The Next-Generation Secure Web Gateway (SWG) – What You Need To Know?

Check Point noted in their recent 2022 Cloud Security Report that 27% of organizations have experienced a security incident in their public cloud infrastructure within the last 12 months.

With the growing number of cloud IT-related threats, organizations are going to have to up their security game in order to combat advanced threats. And this becomes a solid use case for a Next-Gen Secure Web Gateway (SWG).

A Next-Generation SWG can provide your organization with the advanced security capabilities needed to protect against today’s sophisticated attacks and advanced persistent threats (APTs). Let’s take a closer look at how a Next-Gen SWG differs from traditional Secure Web Gateways.

What is a Next-Generation SWG?

A Next-Generation Secure Web Gateway is a cloud-based security solution that provides advanced protection against data risks. Next-Gen SWGs use a variety of security techniques, including but not limited to: application control, user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), and machine learning to protect against threats.

A next-generation SWG will also provide you with visibility into all of the traffic passing through your network, including encrypted traffic. This is important because it allows you to see what applications and sites are being accessed, as well as potential threats that may be lurking in your network.

What Are the Benefits of a Next-Generation SWG?

 There are many benefits to using a Next-Generation SWG, including:

Advanced Security Protection

Next-Gen SWGs go beyond the physical limitations of appliance-based solutions. An SWG can help block malware, sophisticated phishing attacks, and other types of threats before they reach your network. Other security features include SSL/TLS traffic encryption between clients and servers and Web Filtering to block out harmful content and websites.

Improved Visibility and Control

Another benefit of using a Next-Generation SWG is the improved visibility and control that it can provide. With an SWG in place, you can see all of the traffic passing through your network, including encrypted traffic. This is an important feature because it allows you to see what applications and sites are being accessed, as well as potential threats that may be lurking in your network.

Increased Productivity

A Next-Generation SWG can also help increase productivity by allowing you to control which applications and sites can be accessed by your employees. By blocking access to non-work-related applications and sites such as gambling sites or social media, you can help to ensure that your employees are focused on their work tasks.

Improved Performance

A Next-Generation SWG can also help improve the performance of your network by reducing the amount of traffic that is passing through it. By blocking access to non-essential applications and sites, there are fewer distractions, which ultimately translates into more focus on the tasks at hand.

Defend Against Unknown Threats

Experts predict six billion phishing attacks to occur just in 2022 alone, with 83% of organizations reporting at least one attack. Couple that with new and unknown threats yet to be discovered, and you can see how serious the threat surface becomes for any business. Enforcing security policies is an integral feature of a Next-Gen SWG. A designated admin can either “allow” or “deny” access to a certain resource with the click of a button. These granular policies rely on the Zero Trust principle of least privileged access. 

Why Do You Need a Next-Generation SWG?

Cloud-related threats continue to plague organizations. Something as simple as a misconfiguration of an S3 bucket in an AWS environment can lead to a massive security breach. Misconfiguration issues are commonly found in legacy VPN and firewall appliances, yet another reason to advance your security strategy with a Next-Gen SWG.

Advanced persistent threats continue to rise and one of the more common threats involves stolen credentials. Credential stuffing accounted for 61% of all data breaches. Other examples of APTs include malicious insiders that deliberately use their credentials to sell Personal Identifiable Information (PII) for financial gain. Other common attacks include account hijacking, typically in the form of a phishing attack, and API vulnerabilities – which cost organizations as much as $75 billion annually.