Your internet gateway decides which websites, downloads and cloud services staff can reach, and what gets blocked. VOWTECH reviews that gateway for businesses in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and across the UAE, testing whether filtering, threat protection and policies really work as intended and recommending practical improvements.
Most businesses already have something filtering their internet traffic: a web filter on the firewall, a proxy, a cloud web security service or a unified threat management appliance. Far fewer have checked recently whether it is still doing its job. Rules accumulate, exceptions are added in a hurry, licences lapse and features are switched off to solve a complaint.
A Secure Internet Gateway Assessment is a focused review of that one control. We examine how it is configured, test what it blocks and what it lets through, and look at real traffic to see how the internet is actually being used, including by laptops that spend most of their time outside the office.
The result is a short, specific set of recommendations: settings to change, rules to remove, gaps to close and, where the platform has reached its limits, options for replacing it, whether with a newer firewall or a cloud-delivered service as part of a SASE approach.
Each one looks at the gateway from a different direction: the rules, the protection and the blind spots.
We read the rule base the way an auditor would: what is allowed, for whom, and why. Old exceptions, overlapping rules and categories left open by default are the usual findings.
Using safe test files and test sites, we check whether malware downloads, phishing pages and risky file types are stopped, and whether encrypted traffic is being inspected at all.
A gateway only protects traffic that passes through it. We look for the routes that do not: remote laptops, guest Wi-Fi, unmanaged devices, alternative DNS and personal VPN or proxy tools.
Six areas of review, reported together so you can see how they relate.
Firmware or service version, enabled security features, administrative access, high availability and backup of the configuration are reviewed against vendor hardening guidance.
Filtering policies are compared with what the business actually wants to allow. Redundant, shadowed and overly broad rules are identified for clean-up.
Controlled tests confirm whether known-bad categories, harmless test malware, phishing simulations and command-and-control style destinations are detected and blocked.
Gateway logs are analysed for top destinations, bandwidth-heavy applications, unsanctioned cloud services and signs of infected devices calling out.
We check that useful logs are being kept for long enough, that alerts reach someone, and that management reports exist. Logs can be fed to a SIEM solution where one is in place.
Findings are ranked and paired with specific changes, plus guidance on periodic rule reviews and monitoring so the gateway stays in good order.
The review is read-only until you approve changes, so normal browsing is not interrupted.
We gather the configuration, licence status, network placement and administrative settings.
Filtering rules, exceptions and user mappings are analysed against your intended policy.
Protection is tested safely and gateway logs are analysed for risky or unexpected traffic.
Proposed changes are discussed, and approved adjustments can be applied by our engineers.
You receive the findings, the agreed actions and advice on keeping policies current.
Web browsing and email links remain the everyday routes by which malware reaches a business.
Years of quick exceptions leave gaps nobody remembers approving. A review restores a rule base people can understand.
Without TLS inspection a gateway sees very little. The assessment shows how much of your traffic is actually being examined.
Filtering that protects only the office network misses roaming laptops. We identify how to extend it.
VOWTECH, based in Abu Dhabi, can implement the recommended changes as well as report them.
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