Secure Web Gateway (SWG)
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Block threats at the browser’s edge before they reach your users or your data
Every web request your employees make is a potential threat vector. As enterprises expand their cloud footprint and embrace distributed work, the volume of internet traffic flowing in and out of your organization grows exponentially, as does the opportunity for attackers to exploit it.
Secure Web Gateway (SWG) intercepts and inspects that traffic in real time, applying security policy at the point of access. SWG gives your organization granular visibility and control over web use without degrading performance or complicating the user experience.
Web traffic: Your biggest unmanaged risk
Your employees access dozens of SaaS platforms, cloud apps, news sources, collaboration tools and third-party portals throughout the day. Each connection is a gateway, and without inspection, each one is also a blind spot or a potential visit to a malicious website.
Without a SWG, organizations face compounding exposure:
- Malware and ransomware delivered via compromised or lookalike sites go undetected
- Phishing attempts pass through unfiltered, even on managed devices
- Employees unknowingly access sites or applications that violate security policy
- Remote workers bypass corporate controls entirely, creating invisible risk
- Compliance mandates go unenforced without content inspection
With SWG, your internet traffic — inbound and outbound — passes through a cloud-delivered inspection layer that identifies threats, enforces policies and logs every session for visibility and audit purposes.
With SWG in place, your team can:
- Detect malware, ransomware, botnet activity and phishing
- Enforce granular acceptable use policies across all users, locations and devices
- Inspect encrypted HTTPS traffic using SSL decryption
- Prevent sensitive data from leaving the organization through DLP-integrated content filtering
- Gain full visibility into web activity across your workforce
What GTT SWG protects
Outbound threat interception
Unsecured outbound traffic is one of the most common attack paths. Employees clicking a
malicious link can trigger a malware download or ransomware deployment.
Without GTT
- Malicious sites reached before security tools can flag them
- Malware executes on endpoints without warning
- Botnet communication channels remain open
- Phishing pages capture user credentials
With GTT
- Real-time URL classification and filtering
- Antivirus scanning of downloaded files stops threats before execution
- DNS filtering cuts botnet command-and-control communication channels
- Identify spoofed domains and warn users
Results
Threats are intercepted at the point of web access rather than discovered after the fact. Security teams spend less time on endpoint remediation and more time on strategic priorities.
Encrypted traffic inspection
Most web traffic today runs over HTTPS, including a growing share of malware and exfiltration
attempts. Without SSL inspection, encrypted sessions are a blind spot that attackers actively exploit.
Without GTT
- HTTPS traffic passes through security controls uninspected
- Malware hidden in encrypted streams reaches endpoints undetected
- Data exfiltration via encrypted channels goes unnoticed
- Compliance with content inspection mandates cannot be demonstrated
With GTT
- SSL/TLS decryption inspects encrypted sessions without degrading performance
- Full content scanning applied to HTTPS traffic, not just metadata
- DLP rules enforced against actual payload data, not just session headers
- Audit trails capture complete session visibility for compliance reporting
Results
Encrypted traffic stops being a security blind spot. Your policies apply everywhere regardless of whether traffic is plain or encrypted.
Policy enforcement and acceptable use
Organizations need to enforce consistent, documented policies across all users and demonstrate
compliance on demand
Without GTT
- No mechanism to block inappropriate or non-compliant content categories
- Policy violations go unrecorded, exposing the organization to audit risk
- Remote and hybrid users operate outside acceptable use controls
- Application-level access cannot be differentiated from domain-level controls
With GTT
- Content categories defined and enforced at the application and domain level
- Full session logging creates an immutable record of web activity
- Cloud-delivered enforcement applies equally across office, remote and mobile users
- Application-level controls allow nuanced policy
Results
Compliance becomes demonstrable, not aspirational. Policy violations drop and you get documented evidence of acceptable use enforcement posture.
Workforce productivity controls
Not every website is a threat, but not every website belongs in the workday either. SWG lets
organizations shape the browsing environment to maintain focus and protect bandwidth.
Without GTT
- Non-work browsing consumes bandwidth and reduces performance
- No way to differentiate between productive and unproductive web access during work hours
- IT lacks visibility into how web resources are being used across the organization
With GTT
- Restrict non-productive content categories during business hours
- Bandwidth shaping ensures high-priority applications aren’t degraded by recreational traffic
- Surface browsing patterns by user, group, category and site
Results
Your organization gains a cleaner and more compliant browsing environment where security and productivity reinforce each other rather than compete
How it works
GTT deploys SWG as a cloud-delivered service, fully integrated within the Secure Connect SASE
framework. There’s no hardware to procure, no appliances to manage and no performance penalty
from routing traffic through a centralized inspection point.
1
Design and policy configuration
We work with your team to map your acceptable use requirements and security risk profile. From that baseline, we configure URL filtering categories, SSL inspection rules, DLP policies and application controls, all tailored to your organizational structure and compliance needs.
2
Cloud deployment and integration
SWG activates within your existing Secure Connect SASE architecture, integrating directly with your identity provider, endpoint agents and SD-WAN fabric. Traffic from all users is routed through the inspection layer without configuration changes at the device level.
3
Monitoring and optimization
Once live, your web traffic is continuously inspected and logged. The GTT Envision platform gives you real-time dashboards and historical reporting. Our security operations team monitors for emerging threat categories and updates policies proactively to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape.
Discover more in our Cloud Security portfolio
Firewall as a Service (FWaaS)
Delivers next-generation firewall capabilities from the cloud. Engage consistent firewall protection for all users and locations without the need for physical or virtual appliances.
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)
Replaces legacy VPNs with secure application-level access. It grants access based on user identity and device posture, not network location, ensuring that only authorized users can access specific private applications.
Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)
Discovers and controls the use of SaaS applications. It gives you visibility into shadow IT enforces data loss prevention policies and ensures compliance for both sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud services.
Secure Remote Access
Enables users to safely access enterprise applications from anywhere by verifying identity, enforcing leastprivileged access, and applying continuous security controls independent of location.
Data Loss Protection (DLP)
Provides security control that prevents sensitive data from being exposed or exfiltrated by identifying, monitoring, and enforcing policies on data across users, devices, applications, and networks.
Frequent asked questions
What are the key features of a Secure Web Gateway?
SWG key features include web filtering, malware detection, URL categorization, SSL inspection, application control and user authentication.
Can a SWG block access to specific websites or categories of websites?
Yes. SWGs allow organizations to create and enforce web access policies, such as blocking certain websites and categories of websites (gambling, pornographic, social, etc.).
Do SWGs support remote users and mobile devices?
Yes. Many SWGs offer features for remote user protection (VPN support) and mobile device security.
Complete your solution
Managed SD-WAN
Connect remote and hybrid end-users to critical business applications while separating them from underlying network infrastructures, providing greater real-time security.
Managed Detection & Response
Monitor, validate and respond to security threats faster than ever. Leverage a best-in-class SIEM platform augmented with machine learning and automation to detect sophisticated threats in cloud environments.
DDoS Prevention
Maintain uptime to protect productivity, brand, reputation and revenue. Ensure business continuity by protecting your critical assets with GTT’s comprehensive DDoS solution.
SIP Trunking
Integrating diverse communication capabilities onto a single global platform
Cloud Connect
Optimize your business-critical applications and connect to a leading Cloud Service Provider
Our Gartner rating
Stop web threats before they cross your threshold
Every day without a Secure Web Gateway is another day of uninspected traffic and undetected threats. SWG gives you the visibility and control to change that without adding complexity or compromising performance.