Fast SSE? We’re Delivering It In Partnership With Google Cloud

• Symantec launched Symantec Cloud SWG Express Connect, a faster, simpler way to adopt SSE protections at office or data center locations, by directly integrating Symantec's security stack into Google’s Cloud WAN solution.
• Symantec Cloud SWG Express Connect with Google’s Cloud WAN delivers up to 100x higher bandwidth levels compared to the GRE- or IPsec-based connectivity options found in competitor solutions.
• Symantec Cloud SWG Express Connect achieves these extreme bandwidth levels without the need for VPN tunnels or complex traffic load balancing schemes, allowing customers, for the first time, to secure massive user and application workloads in the cloud.
• Learn more by watching Jason Rolleston, General Manager of Broadcom’s Enterprise Security Group, discuss this breakthrough with Muninder Sambi, Vice President of Cloud Networking at Google Cloud. 

Last week at Google Cloud Next, we brought some very good news to cybersecurity professionals who are in search of effective cloud protections, but may be leery of performance and data path complexity.

Today, Symantec is announcing the launch of Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway (SWG) Express Connect—a blisteringly fast implementation of our core Security Service Edge (SSE) protections. Symantec Cloud SWG Express Connect takes a massive leap forward in performance, eclipsing previous workload size limitations inherent in SSE solutions.  With Express Connect, customers can securely scale SSE connectivity from office or data center locations to the Symantec Enterprise Cloud with Google’s new Cloud WAN solution in increments of 10 or 100 Gbps–without the need for a single VPN tunnel, load balancer or SD-WAN device.

Symantec Cloud SWG Express Connect delivers the kind of performance people normally don’t associate with SSE for a simple reason: Our long partnership with Google Cloud has culminated in placing the Symantec Cloud security stack directly on Google Cloud. The result is bandwidth that’s up to 100X greater than that of competing solutions relying on GRE VPN tunnels.

Fast, secure, unstoppable 

As the foundation upon which SSE services and features operate, cloud-based SWG systems traditionally are hampered by overhead from the inherent complexity of ISP network connections and VPN tunneling. Symantec Cloud SWG Express Connect reduces that overhead by replacing standard IPsec connectivity with redundant, direct fiber interconnects drilling straight into Google Cloud with their Cloud WAN solution. This means Symantec customers have access to the Symantec security stack without having to rely on unreliable public internet routing and VPN communications for data transfer.

This innovative integration also spares customers from the pain and fragility of spinning up multiple VPN tunnels and then load balancing their traffic across those tunnels to reach the SSE stack. In fact, even as it delivers world-class SSE protections, the extraordinary bandwidth of Symantec Security running on Google Cloud results in real-world performance that’s often faster than sending data across the public internet with no security protections at all. 

Intense development work by both parties—and Symantec’s ability to leverage the Google Cloud NCC Gateway part of the Cloud WAN solution—have produced efficiencies that result in SSE performance levels typically only found with unsecured, direct internet connections. The combination of Symantec Cloud SWG on Google Cloud delivered as much as 144% greater throughput and 62% lower latency than the public internet, according to testing by the Tolly Group. Add Express Connect to the equation, and you’re looking at an opportunity to enjoy performance levels not yet delivered by any SSE vendor at any price.

Other capabilities make Symantec Cloud SWG Express Connect a win for security teams. The platform is well suited for massive server and user workloads. And because VPN tunnels aren’t required, you probably won’t need to upgrade your firewall hardware to account for encryption and encapsulation overhead. This approach is also more secure, because with direct interconnect to Google Cloud, your data isn’t routed through a patchwork of third-party ISPs to get from your internet tower to our service in  Google Cloud.

“As a result of Symantec’s collaboration with Google Cloud, customers gain the benefit of exceptional security protections while also enabling accelerated world class performance,” said Muninder Sambi, VP of Cloud Networking at Google Cloud. “This is a change from the industry’s traditional compromise: Do you want world-class security or world-class performance? Now, from Symantec on Google Cloud, you get both.”

This is about security

This development has been years in the making, ever since Symantec became part of Broadcom and migrated its security stack to Google Cloud. It’s a natural evolution for a legendary leader in security. And with this announcement, we’re keeping that leadership momentum going by solving shortcomings common to cloud SSE solutions. 

In addition, by nature of our partnership with Google Cloud, Symantec customers gain all the benefits from partnering with Google Cloud. They gain the ubiquity and availability of a secure cloud infrastructure that underpins so many critical applications, systems and services. Google Cloud even ties into platforms hosted on competing cloud services. And when you compare this direct connection to Google Cloud against a competing provider running their security stack on their own point of presence–well, there’s no comparison.

Here’s what enterprise-grade connectivity means. Watch as Muninder Sambi, Vice President of Cloud Networking at Google Cloud, chats with Jason Rolleston, General Manager of Broadcom’s Enterprise Security Group, revealing the core principles driving this integration and what it means for organizations everywhere.