Implementing Secure Web Gateway Best Practices

IT threatscape is growing at a steady pace much in par with the evolution of technology. Therefore choosing the right Web security Gateway is important as the overall organization’s security posture can be improved by Web security gateway. However, it is important to have a check on its deployment, configuration and maintenance as it influences the security levels it offers.

Secure Web Gateway protects the internal network of an organization by preventing the entry of unsecured traffic into the network. In this article we will discuss on how to choose the right secure web gateway and how to optimize deployment, configuration and maintenance.

The web secure gateway is deployed by organizations to protect users from malicious web traffic, virus/malware and websites.

Choosing a Web security Gateway Deployment Strategy

Organizations should define clear security objectives by understanding a range of deployment strategies – this would certainly give way to maximize the use of web security gateway. In the midst of the transition from on-premise IT infrastructure to the cloud, on-premise is still in demand. Cloud-based Web security gateway services are the need of the current hour as it is easy to deploy. Web security gateway has evolved to serve cloud-based IT infrastructure, to deliver reputation services and URL lookups. It also delivers hybrid implementation to integrate on-premise and cloud-based infrastructure well organized and scalable to handle traffic loads of the network.

The services offer effective protection for enterprises by fending off threats, however, it demands efficient skills to manage. These options mean the organization’s data is passed through while the users and third party devices can access the same.

Best Practices of Internet Gateway Security Policy

Mitigate the Probability of Interference

Unlike the conventional security policies that works to deny all that is against the network security policies or enable everything that favours business. A good practice for security policy

uses User-ID, Content ID or App ID to enable applications safely across all the ports and users and scans the network traffic for both known and unknown threats.

Identify the Presence of an Attacker

A best practice Secure Internet Gateway policy should offer built-in applications to detect gaps in the rules and regulations and identify suspicious functions and possible malware threats on the organization’s network.

Best Practice Methods of Secure Internet Gateway

Investigate all the traffic for Visibility – Threat attacks are uncertain and organizations should ensure that there is a complete visibility of all traffic across all the applications and users anytime.

This can be done by enabling SSL decryption to ensure that the firewall can investigate the secured traffic that includes all the threats, contents and applications. A full view into the users, content and applications, on the network is the first step while focsiing policy control.

Mitigate the Attack Surface –

The users accessing the network traffic should create policy based on application-based security policy to set rules to deny high-risk programs and applications that does not have authentic use case, while it also allows applications that is important for businesses.

It is critical to attach File Blocking and URL filtering to the rule book that permits application traffic to restrict users from entering malicious and other suspicious sites while it and to also prevent them from downloading and uploading malicious files.

Prevent Known Threats –

Ensure to deploy a firewall to scan the traffic that enters the network, to check for known and unknown threats by attaching security profiles to enforce rules to identify and terminate vulnerability exploits, port scans, DoS attacks and threats associated with the network layer and application layer. Also SSL decryption is enabled to inspect encrypted traffic

Adding to all the rules and regulations – generate security policy based on applications to block malicious IP addresses from possible third-party feeds.

Identify Unknown Threats

Implement the use of security system that provides containment technology where the unknown files are executed and run in a virtual container. This prevents unknown files from accessing the system resources of the host and the data until a good/bad verdict is confirmed.

Related Sources:

https://cdome.comodo.com/secure-internet-gateway.php
https://cdome.comodo.com/blog/how-secure-web-gateway-evolved-over-the-years/
https://cdome.comodo.com/blog/difference-between-secure-web-gateway-and-firewall/