SWG: The Third Key Component of an SSE Platform

Jeff Birnbaum

As we’ve been writing about recently, a complete Security Service Edge (SSE) platform enables policies for web, cloud, and private apps to be managed together in one place, from one console. Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is the Forcepoint ONE service that provides security for accessing any website from managed corporate macOS and Windows devices. This includes blocking access to undesirable websites, applying additional protection to unknown websites, protecting users from getting infected by web-borne malware, and preventing users from uploading (a.k.a. stealing) sensitive data to personal file sharing accounts.

As part of the Forcepoint ONE SSE platform, our SWG can use the same advanced threat protection and data security technologies that our Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) service use to keep malware out and sensitive data in.

Forcepoint ONE SWG diagram

Unlike other vendors’ SWGs, ours has two distinct advantages. First, it leverages the Forcepoint ONE platform, which has a history of 99.99% uptime since 2015, roughly 300 points of presence around the world, and fast peering with major cloud environments and applications for great performance. Second, it uses a distributed enforcement architecture that enables the majority of the user’s web traffic to be exchanged directly between the user and the website rather than having to detour through a service in the cloud, as shown in the figure below. This results in users having almost twice the throughput compared to other SWGs. Forcepoint ONE infrastructure on AWS

But that’s not all. Not only does our SWG include full data loss prevention to prevent theft of compliance-controlled data (such as personally identifiable information, PII) and intellectual property, it also protects remote and hybrid workers from nasty stuff on the internet. Watch this space for more details shortly.

Interested in learning more? Watch a video of our SWG in action on our website.

Jeff Birnbaum
Jeff Birnbaum is a Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Forcepoint, where he serves as an evangelist for the company's Security Service Edge (SSE) offering: SWG, CASB, and ZTNA. His previous experience ranges from product marketing and product management in data networking, cloud computing, IT observability, and cybersecurity. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in computer science from Columbia University and UC Berkeley, respectively.
When Jeff isn’t working, you can find him in the kitchen helping his wife cook delicious vegan food.
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