10 Best Secure Web Gateway Vendors in 2023

A Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is essential to any modern network infrastructure to protect users from online threats and enforce network-wide security regulations.

By filtering and monitoring online traffic, it is possible to restrict access to dangerous or inappropriate websites, detect and eradicate malware, and protect sensitive data from exposure.

SWG provides application control to regulate web app use, SSL inspection to detect encrypted hazards, and bandwidth management to maximize network efficiency.

Website traffic and security breach data can be analyzed and reported in great detail.

SWGs are essential to network security, making the internet a safer and more productive for everyone.

How Secure Web Gateways Work?

Secure Web Gateways (SWGs) intercept and examine internet traffic before encrypting it to pass the data through additional layers of security.

The SWG compares the requested URL to a list of harmful websites and blocks access to those that fulfill the criteria.

Malware is recognized and blocked in several ways, including signature-based detection and behavioral analysis.

To reveal risks hiding in encrypted traffic, SSL inspection decrypts the traffic.

SWGs regulate web applications using application control policies, ensuring that only business-related apps are used.

They also keep watch on information leaving the company to ensure it is not stolen.

Insights into user behavior and security incidents acquired through comprehensive reporting and analytics strengthen the safety of the network as a whole.

Key Features of Secure Web Gateways

Web filtering: Protects users against harmful and offensive content online.
Malware protection: Identifies malicious software and blocks its entry into the system.
SSL/TLS inspection: Using decryption to uncover threats in encrypted traffic.
Application control: Controls and regulates how people can use websites.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Prevents sensitive data from leaving the organization.
Bandwidth management: Facilitates more efficient use of online traffic.
Reporting and analytics: Assist with monitoring and decision-making based on insights regarding web usage and security events.

Best Secure Web Gateway Vendors 2023

• Perimeter 81
• Zscaler
• Cisco
• SonicWall 
• Cloudflare
• Barracuda Networks
• McAfee
• Check Point
• OpenDNS
• Fortinet

Best Secure Web Gateway Vendors and Their Features

Best Secure Web Gateway Vendors	Features
1. Perimeter 81	User and Device Identity Management	Endpoint Security Integration	Automatic Wi-Fi Security	Multi-Platform Support
Secure Private Access (SPA)	Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)	Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)	Identity and Access Management (IAM) Integration	Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)
3. Cisco	VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)	Software-Defined Networking (SDN)	Internet of Things (IoT)	Routing and Switching	Unified Communications
Real-Time Monitoring and Reporting	Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) Protection	Cloud-based Security Management	Virtual Private Network (VPN)	Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)	Unified Threat Management (UTM)
5. Cloudflare	Argo Smart Routing	Stream Video Delivery	Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Encryption	Content Delivery Network (CDN)	Stream Video Delivery	Cloudflare Workers
6. Barracuda Networks	Backup and Recovery	Cloud-to-Cloud Backup	Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus	Cloud-Based Firewalls	Application Security
7. McAfee	Identity Theft Protection	Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)	Security Management and Analytics	Data Loss Prevention (DLP)	Firewall Protection
8. Check Point	Log and Event Management	Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)	VPN (Virtual Private Network)	Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)	Identity Awareness
Customizable Whitelisting and Blacklisting	Roaming User Protection	Reporting and Analytics	Advanced Threat Intelligence	Malware Protection
VPN (Virtual Private Network)	Application Control	Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware	Network Segmentation	Firewall Protection

1. Perimeter 81

Year Founded: 2018

Location: Tel Aviv, Israel, with offices in New York City and Los Angeles

What they do: The most essential resources in your company can be fully monitored and secured from a single dashboard.

With just a few clicks, you can buy, set up, and enable secure zero-trust access on-premises, in the cloud, or anywhere in between.

View your active sessions, licenses, gateways, and other data in one filterable view.

You can quickly focus on significant trends and outliers by hovering over dashboard graphs showing the specific data points underlying the chart. 

A clear view of past and present user activity by network, region, and gateway will simplify determining network needs.

Features

• Perimeter 81 is a secure network access solution that enables enterprises to establish private, encrypted, and segmented networks.
• The platform follows the Zero Trust security model, requiring constant verification of users, devices, and applications before granting access to resources.
• Perimeter 81 provides unified cloud administration, which enables administrators to govern and monitor network access, policies, and user activities from a single dashboard.
• MFA adds extra protection by asking users to provide other verification factors besides their password, such as a one-time code texted to their mobile device.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better ?
Secure Remote Access	Training and implementation
Cloud-Based Architecture	Internet dependence
User-friendly interface	Limited offline access
Cross-platform compatibility

2. Zscaler

Year Founded: 2007 

Location:  San Jose, California, United States

What they do: With holistic SWG capabilities and a full range of AI-powered security services, you can provide users with zero-trust security in SaaS and on the web.

There is no need to deploy hardware or worry about user experience issues because AI-powered SWG provides always-on web security in a high-performance SaaS solution.

Web-based applications are safe, as our unlimited TLS/SSL inspection can detect and stop threats that are hidden in encrypted traffic. This type of traffic is the source of over 85% of all threats.

With unlimited TLS/SSL inspection, you can find and stop threats concealed in encrypted traffic, which is the source of more than 85% of attacks. 

To keep you abreast of the most recent attacks and methodologies, AI/ML-powered analysis continuously improves the detection and prevention of polymorphic threats, new malicious domains, phishing attacks, and more. 

Features

• Zscaler’s SWG provides users with secure, policy-enforced internet access across all devices and locations.
• Zscaler’s cloud-based firewall protects cloud-hosted applications and data from unauthorized access and cyber threats.
• The cloud sandbox function detects and blocks zero-day threats and unknown malware by evaluating suspicious files and URLs in a safe, isolated environment.
• The DLP feature of Zscaler aids in the prevention of data leakage by recognizing and stopping sensitive information from being transported outside of the organization’s network.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
Cloud-based	Compliance considerations
Global network	Deployment complexity
Security effectiveness	Service Outages
Zero Trust Architecture

3. Cisco

Year Founded: December 10, 1984

Location: San Jose, California

What they do: By effectively logging, inspecting, and controlling web traffic, the Cisco Umbrella Secure Web Gateway (SWG) functionality offers cloud-native, full proxy capabilities to enhance performance and lower risk.

The SWG from Cisco Umbrella is a full proxy that logs and examines all web traffic for your company to provide complete visibility, URL and application-level controls, and advanced threat protection.

Includes complete visibility of all web traffic, anti-virus and advanced malware protection, sandboxing, decryption, content control, and fine-grained app activity controls, all in a user-friendly interface.

Features

• Cisco IOS and IOS XE: Cisco’s router and switch operating systems provide extensive networking capabilities.
• Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance): Network security and access control firewall and VPN solutions.
• Cisco Webex: A remote collaboration platform that includes web conferencing, video conferencing, chat, and file sharing.
• Cisco UCS (Unified compute System): Converged infrastructure for data center computing, storage, networking, and virtualization.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
Industry Leader	Software Bugs and Updates
Strong Security Features	Licensing
Comprehensive Solutions	Hardware Compatibility
Scalability	Market Saturation

4. SonicWall 

Year Founded: 1997

Location: Milpitas, California

What they do: SonicWall is a cybersecurity firm that offers network security solutions to enterprises of all kinds.

Firewalls, secure remote access, email security, wireless security, and other services are among their offerings.

SonicWall’s products are designed to safeguard networks and endpoints against cyber threats such as malware, ransomware, phishing attacks, and other sophisticated threats.

With SonicWall firewalls, Enterprises confidently protects against cyber threats and secures valuable digital assets. Our advanced features include comprehensive network traffic scanning, even for encrypted information.

Features

• Deep Packet Inspection: SonicWall firewalls scan network traffic thoroughly, including encrypted information, to detect and block attacks effectively.
• Secure distant Access: SonicWall enables foreign and mobile users with secure remote access to internal resources via SSL VPN and other secure access methods.
• Spam and phishing prevention are included in SonicWall’s email security solutions to prevent unwanted and malicious communications from reaching users.
• SonicWall provides secure wireless solutions with features such as WPA3 encryption and wireless intrusion prevention to protect wireless networks.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
User-friendly Interface	Market Competition
Deep Packet Inspection	Technical Support
Threat Intelligence	Integration Challenges

5. Cloudflare

Year Founded: July 2009;

Location: San Francisco, California, U.S

What they do: Use Cloudflare’s unmatched visibility across Internet traffic to identify known harmful, risky, or unwanted destinations, and reduce cyber risk by blocking access to them.

Enhance technical effectiveness by stacking in-line Zero Trust services and offering comprehensive visibility into your Internet traffic across users, devices, and locations.

Detects and prevents attacks using proactive filtering and inspection policies across all relevant security domains.

Users will be better protected by using DNS filtering first to protect office users and then more thorough inspections across all locations.

Features

• Cloudflare maintains a global CDN that caches and serves static material from servers placed throughout their enormous network, lowering latency and improving website load times for users worldwide.
• Cloudflare’s DDoS protection solution helps defend websites and applications from DDoS attacks, keeping them online and accessible even while they are being targeted.
• By screening and preventing malicious traffic, Cloudflare’s WAF protects web applications from attacks such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities.
• Cloudflare provides free and straightforward SSL/TLS certificates for HTTPS-secured websites, ensuring encrypted interactions between users and the web server.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
Content Delivery Network (CDN)	Data Privacy Concerns
DDoS Protection	Limited Control
Web Application Firewall (WAF)	Cache Invalidation
SSL/TLS Encryption	Reliance on Cloudflare’s Infrastructure

6. Barracuda Networks

Year Founded: 2003

Location: Campbell, California, United States

What they do: Barracuda’s email security solutions use powerful filtering algorithms to detect and prevent spam emails and phishing attacks.

Unlimited remote user licenses are included to enforce content and access regulations on mobile and desktop devices away from the corporate network.

Gain complete insight into user activity and network threats with an intuitive dashboard and integrated reporting features.

Through an intuitive dashboard and integrated reporting, gain complete insight into user activity and network threats. 

Features

• Deep Packet Inspection: Barracuda’s NGFWs analyze network traffic in depth to detect and block advanced threats such as application-layer attacks.
• Barracuda’s Web Application Firewall (WAF) protects web applications from threats like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities.
• Barracuda offers cloud-to-cloud backup solutions to safeguard data in cloud applications such as Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace (previously G Suite).

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
Comprehensive Security Solutions	Performance Impact
User-friendly Interface	Licensing Complexity
Threat Protection	Technical Support
Scalability

Barracuda Networks – Trial /Demo

7. McAfee

Year Founded:  1987

Location: San Jose, California

What they do: McAfee Web Protection, a secure web gateway, protects every device, user, and location from sophisticated Internet threats.

Protecting the system, tracking user activity, and preventing clicks on erroneous links and pop-ups are important. Visual cues are used.

Green ticks or checks indicate safe links; suspicious links are flagged.

McAfee’s anti-malware technology can identify and eliminate viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware; the company also offers firewall protection.

Features

• McAfee’s anti-malware technology detects and removes malware such as viruses, worms, Trojans, and spyware from computers and devices.
• McAfee offers firewall systems that monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic, preventing illegal access and network-based Attacks.
• McAfee Web Protection provides URL filtering and content categorization to protect users from web-based dangers by blocking access to harmful or inappropriate websites.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
Comprehensive Security	Resource Intensive
Global Threat Intelligence	Pop-ups and Notifications
User-friendly Interface	Potential False Positives

8. Check Point

Year Founded:1993, Ramat Gan, Israel

Location:  Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

What they do: A multi-layered security architecture prevents malware infections and recognizes infected devices.

Enforces company security policies to protect remote workers while allowing them to remain connected wherever they are

Avoid using browser, application, or system flaws to your advantage (such as PDF readers).

Utilize a cloud DLP, predefined data types, and granular policies to prevent the leakage of sensitive data to the Internet, social media, and consumer applications.

Features

• Deep Packet Inspection: Check Point’s NGFWs analyze network traffic in detail, including application-layer inspection, to detect and block sophisticated threats.
• Check Point provides unified threat management for configuring and monitoring security rules across the network, cloud, and endpoints from a single interface.
• Heck Point’s security solutions safeguard endpoints (such as PCs, laptops, and mobile devices) against real-time malware, phishing, and other attacks.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
Advanced Threat Prevention	Licensing Mode
Prevent from Sophisticated threats	High Cost
Centralized Management	Limited Native Cloud Support

9. OpenDNS

Year Founded: July 2006

Location: San Francisco, California, United States

What they do: Every device connected to the internet through your home network, including laptops, smartphones, tablets, DVRs, game consoles, and TVs, is subject to the OpenDNS settings.

Using their Windows or Mac agents, personal laptops are protected wherever they go (*only for 1–5 users, three devices per user).

For a “locked-down” environment, limit internet access to only those domains that are listed as being permitted.

Built-in security is able to protect malicious phishing and malware domains.

Immediately implement adequate parental controls for each device in your home.

Features

• OpenDNS provides DNS filtering services that, based on established categories, limit access to dangerous or inappropriate websites.
• OpenDNS detects and blocks phishing websites that seek to steal sensitive information such as login passwords or financial data using advanced threat intelligence.
• OpenDNS can detect and restrict communications between infected devices and botnet command-and-control servers, preventing botnet-related risks.
• OpenDNS enables administrators to set web access policies to regulate the type of content users can access based on categories such as social networking, gambling, adult content, and others.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
Cloud-Based Protection	Dependency on DNS
DNS Filtering	False Positives
Threat Intelligence	Limited Visibility into Encrypted Traffic

10. Fortinet

Year Founded: 2000

Location:  Sunnyvale, California, United States

What they do: Whether deployed physically, in the cloud, or on-premises, FortiProxy offers comprehensive protection and visibility for every network segment, device, and appliance.

View real-time system information, vital statistics, and instant visibility into your users’ web traffic and security posture.

It integrates with important Security Fabric parts like FortiSandbox, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze zero-day malware files, and FortiAnalyzer, which performs centralized log analysis. 

Shields users from the most recent malware, viruses, polymorphic attacks, and other dangers.

Blocks high-risk domains, such as malicious newly registered domains (NRDs) and parked domains, while providing complete visibility into DNS traffic.

Features

• FortiGate NGFWs use advanced network traffic inspection to detect and stop numerous threats, such as application-layer attacks and malware.
• FortiClient protects endpoints (such as PCs, laptops, and mobile devices) against real-time malware, ransomware, phishing, and other threats.
• Secure SD-WAN solutions from Fortinet combine networking and security capabilities to deliver secure and efficient connections for remote networks.
• FortiSandbox uses sandboxing technology to examine suspicious files and URLs in a secure, isolated environment, detecting and blocking sophisticated threats and zero-day attacks.

What is Good?	What Could Be Better?
Comprehensive Security Solutions	Complexity
Unified Security Fabric	Support Experience
FortiGuard Threat Intelligence	Maintenance and Updates

Conclusion

To sum up, any business that cares about its digital assets, its users’ privacy, and the safety of its online transactions must carefully consider which secure web gateway vendor will best meet its needs.

We’ve considered a wide range of criteria, including detection of threats, Content filtering, authentication of users, scalability, performance, ease of deployment, and support for existing customers.

After extensive research, we found that multiple providers offer superior performance and rich functionality in secure web gateways.

It’s important to note that the best option may change depending on the business’s specifics, the industry’s nature, and the available resources.

FAQ

What is the function of a Secure Web Gateway?

To protect people and networks from online risks, a Secure Web Gateway can filter and monitor web traffic, block harmful sites, identify malware, enforce policies, and stop data breaches.

What are the benefits of using a secure web gateway?

Improved web security, protection from malware and data breaches, control over web app usage, optimized network performance, and detailed reporting for better monitoring and decision-making are just some of the benefits of using a Secure Web Gateway, which also helps to create a more productive online environment for users and businesses as well.

Does a Secure Web Gateway provide SSL/TLS decryption?

Regarding SSL/TLS inspection and finding risks within encrypted connections, SWGs can easily decode communications.

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