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Forcepoint SWG

Forcepoint SWG
Formerly Forcepoint Web Security

Overview

What is Forcepoint SWG?

The Forcepoint ONE Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is one of the three foundational gateways of the Forcepoint ONE all-in-one cloud platform. Forcepoint ONE SWG monitors and controlsany interaction with any website, including blocking access to websites based on category and…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway has proven to be a valuable tool for organizations in various departments, ensuring secure browsing of the …
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TrustRadius Insights
TrustRadius Insights

Forcepoint Security

10 out of 10
December 10, 2020
Incentivized
It's a good solution and works for us in hybrid as well as central proxy. We are currently using this solution throughout the …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

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Product Demos

Mac OS Endpoint Installation | Forcepoint Web Security Cloud

YouTube
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Product Details

What is Forcepoint SWG?

The Forcepoint ONE Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is one of the three foundational gateways of the Forcepoint ONE all-in-one cloud platform. Forcepoint ONE SWG monitors and controlsany interaction with any website, including blocking access to websites based on category and risk score, blocking download of malware, blocking upload of sensitive data to personal filesharing accounts, detecting shadow IT, and optionally providingRemote Browser Isolation (RBI) with Content Disarm andReconstruction (CDR).

Forcepoint SWG Features

  • Supported: Shadow IT discovery and risk ranking
  • Supported: Cloud Application Control and full CASB upgrade
  • Supported: Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
  • Supported: Cloud Sandbox

Forcepoint SWG Video

Forcepoint Web Security Cloud Features

Forcepoint SWG Competitors

Forcepoint SWG Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

The Forcepoint ONE Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is one of the three foundational gateways of the Forcepoint ONE all-in-one cloud platform. Forcepoint ONE SWG monitors and controlsany interaction with any website, including blocking access to websites based on category and risk score, blocking download of malware, blocking upload of sensitive data to personal filesharing accounts, detecting shadow IT, and optionally providingRemote Browser Isolation (RBI) with Content Disarm andReconstruction (CDR).

Zscaler Internet Access and Netskope Public Cloud Security are common alternatives for Forcepoint SWG.

The most common users of Forcepoint SWG are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(137)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway has proven to be a valuable tool for organizations in various departments, ensuring secure browsing of the internet and addressing a range of security concerns. Users have reported that the application effectively blocks malicious threats while allowing users to browse the internet, providing an effective layer of security. This has helped organizations protect their computers and laptops from potential threats, giving IT departments peace of mind.

Additionally, the software has been instrumental in managing productivity, as it enables different departments to access specific categories of websites and allows managers to review internet activity. HR teams have found value in the user site visit data managed by Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway, which has proven helpful in certain cases. Moreover, the ability to quickly generate standard reports from the report catalog has made it easier for organizations to monitor web traffic and measure internet usage.

In public-sector organizations, the software ensures that users and staff are accessing websites aligned with mission goals. Libraries have leveraged its functionality to enable filtering of staff and patron internet usage, meeting requirements for CIPA compliance and qualifying for E-Rate funding.

Customers have also praised Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway's scalability and ease of deployment across multiple locations. The granular delegation of administration via active directory has allowed local departments to implement their own rule sets, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.

Overall, customers have found this product to be a reliable solution for securing web traffic, preventing threats, managing productivity, and ensuring compliance with organizational policies.

Helpful and Clear Help Articles: Reviewers have praised the clear and helpful help articles provided by Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway. These articles were found to be a valuable resource in understanding and utilizing the software effectively, with some users mentioning that they served as a comprehensive reference point for various tasks and functionalities. The availability of these detailed and informative articles not only contributed to a smoother learning curve but also helped troubleshoot issues independently, reducing the reliance on customer service support.

Time-saving Feature: Users appreciate the time-saving aspect of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway's clear and easily accessible help articles. With these resources readily available, reviewers mentioned being able to find answers to their questions quickly, allowing them to continue working without interruptions. This feature has been particularly useful in minimizing downtime caused by seeking support from customer service or navigating complex user manuals.

Commitment to Customer Satisfaction: The inclusion of clear help articles demonstrates Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway's commitment to customer satisfaction. Reviewers highlighted how this comprehensive resource eliminates unnecessary back-and-forth communication with customer support, as it provides extensive information upfront. By offering detailed guidance through these articles, Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway ensures users have access to reliable self-help options, enhancing overall user experience.

  1. Poor User Interface: Multiple users have expressed frustration with the confusing and non-user-friendly interface of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway, making it difficult to navigate and causing difficulties during installation.

  2. Limited Configuration Options: Some users feel that the software lacks flexibility in defining usage, as the options for configuring policies and exceptions are limited compared to other available options in the market.

  3. Slow Support Response Times: Users have reported slower support response times compared to other vendors, with issues taking 3 to 5 days to resolve, indicating a need for more efficient and responsive customer support from Forcepoint.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 75)
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July 13, 2022

Protects the organization

Verified User
Consultant in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Forcepoint Web Security is well suited because it provides on-premises as well as cloud functionality, so instead of fully migrating to cloud we can have a few users on on-prem and few on cloud. It gets easy to identify which users should be on cloud or on-prem. It is always better to use a generic policy for everyone, otherwise it can cause issues while creating exceptions. The scenario where it is less appropriate is when there is a function where the agent can automatically get updated but when we do that, the agent does not get updated properly, which causes a lot of trouble as we need to uninstall the agent and then re-install it.
October 18, 2021

Meets requirements but in our experience does not lend itself well to remote workers

Verified User
Strategist in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 5001-10,000 employees
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Over the years, [in our experience], the maintenance of the Forcepoint Web Security solution proved to be more cumbersome and troublesome with each version upgrade. In addition, it did not transition well to support the large increase of remote workers. We also experienced weird incompatibilities with the client. We have since replaced this solution with Zscaler Internet Access, a cloud-based secure web gateway solution with a client that behaves as expected, is more flexible, and requires significantly less administration.
October 15, 2021

Forcepoint Web Security: Content security for SMB, which is good enough for even large enterprises

Verified User
General Manager in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are looking for web security with DLP, it works well, but if you are more interested in application-level visibility and granular control and CASB integration, then it has some scope to improve. For roaming users, DNS and non-web protocol control [are] not of industry standard.
October 15, 2021

Forcepoint Web Security: Secures Your Browsing Traffic

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad Company, 51-200 employees
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It can be used as [an] explicit proxy, especially when combined with a proxy PAC file that lists the exceptions, and we have a lot of them (e.g., Microsoft apps like Teams). Then the exceptions will bypass the proxy and need to be able to pass through the firewall. A transparent setup should be possible, but we never got it to work reliably, [...] because this depends on [a] redirection by switches or firewalls, for which no modern protocol is being supported.
September 26, 2021

Extend content and threat protection to off-premises EUC

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Mining & Metals Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Forcepoint Web Security is well suited to tightly controlled corporate environments where policy enforcement, centralized management, and off-network protection of end-user compute devices is important. On mixed-use networks, loosely controlled environments, and environments with a mixture of mobile, BYOD, and guest devices, it is less well suited.
August 15, 2021

Forcepoint Web Security: An application that does what we expect it to do

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Utilities Company, 201-500 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
[Forcepoint Web Security is well suited] if you have an organization where there are quite a few servers and PCs that access the internet. If a user's internet usage logging is needed, then this product is well suited for your environment. If you have a smaller organization, Forcepoint Web Security may be overkill for your establishment.
May 26, 2021

Forcepoint Web Security- The Industy leader in Content filtering and Security

Chandan Singh Rathore | TrustRadius Reviewer
Chandan Singh Rathore
Senior Technical Consultant
iValue InfoSolutions Pvt. Ltd. (Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Likelihood to Recommend
Forcepoint Web Security is a suited solution for all the kinds of organizations who are accessing the web internet, be it small size, mid-size or larger organizations. Its content filtering feature is just awesome which is not available with other vendors. If you want to allow Sports category and block movie category on the same URL (youtube) then this kind of scenario can be achieved by Forcepoint Web Security. It has intuitive management and reporting and the largest intel database.
December 28, 2020

Reassured Cybersecurity

Verified User
Employee in Customer Service
Financial Services Company, 5001-10,000 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Forcepoint most importantly helps protect the organization from various cyber threats and has supported our organization by identifying and flagging suspicious activity that otherwise may not have ever been discovered. Fine-tuning for web filtering and DLP has enabled to minimize false positives while supporting the security posture of the organization.
December 10, 2020

Forcepoint killed 'em all!

Andrea Bet | TrustRadius Reviewer
Andrea Bet
Network & Security Administrator
Permasteelisa Group (Civil Engineering, 5001-10,000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It suits well on site offices, using cloud proxy defining the filtered location.

As above, worst scenarios of implementation are countries where government intercepts and modifies secured connections.
In those locations we had to disable cloud proxy and permits access using only local Content Gateways.

Also for VPN users, to grant them to accesso to Gsuite, we set up to allow them to use office Internet line to access this service.
November 24, 2020

Forcepoint Web Security offers comfort and security

JL
Justin Leos
IT Manager
VNA Hospice & Palliative Care of Southern California (Hospital & Health Care, 201-500 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I strongly believe every small organization or IT department can benefit from Forcepoint. The dashboard is a quick way to see what is going on in your environment. The application is set it and forget it and gives me a strong secure feeling knowing malicious sites or content is being updating constantly. User do not know it is on their machine or device. They are alerted by a page saying that is a blocked site, if they really need access, they let me know and if I approve, I can quickly give them access.
November 08, 2020

Forcepoint: Great results easily implemented.

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 201-500 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Due to the diverse and roaming demography of our users, Forcepoint suits us with its global flexibility and its ease of use, endpoint and web interface management, and deployment. Providing trends and user habits has been great for reports to the business, as well as defense security blocking reports presented at board reporting intervals.
October 30, 2020

Secure web experience for everyone

RG
RAJEEV GUJRAL
Sr. Project Officer (Tech. Mgmt.)
DoIT&C, Govt. of Rajasthan (Government Administration, 5001-10,000 employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Protection from web traffic, content filtering etc. are the best use-cases. Not suited for large organisations having private WAN with multiple ISPs and intend to use it a transparent proxy for all outbound traffic. It supports only HTTP and required non-HTTP traffic to be divereted to some other appliance. Web and Email being one of the most common requirements of any organisation, support for Email protocols is also a must.
October 13, 2020

Forcepoint Web Security - The Only Choice

GP
Gareth Petersen
Infrastrucuture Engineer
City of Armadale (Government Administration, 501-1000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Without disclosing too much information Forcepoint Web Security is well suited in HR related issues where performance management/productivity or breach of internet use policy is questioned. The reporting can be very granular and damming for individuals being investigated.
It is less appropriate for real-time monitoring as this is not possible at this point in time from what I understand.
October 13, 2020

From Websense to Forcepoint

RN
Rafique Narejo
Network Security Manager
Healthpoint Hospital (Hospital & Health Care, 501-1000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Forcepoint Web Security is the best by far I have come across for on-campus web security gateway implementation. I would recommend it for all those who are budget concerned but really serious about protecting their assets with less effort and lower maintenance costs. Forcepoint Web Security is a reliever of browsing worries. However, I had some concerns with hybrid deployment where some ISP connection was not making it through but have heard it's been fixed with the latest releases.
September 30, 2020

New and liking Forcepoint

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Machinery Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Forcepoint all the way around is a very good web security tool. In my opinion is well suited for organizations that have multiple remote sites in the states and around the world. Given that you can manage the whole organization from the cloud, I believe a company will benefit from using Forcepoint web security. Scenarios where it may be less appropriate and the company could possibly save money by going with something simpler, could be a small company. A single office company with no remote users. I strongly believe Forcepoint will still work well for this type of companies, however the company would not be taking advantage of all the Forcepoint Web Security benefits.
September 10, 2020

I am not a web security expert. Thanks to Forecpoint, I don't have to be.

Verified User
Director in Information Technology
Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing Company, 51-200 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It is suited for any company that needs to monitor web usage and block sites that are dangerous or inappropriate. I honestly cannot think of any scenarios where Forcepoint Web Security isn't a valuable tool.
April 14, 2020

Forcepoint helps our SOC be proactive

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Hospital & Health Care Company, 5001-10,000 employees
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Forcepoint Web Security is for companies that have well-established policies that are clearly defined. The cloud deployment is useful for companies that want an easier deployment and a mostly remote workforce. The hybrid works better for a company that has internal resources that have the knowledge to deploy and manage a proxy environment.
January 27, 2020

Solid Web Security

Jay Stelmach | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jay Stelmach
Senior Network Engineer
Southern New Hampshire University (Banking, 201-500 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
We deployed it across the entire company. We are using just the Web Security Gateway portion of the product at this point. We use a 95% virtualized workstation environment (VDI). We were able to add the agent to all of our VDI clients before resynchronizing them and we used GPO to push out the agents to our physical devices. We are leveraging the cloud based system and it is working very well for us. Our previous solution would not allow us to download at speeds greater than 1Mbps and ForcePoint allows us to leverage our full bandwidth. It allows us to monitor and block web pages as necessary. We now only need to block on content and productivity since Forcepoint always scans the content. This is a specific distinction because many people block webpages due to risk and with Forcepoint, we don't have to worry about risk. We can focus on productivity factor of the websites instead. Due to the flexibility of the product, I cannot imagine the product not being able to handle any scenario.
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