Symantec Web Gateway
Uses context to reduce false positives and cut management overhead

Overview:

Web content filtering software

Symantec Web Gateway protects organizations against multiple types of Web-borne malware and gives organizations the flexibility of deploying it as either a virtual appliance or on physical hardware. Powered by Insight, Symantec’s innovative reputation based malware filtering technology, Web Gateway relies on a global network of greater than 210 million systems to identify new threats before they cause disruption in organizations.

Your business is constantly faced with new security challenges and malware threats. According to the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, the Web and Web applications have become the primary source of malware infections in organizations. Attackers are exploiting this threat vector with rapidly changing and mutating malware. Despite the quickly evolving threat landscape, few organizations adequately secure their Internet gateways from Web-borne malware. This leaves them vulnerable to victimization by cybercriminals without their knowledge. Symantec has taken a proactive approach to combat Web-borne malware by providing Web security solutions to protect your infrastructure from malicious activity and to ensure your users stay safe on the Web.

More than URL filtering

The majority of organizations deploy a solution that filters out undesirable URLs ensuring that employees are not visiting sites that are known malicious sites, or sites that violate company policy. That posture is no longer enough for the current threat landscape. Symantec has observed that in any given month, up to 90 percent of malicious websites were actually compromised legitimate sites. URL filtering alone won’t stop this type of malware. Powered by Symantec Insight™ and the award-winning Symantec AntiVirus engine, Symantec™ Web Gateway performs URL filtering, but more importantly, helps ensure that your company can stay safe and protected against the fast moving and mutating malware that resides on both malicious and compromised legitimate websites. Web Gateway provides better protection through the detection of Web-based threats that other technologies miss.

Today more than ever, businesses are at risk of losing important and confidential data over the Web. Many industries are highly regulated, with requirements to prove that systems are in place to protect sensitive information. The loss of sensitive data can result in negative PR, fines, loss of customers and ultimately, loss of revenue. By integrating with Symantec™ Data Loss Prevention Network Prevent for Web, Web Gateway focuses on identifying and stopping sensitive data from leaving the corporate network via the Web.

Combating incoming and outgoing threats is critical to secure your IT infrastructure. Equally important is optimizing internal IT resources to help meet the ever changing needs and demands of today’s data center. With the rise in virtualization technology, Web Gateway adjusts to meet the need of each customer’s deployment requirements by having an option of installing as a virtual appliance.

Web Gateway provides much more than URL filtering and addresses the needs of customers by providing:

• Better protection through the detection of Web-based threats that other technologies may miss.
• Greater control by preventing data loss at the Internet gateway and SSL decryption capabilities.
• Easy management with flexible deployment options meeting the needs of customers looking for a solution designed for virtualization.

Better protection

Powered by Insight, Web Gateway gives customers access to innovative security that will ensure their information and employees stay safe on the Web. Insight is a security technology that puts files in context, using their age, frequency, location, and more to expose threats otherwise missed. Also backed by the Symantec™ Global Intelligence Network, Web Gateway draws intelligence from the collective wisdom of 210 million systems in over 200 countries to identify new threats before they wreak havoc on your organization.

The embedded Insight technology uses the Global Intelligence Network to identify new threats and blocks them prior to infecting users. Based on advanced data mining techniques, Symantec maintains a real-time dynamic security rating for over 3.1 billion files which have assisted in blocking over 31 million attacks. These ratings allow Web Gateway to determine the likelihood of infection for files and to immediately identify and block never before seen threats. Insight enhances protection, reduces false positives, and can not be evaded or coded around by self-mutating malware. The result is an unrivaled antimalware engine and enhanced security.

Web Gateway provides customers with multiple layers of malware protection in addition to Insight. Bi-directional scanning of Web traffic ensures customers are safe from both inbound threats, but also stops a company’s reputation being tarnished by transmitting viruses out and infecting or attacking other networks. Using unique network detection techniques written by Symantec Security Technology and Response, Web Gateway can identify and block unique malware already installed on the customer network, leading to rapid remediation of threats.

Greater control

Web Gateway is designed to help organizations prevent the loss of intellectual property and sensitive information while simultaneously detecting Web-borne threats.

Web Gateway acts as an enforcement point for Symantec’s market-leading Data Loss Prevention product, giving customers the ability to monitor and protect sensitive information being communicated across the Internet. This ensures that sensitive data transmitted via the Web will be detected and blocked prior to leaving the corporate boundary. Transparent HTTPS decryption allows for visibility into encrypted data streams, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail. Combining the malware detecting intelligence of Web Gateway with market leading Data Loss Prevention allows customers to deploy a robust Web security solution and cohesive data loss prevention strategy from a single vendor.

Easy management

Web Gateway can meet the various needs of companies by providing flexible deployment options. In addition to deploying Web Gateway on a physical hardware appliance, customers now have the option of deploying Web Gateway as a virtual appliance on VMware ESX or VMware ESXi platforms. Together with Symantec™ Messaging Gateway virtual appliance, Symantec provides organizations the ability to secure their Web and messaging infrastructure without adding additional hardware.

Visibility into your IT environment is critical in being able to quickly identify and respond to issues that may arise. Web Gateway, with its in-depth reporting and detailed dashboard, provides administrators with the information needed to properly manage and secure their IT infrastructure.