Symantec Web Protection Review and Alternatives

In this post, we will look at a Symantec Web Protection review and alternatives for you to choose from. We will also have a look at the features that make the Symantec product a leader in the data loss prevention software market and decide if it or one of the alternatives is the right choice for you.

What is Symantec Web Protection?

Symantec Web Protection is a comprehensive, and very flexible, Secure Web Gateway (SWG) built for the modern enterprise regardless of their architectures – Edge, Cloud, or Hybrid deployments.

Symantec Web Protection is a simple, flexible, and integrable entry point for the industry’s most comprehensive, single-vendor secure access service edge (SASE) solution.

Its main purpose is to protect businesses across mobile, applications, web, and social media networks. Symantec Web Protection acts as a proxy between users and the internet to identify malicious websites and payloads and to control access to sensitive content.

What does Symantec Web Protection consist of?

Symantec Web Protection is an amalgamation of tools rather than just one product. The collection of features includes, among others:

• Intelligence Services Users get an accurate and granular web application control policy engine for web and cloud access protection. This feature harnesses the power of a collaborative cloud defense Control access to web content which also blocks web threats with advanced threat defense and real-time global threat intelligence.
• High-risk isolation Administrators can set policies that block websites that are deemed too risky or are not known. This feature also executes any scripts or other content remotely and only sends back the rendered information to the user. Alternatively, they can simply assign read-only permissions for added protection.
• Deep File Inspection and Sandboxing This is a feature that performs malware detection on files. Its emulation is integrated with other solutions for enhanced security including Email Security Service, Endpoint Protection, CASB, and more.
• Centralized Management and Reporting Insightful reports are available on a role-based access basis. Information can be gleaned from cloud-hosted logs for visibility of user traffic from any location with longer standard reporting and retention periods.
• Web Application Firewall (WAF) Signature-based engines block known attack patterns and advanced signature-less engines that are designed to uncover unknown and zero-day attacks in the web traffic. The feature conducts advanced threat analysis on inbound and outbound traffic.

Advantages of Symantec Web Protection?

Let’s have a look at some advantages of Symantec Web Protection:

• It has on-premises strategies to prioritize security and control, keeping sensitive data and traffic under local lock and key.
• It has cloud-first strategies that prioritize agility and economy, using elastic, redundant cloud infrastructure wherever possible.
• Its hybrid strategies prioritize the data security and control needed for fixed locations with the direct-to-net user experience and flexibility favored by remote employees.
• Administrators can continue to invest in legacy systems and future-proof them by integrating them with Symantec Web Protection Suite for enhanced technology, flexibility, and scalability.

What makes Symantec Web Protection stand out?

Features that make Symantec Web Protection stand out include:

• User-friendly Symantec Web Protection requires little administration; it is easy to set up and starts running on its own, right out of the box.
• Scalable and stable As a cloud-based SWG, it is a reliable solution that is deployed across a cloud-native, highly scalable, and performance-intensive infrastructure built on Google Cloud.
• On-premises SWG In the on-premises version, it is an SWG software-as-a-service solution that is run as a virtual appliance within the data center. Market share leading on-premises software deployed on a virtual machine or Symantec hardware (not included).
• Content analysis and cloud sandboxing Multi-layered inspection and sandboxing contain threats that aren’t detected by traditional analysis. Isolating and tackling the threats is the most effective way to handle file-based malware. This also includes remote execution of content from suspicious or high-risk and unknown sites.
• Multi-reporting channels Several reporting features include centralized management and reporting for Symantec network infrastructure as well as reporting on cloud-based traffic logs that all help with increasing security, reducing risks, and cutting costs.
• Intelligence services Real-time protection, categorization, and application control of web content; the Symantec gateway filters URLs into easily managed categories for precision policy enforcement.

Features to look for when looking for alternatives to Symantec Web Protection

Here are some features to look for when looking for alternatives to Symantec Web Protection:

• Logging of accessed sites URL filters control access to the websites visited by users. It achieves this by checking requested URLs against a list of blocked URLs.
• Creating and implementing web security policies Administrators should have the flexibility to create granular control policies to enforce a company’s data and information usage.
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP) This feature streamlines access control to sensitive information and ensures that they don’t leave the network by preventing data sharing outside the organization.
• Antivirus Continuous monitoring of traffic for malicious content and removal of viruses, trojans, and malware.
• Web Proxying Monitoring web requests to ensure they pass through it for help with URL filtering and checking for malicious content.
• Sandboxing Provision of a test environment to understand the impact of allowing suspicious requests to ensure that networks are not affected by traffic coming from malicious sources.
• Price An affordable (or even free) solution that is worth the investment by protecting the network and its users from outside attacks.

Symantec Web Protection price

Information on the price of Symantec Web Protection is only available via their sales page.

Symantec Web Protection Alternatives

Let us have a look at some of the best Symantec Web Protection. They are:

1. Perimeter81

Perimeter 81 is an easy-to-use and easy-to-deploy SWG that protects networks from web-based cyberattacks. It also helps with compliance using cyber rules. It is also extensible and comes with extensive components to keep your network safe.

Key Features:

• This tool is easy to use thanks to an intuitive UI and the step-by-step guides, in-house support, and live chat to ensure a smooth operation.
• Perimeter 81 Web is a cloud-hosted service that prevents users from accessing websites that are deemed malicious by the administrators.
• Near real-time monitoring is available on a dashboard that is updated every one or two minutes and shows information like users, active sessions, applications, licenses, gateways, and more in a filterable view to help with presenting information needed to manage a network.
• They can also categorize external sites as being “Allowed”, “Warned” or “Denied” depending on their content or the users’ permissions to protect the network.
• Administrators can zero in on detailed information by hovering over graphs that show details of specific data points on the bars.
• All the information is made easily available using detailed reports of users’ web activity; the data is also exportable for further analysis or auditing.

Try Perimeter 81 – request a demo for FREE.

2. Barracuda Web Security Gateway

Barracuda Web Security Gateway is a part of the company’s SASE Web Security and Filtering solution. It provides complete protection against, management, and reporting on internet-based threats.

Key Features:

• It offers comprehensive protection against all top 10 Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) attacks, zero-day attacks, data leakage, and DDoS attacks.
• It uses layered traffic processing and Smart Signatures that use fewer attack-detecting signatures to detect and stop over 40 types of attacks.
• It leverages cloud-based machine learning to defend against bad bots, spam, inventory hoarding, website scraping, account takeovers, and more.
• Monitor outbound traffic for sensitive data leakage of information containing sensitive data like credit card numbers, social security numbers, or any other custom pattern formats. They can be blocked or masked without administrator intervention. The information is all logged and can be used to trace leaks.
• It visualizes traffic patterns – with drill-down capabilities – into individual bots and detailed reports that help identify scripts and where they are used, their configurations, and statuses.
• Barracuda also comes with a Web Application Firewall (WAF) that integrates with many popular Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions out of the box.

Try Barracuda Web Security Gateway for FREE.

3. Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is a data-first security-focused platform that protects the data in the full stack – from endpoint to cloud. It is a fast tool with surprising speed and peer-to-peer partnerships. It is also flexible and automatically scales up or down depending on traffic needs.

Key Features:

• With this tool, decisions are made at the endpoint level to allow users to directly visit trusted sites. Traffic from suspicious websites is inspected in the cloud and, in the case of Zero Trust protection, it is isolated with Forcepoint RBI.
• It is an on-device solution that allows for mobile monitoring of gadgets used by remote workforces. It decrypts and inspects data on the devices and also has the capability of wiping company data from managed devices.
• Administrators can also prevent regulated data or intellectual property from being copied to personal file storage, social media platforms, or external email accounts. The tool scans file uploads and HTTPS Post methods for such sensitive data and blocks the transfer if any are found.
• The tool protects users’ privacy and organization data by preventing decryption and inspection of traffic destined to or from specific types of websites that are typically used with personally identifiable information (PII) in sensitive banking, healthcare, and insurance environments, for example.
• This SWG is also effective at protecting networks against malware, scanning download files, and controlling access to malicious websites as well as the Zero Trust tactic of isolating infected files for cleaning or deletion.

Try Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway – request a demo for FREE.

4. Skyhigh Security Secure Web Gateway

Skyhigh Security Secure Web Gateway offers real-time protection. It is an intelligent, cloud-native web security solution that connects and secures networks from malicious websites and cloud apps. It runs from anywhere, in any application, and on any device.

Key Features:

• Apart from being an SWG it also has an integrated CASB functionality that extends data protection to all websites and cloud applications.
• It extends existing on-premises DLP policies to the cloud quickly and with ease.
• The tool offers a single pane of glass for incidents, policies, and workflows across multiple environments and architectures.
• It also integrates with leading third-party security solutions and has certified interoperability with industry leaders in the SD-WAN market like Cisco, Vmware, and Fortinet.
• It comes with one of the industry’s largest repositories of over 30,000 cloud applications in its database and with over 60 attributes.
• Skyhigh offers a secure browsing experience by preventing malicious code in websites from reaching, executing, or attacking client browsers with its RBI.

Try Skyhigh Security Secure Web Gateway – request a demo for FREE.

5. Netskope Next-Gen Secure Web Gateway

Netskope Next-Gen Secure Web Gateway is a robust cloud-delivered product from the leading providers of SSE and CASB solutions.

Key Features:

• It prevents malware, detects advanced threats, filters websites by category, protects data, and controls apps, and cloud services for any user, location, or device.
• It has single-pass advanced threat and data protection with behavior anomaly detection as well as web and cloud granular policy controls, for instance, activity, and data.
• It has a single cloud control with shared policy controls for SWG, DLP, and cloud or SaaS security.
• It offers a mature inline proxy that has cloud performance capability and global scalability to protect any user, device, or location under its jurisdiction.
• Additional features Included are threat intel feeds, web IPS, pre-execution analysis, cloud sandboxing, cloud firewall, as well as security stack integrations with endpoints, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR), and other third-party security solutions.

Try Netskope Next-Gen Secure Web Gateway – request a demo for FREE.

6. Cisco Umbrella

Cisco Umbrella is a flexible cloud-delivered security solution that combines multiple security functions into one platform. This product, from one of the leading technology companies in the world, extends data protection to devices, remote users, and distributed locations anywhere.

Key Features:

• It has an SWG that logs and inspects internet traffic for control of internet traffic for full visibility and protection against malware.
• It steers traffic to a cloud-based proxy to enforce acceptable use policies and prevent advanced threats.
• The Umbrella Investigate, a tool that is available via a console and API, provides real-time context on malware, phishing, botnets, trojans, and other threats for faster incident investigation and resolution.
• It logs all activity for easier monitoring and resolution of events via Umbrella’s Investigate threat intelligence console, and the Cisco SecureX Extended detection and response (XDR) solution.
• Apart from SWG it also functions as a DNS Security, a cloud-delivered firewall, and a CASB solution.

Try Cisco Umbrella – FREE for 14 days.

Conclusion: Symantec Web Protection review and alternatives

In this Symantec Web Protection review and alternatives, we have seen that this tool is an ideal solution for SMBs and larger organizations. It is a tool that ensures everyone on the network is safe at all times as they go about their online activities.

We would like to hear your opinions on the product. Leave us a comment below.