I rate Symantec Secure Web Gateway a six out of ten. If you want a budget-friendly product, I recommend it. However, if you have a strong financial budget, I recommend Zscaler and Netskope.
Principal Enterprise Architect at Aurenav Sweden AB
Real User
Top 5
2022-09-21T13:05:42Z
Sep 21, 2022
I rate this solution a seven out of ten because of the usability issues and the cost of extra IT time to deal with the problems. The product is good, but I wish Symantec Secure Web Gateway would fix its web portal and license.
Pre-Sales Consultant | Cyber Security at Beta Information Technology
Reseller
2022-05-18T14:52:12Z
May 18, 2022
I'm a reseller. We are a Platinum Partner. It's a very good solution. I've used it for a decade and am overly pleased with it. For bandwidth management, I'd rate it nine out of ten. However, for security, maybe seven or eight out of ten.
Senior Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
2020-05-27T16:23:38Z
May 27, 2020
My advice for anybody who is considering this solution is to check the market because traditional proxy servers are becoming a thing of the past. Most web security servers are already in the cloud so I think that the normal flow of web traffic will not be examined internally. Also, for remote users, I think that it is better to use virtual, cloud-based platforms. Overall, this product is okay and it does that job that it is supposed to do. At the same time, I think that other products that have comparative features and are more user-friendly. They are outdated when it comes to presentation. I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Infrastructure Engineer at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Real User
2020-03-04T08:49:00Z
Mar 4, 2020
My advice to anyone considering this Symantec product as a solution is to first do a proof of concept. Do not roll it out completely. Doing the proof of concept makes you sure that you can target all of the different devices and complete the setup for your environment. The biggest lesson we have learned from working with this solution so far is that I now think the idea of a service pack file is a bit antiquated and Symantec needs to come away from that mindset. There are existing products that do not use it. That is where we have the biggest issues with the product when we do have issues with it. When we do have those issues, we have experienced complete outages within the whole organization. So I would definitely not recommend it over Cisco Umbrella as we have not experienced any similar issues with Umbrella. On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product as a six-and-a-half. If I have to choose a whole number I would round it down to the lower end — or a six in that case. To become better rated — at least nine — they definitely have to start with the idea of changing the service pack file concept and resolving that issue while moving into something more fluid. If they will fix that, the product could be rated at closer to a nine. But that it causes catastrophic issues is unacceptable. If they got rid of the service packs completely and use technology similar to Cisco Umbrella, that would likely resolve those issues.
Learn what your peers think about Symantec Secure Web Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
Sr. Consultant, Cyber Security at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
2020-01-07T06:27:00Z
Jan 7, 2020
Symantec Complete Website Security works similar to Zscaler, but I think Zscaler is better. For a web-based proxy, I think Zscaler would be my top choice, based on the feedback I have personally received from my customers. The problem with Complete Website Security is with the dot com transition and dealing with Symantec is becoming a problem right now. I think it will be okay in February but for now, I think Zscaler is the best cloud proxy. On a scale of 1 - 10, I'd rate it a six or seven due to a lack of features compared to its competition.
Principal Enterprise Architect at Aurenav Sweden AB
Real User
Top 5
2019-09-26T04:11:00Z
Sep 26, 2019
For general business purposes this is a good product. It works on Windows platforms. If you need something on other platforms, you may need to look for something else. I would rate it a seven out of ten.
Senior Logistics Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2019-04-18T09:59:00Z
Apr 18, 2019
On a scale of one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I'd give this solution a six out of ten. Primarily because of the lack of flexibility with technical support and because of the out-of-date features resulting in missing functionalities.
Symantec Secure Web Gateway is a comprehensive web security solution that provides advanced protection against web-based threats. It offers real-time threat detection and prevention, content filtering, and data loss prevention capabilities to safeguard organizations from web-based attacks. With its advanced threat intelligence and machine learning capabilities, it can detect and block even the most sophisticated web-based threats, including malware, phishing, and ransomware attacks. The...
I rate Symantec Secure Web Gateway a six out of ten. If you want a budget-friendly product, I recommend it. However, if you have a strong financial budget, I recommend Zscaler and Netskope.
I rate this solution a seven out of ten because of the usability issues and the cost of extra IT time to deal with the problems. The product is good, but I wish Symantec Secure Web Gateway would fix its web portal and license.
I'm a reseller. We are a Platinum Partner. It's a very good solution. I've used it for a decade and am overly pleased with it. For bandwidth management, I'd rate it nine out of ten. However, for security, maybe seven or eight out of ten.
I would rate Symantec Secure Web Gateway a seven out of ten.
My advice for anybody who is considering this solution is to check the market because traditional proxy servers are becoming a thing of the past. Most web security servers are already in the cloud so I think that the normal flow of web traffic will not be examined internally. Also, for remote users, I think that it is better to use virtual, cloud-based platforms. Overall, this product is okay and it does that job that it is supposed to do. At the same time, I think that other products that have comparative features and are more user-friendly. They are outdated when it comes to presentation. I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
My advice to anyone considering this Symantec product as a solution is to first do a proof of concept. Do not roll it out completely. Doing the proof of concept makes you sure that you can target all of the different devices and complete the setup for your environment. The biggest lesson we have learned from working with this solution so far is that I now think the idea of a service pack file is a bit antiquated and Symantec needs to come away from that mindset. There are existing products that do not use it. That is where we have the biggest issues with the product when we do have issues with it. When we do have those issues, we have experienced complete outages within the whole organization. So I would definitely not recommend it over Cisco Umbrella as we have not experienced any similar issues with Umbrella. On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product as a six-and-a-half. If I have to choose a whole number I would round it down to the lower end — or a six in that case. To become better rated — at least nine — they definitely have to start with the idea of changing the service pack file concept and resolving that issue while moving into something more fluid. If they will fix that, the product could be rated at closer to a nine. But that it causes catastrophic issues is unacceptable. If they got rid of the service packs completely and use technology similar to Cisco Umbrella, that would likely resolve those issues.
Symantec Complete Website Security works similar to Zscaler, but I think Zscaler is better. For a web-based proxy, I think Zscaler would be my top choice, based on the feedback I have personally received from my customers. The problem with Complete Website Security is with the dot com transition and dealing with Symantec is becoming a problem right now. I think it will be okay in February but for now, I think Zscaler is the best cloud proxy. On a scale of 1 - 10, I'd rate it a six or seven due to a lack of features compared to its competition.
For general business purposes this is a good product. It works on Windows platforms. If you need something on other platforms, you may need to look for something else. I would rate it a seven out of ten.
On a scale of one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I'd give this solution a six out of ten. Primarily because of the lack of flexibility with technical support and because of the out-of-date features resulting in missing functionalities.