

Monitoring and tracking are a fundamental and necessary part of SWG. Perimeter 81 Web Filtering tracks all employee attempted access of “denied” or “warned” sites, so that companies can take action following suspicious activity. Reports can be exported as a CSV file for auditing and analysis purposes.

For more information about Secure Web Gateways and Web Filtering please Contact Cyber Security Intelligence.

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