What is a key characteristic of a secure web gateway (SWG)?

A secure web gateway (SWG) is primarily designed to enforce company security policies related to web traffic. This means it acts as a filter between users and the internet, ensuring that the traffic meets the organization’s security standards. The SWG analyzes web traffic in real time to protect users from malicious sites, prevent data leaks, and apply the organization’s access policies. This helps in managing risks associated with web usage, such as malware threats and inappropriate content.

Moreover, by providing this enforcement capability, the SWG helps organizations comply with regulatory requirements and maintain a secure operational environment. Therefore, the enforcement of company security policies for web traffic stands out as a core function and characteristic of a secure web gateway.

The other options do not align with the primary purpose of a secure web gateway. Monitoring internal network activities only would typically be the function of an internal security monitoring tool rather than an SWG. Providing online shopping access is not a feature of an SWG; rather, it can simply be one of the activities that the SWG monitors. Lastly, only allowing downloads from secure servers does not cover the comprehensive role of an SWG, which is to manage and enforce various web traffic policies and not just limit downloads.