SASE offers security capabilities like DNS, Firewall-as-a-Service, Secure Web Gateway (SWG), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). Billed as a single service, enterprises deal with fewer vendors, hardware is eliminated at branch offices, and IT staff spend less time on multiple consoles.
Consolidating networking and security functions into a unified service reduces costs and IT complexity, provides a least-privileged model, and ensures consistent policy enforcement. However, successful adoption requires a gradual, aligned approach.
Zero Trust Security
Breaches happen. Businesses expand. Threats evolve. What is SASE security? It’s built for agility. It automatically adapts to changing circumstances, continuously verifying access and automatically isolating suspicious activity, like a chameleon constantly blending into its surroundings to stay undetected by predators. Zero trust security has gained traction recently and is an effective strategy for protecting infrastructure and data. It offers a more holistic approach to security, including user identity and access management, constant assessment and threat inspection, and limited access to network resources.
In addition, a zero-trust approach can mitigate insider threats from employees or contractors. It enforces the principle of least privilege to ensure that users have only the minimum amount of access needed for a given task, which minimizes the damage if their account is compromised. It also enables organizations to monitor and verify devices that connect to their networks and restrict connections from outdated, unpatched, or suspicious activity.
You must have the right technologies in place to enable a zero-trust architecture. These include secure access service edge (SASE), software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), and endpoint detection and remediation (EDR). In addition, you need to integrate your existing identity and access management and security tools with your Zero Trust solution.
AI & ML
IT security focused inward for too long, and network administrators struggled with juggling point products that didn’t work together. SASE is a new architecture consolidating networking and security functions traditionally delivered as point products into one cloud platform with one control plane for consistent visibility, controls, and experiences. It enables organizations to securely enable Work-from-Anywhere (WFA) and mobile users, reduce costs and IT complexity, achieve a least-privileged model, ensure consistent policy enforcement, and increase IT team effectiveness.
The best SASE platforms converge SD-WAN, global connectivity, and a full security stack into a single framework, all powered by the latest AI and ML capabilities. They are designed to handle multiple traffic streams and connections through a globally distributed fabric of points of presence to provide low latency wherever business offices, remote workers, or cloud applications are located.
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The best SASE solutions are cloud-native and based on Zero Trust applied principles. They use a software-defined WAN that optimizes traffic and balances server load, a firewall as a service that delivers application awareness, a cloud access security broker (CASB) to monitor sanctioned and unsanctioned SaaS apps, and a Secure Web Gateway (SWG) to prevent malware and phishing attacks from reaching the corporate network.
Cloud-Based Delivery
SASE is a network security framework that brings a unified set of networking and security capabilities into one service. It integrates SD-WAN with security functions like SWG, CASB, FWaaS, and ZTNA, providing centralized policy control, efficient data routing, and adequate security.
When implementing SASE, choosing a provider with robust cloud infrastructure to support your business needs is essential. Choosing a SASE provider with flexible architecture and scalable resources can help you save on upfront costs and scale as your business grows.
SASE provides several benefits, including reducing costs and IT complexity, providing a least-privileged model for remote users, and enhancing WAN security and application performance. But to ensure the success of your SASE implementation, it’s essential to understand the key challenges and prepare your organization for a successful transition. Here are the top questions to ask a potential SASE provider before moving forward with your deployment.
Scalability
Unlike traditional security solutions, which use hardware appliances for on-site, mobile, and cloud deployments, SASE converges networking and security services into one unified solution accessible from a single pane of glass. This reduces overall cost and complexity while ensuring the platform is scalable to meet future network needs.
The SASE network infrastructure combines networking technologies like SD-WAN, content delivery networks, and caching with a variety of security offerings, including firewall as a service (FWaaS), cloud access security brokers, secure web gateways (SWG), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). The top SASE providers also offer AIOps for troubleshooting and automation.
A proper SASE solution eliminates the need for complex and expensive MPLS lines, enabling organizations to reduce costs and improve performance. It also provides a centralized interface for monitoring all components from a single pane of glass, which helps to declutter used infrastructure and streamline operations. This can help you better protect against today’s rapidly evolving threats and accelerate your business with a more advanced user-centric security architecture.
Flexibility
SASE merges multiple network and security technologies into a single framework to protect all network areas. SASE platforms bundle SD-WAN with FWaaS, SWGs, CASBs, and endpoint security for a unified software solution that delivers a consistent, secure user experience across all networks and applications.
It can simplify your network and reduce costs by eliminating the need for costly Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) lines or on-premises hardware. It also lets you connect and protect edge devices like automobiles, refrigerators, IoT sensors on industrial products, and wearables connected to your business.
To get the most out of SASE, your network and security teams must work together on deployments to ensure the best results. Networking teams focus on speed and availability, while security emphasizes threat protection. Using DevOps evolution as a model, encourage team collaboration and invest in SASE solutions that support common goals. It’s also critical to carefully analyze your existing infrastructure and current needs and deploy a suitable SASE platform. This will help minimize the risk of vendor lock-in and other limitations.
