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Cisco Web Security Appliance vs Symantec Proxy comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.4
iboss improved bandwidth and security for remote work, but per-device fees and Mac agent delays prompted vendor alternatives.
Sentiment score
6.7
Cisco Web Security Appliance provides valuable security with positive ROI, especially during heightened threats, justifying the investment.
Sentiment score
6.2
Users find Symantec Proxy beneficial for security but costly for small businesses, with mixed opinions on ROI.
With iboss, whenever you turn on your laptop, the iboss agent automatically connects to the iboss cloud, enforcing all security policies. So with respect to the security side, it strengthens measures.
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I have seen some cost effectiveness from iboss; it has reduced certain support requirements, making it a more hands-off solution.
Managing Director
For supercritical businesses, there should be a return on investment due to the enhanced security features and resilience.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
Iboss customer service receives mixed reviews, with praise for responsiveness and criticism for communication and resolution delays.
Sentiment score
6.4
Cisco Web Security support feedback is mixed, with varied satisfaction based on responsiveness and technician expertise across different tiers.
Sentiment score
4.9
Symantec Proxy support varies post-Broadcom, with mixed reviews on response time, expertise, and improvement efforts acknowledged by users.
They are very fast, responsive, and knowledgeable.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
The quality of the support is fantastic.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
We had promising discussions about resolving these issues, but no real action followed.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Generally, the response time for resolving issues is getting slower.
Security Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Support services are lagging and not very responsive.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Iboss exhibits reliable scalability with easy resource expansion, accommodating high demand smoothly while maintaining performance and flexibility.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Web Security Appliance scales well, integrates with devices, supports virtual environments, and suits large organizations despite clustering issues.
Sentiment score
7.4
Symantec Proxy is generally scalable, with cloud setups preferred for ease, handling varying users well but needing model updates.
They are also able to meet on-demand requirements based on your contract with them, and can easily provide adequate resources and scalability.
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
If I start seeing sluggishness or anything like that, I just reach out to my rep, and they connect with their dev team, typically resolving it the same day.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
iboss is highly stable with 99% uptime, minor deployment challenges, and receives strong performance ratings of 7-9 out of 10.
Sentiment score
7.8
Cisco Web Security Appliance is stable and reliable, though potential issues arise from infrastructure complexity and power management.
Sentiment score
7.4
Symantec Proxy is stable and reliable, but some users report glitches, hardware issues, and occasional high latency.
It's been pretty solid; I've never had an outage with them, and if I ever had, it's only been once out of the seven years.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
We've experienced zero downtime.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device despite our ClearPass sending information to the iboss box.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
It is very stable, a product that I put on the network, and it will run for a very long time.
Security Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Stability depends on the platform on which it is deployed and the number of users.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

iboss struggles with Mac support, integration issues, performance limitations, and needs improvements in security features and user configurations.
Cisco Web Security Appliance requires better UI, automation, pricing flexibility, tech support, integration, mobile compatibility, and enhanced features.
Symantec Proxy struggles with SSL inspection, user interface, performance, and needs improvements in security features and AI capabilities.
It is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
We also had a problem with a transition when we upgraded from one appliance of theirs to another, but their engineer lost a good deal of our data.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc.
Once it is done correctly, the functionality and reports become valuable, although the implementation part can still be challenging.
Security Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
The product needs improvement in support services, as they are lagging and not very responsive when we raise concerns or queries, especially in terms of significant impact.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
AI features could potentially improve the proxy by helping build rules more efficiently, suggesting unused rules, and enhancing preference setting.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

Iboss offers competitive and transparent pricing, often cheaper than Broadcom and Check Point, despite annual cost increases.
Cisco Web Security Appliance is costly, suitable for larger enterprises, and aligns with market trends for robust security features.
Symantec Proxy is seen as costly, with complex renewals and significant financial commitment, prompting users to explore alternatives.
It offers the same features you would get from a vendor that charges 250,000 British pounds for a fraction of the price.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
The following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern.
Managing Director
Cisco is not a product for small companies due to its pricing.
Security Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Pricing is difficult to specify as Broadcom sells platforms that include multiple products, making it hard to determine the exact cost for the proxy component.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Valuable Features

iboss provides advanced security features, seamless cloud management, and scalability with user-friendly integration and robust threat protection capabilities.
Cisco Web Security Appliance offers strong web protection, user-friendly operation, scalability, and seamless integration for enterprise security needs.
Symantec Proxy offers caching, URL filtering, policy creation, and advanced security features, highly regarded for ease, stability, and integration.
The solution's mental health function can detect if someone needs help.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
It's given us a lot more visibility into our computer assets that may be infected with viruses and also shows us people who have unusually large uploads or might be engaging in high-risk activities, such as searches or going to sites not categorized by their web crawler.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
iboss was the best solution for us because, no matter what domain you were in, everything is under a single pane of glass, which is exactly what we wanted.
Managing Director
When I integrate these three products, it efficiently prevents malware, showing which endpoint is affected and providing a comprehensive view of the endpoint connections.
Security Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
The most valuable features are content inspection, caching, SSL encryption, decryption, WAN optimization, and more.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The integration with FireGlass has been essential since both solutions are from Broadcom, enhancing compatibility.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

iboss
Sponsored
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (8th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th)
Cisco Web Security Appliance
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
18th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Proxy
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
12th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 2.8%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Web Security Appliance is 1.7%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Proxy is 1.8%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
iboss2.8%
Symantec Proxy1.8%
Cisco Web Security Appliance1.7%
Other93.7%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support
The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.
Vusa Ndlovu - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Advanced protection features offer robust security while integration process presents challenges
With the WebAssign integration, it is not easy when I am integrating policies within the company, especially with NAND and wireless policies. The challenge arises when traffic is blocked from either wireless or wired connections. Although implementing it as a standalone is quicker, integrating BYOD with Cisco I and FTB can be tiring. Once it is done correctly, the functionality and reports become valuable, although the implementation part can still be challenging.
Ganesh Basappa - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Granular control for web traffic with enhanced content inspection, but support needs improvement
There are many use cases in terms of content inspection, such as having granular control for file type extensions when trying to download file types by default. It depends on the requirements, and based on that, we customize policies. We have deployed it in an Azure infrastructure, and we have…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
26%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
31%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
iboss can increase security in cyberspace. I have heard they are doing DDoS filtering, but I am not certain if they a...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
I use iboss for corporate VPN and all the corporate VRF, with basically all user traffic proxying to the internet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern. There are cheaper alte...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Web Security Appliance?
Comparing with other products, Cisco has more functionality, but pricing is a challenge. Cisco is not a product for s...
What needs improvement with Cisco Web Security Appliance?
With the WebAssign integration, it is not easy when I am integrating policies within the company, especially with NAN...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Web Security Appliance?
The user interface that I usually provide for the web app includes malware protection, URL filtering, data loss preve...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Proxy?
Pricing is difficult to specify as Broadcom sells platforms that include multiple products, making it hard to determi...
What needs improvement with Symantec Proxy?
AI features could potentially improve the proxy by helping build rules more efficiently, suggesting unused rules, and...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Proxy?
I use Symantec Proxy for surfing the internet from internal to external networks. My endpoints do not have direct acc...
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
Cisco WSA, Cisco Web Security
Blue Coat Encrypted Traffic Management, ProxySG Appliance
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Caixa Seguradora
Jefferies
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Web Security Appliance vs. Symantec Proxy and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
890,071 professionals have used our research since 2012.