An IBM commissioned study carried out by Forrester Consulting revealed that 78% of participants are either considering enforcing the SASE architecture in their business within the next year or have shown interest.
SASE is a new architecture model that helps to combine network security technology and software into a single cloud-delivering service. SASE is channeled to address the conditions of organizations seeking to adopt SaaS and cloud applications, making an effort towards digital transitioning and offering services to the customer base.
As many organizations dive and maintain a hybrid work system, they are confronted with cyber threats and attacks on their data and infrastructure.
Security teams are responsible for the task of securing many endpoints and a wider area from day today. Organizations need to intensify their security approach as a strategy of combating insecurity. They are adopting a Zero Trust strategy in combination with the SASE framework to heighten flexibility and security.
What is SASE?
SASE definition by Gartner, a Stamford technological research and consulting firm, says it is a security framework that prescribes the conversion of network and security connectivity technologies into a distinct cloud-based platform to foster fast and protected cloud transformation.
The convergence feature of network security and network of the SASE’s architecture helps address issues around workforce mobility, digital business transformation, and edge computing.
SASE makes the security of data and infrastructure easily accessible to the actual devices and users. The points it manages can include firewalls, secure web gateways, cloud-access security brokers, and SD-WAN solutions.
Some of the main components of SASE include Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), NGFW, and Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA).
Zero Trust Network (implying a network with ‘no trust’) is a security strategy that totally removes the concept of granting Trust to a specific network or device until they have proven trustworthy.
An inspection process is carried out for every potential device or user, and a conclusion is reached based on past activity, credibility, environment, and a few other factors before granting access.
Zero trust network ensures that every resource can be securely accessed regardless of its base. As organizations embrace cloud systems, their security model must conform to it. The Zero Trust Network Access stresses the need to verify all users, devices, and applications, including the cloud.
How Does SASE Connect to Zero Trust?
A management platform will make it easy to streamline the administration process, use analytics, and share data for an overall picture. Hence, SASE creates a smooth platform for Zero Trust to function properly and easily manage. Combining both security models will make data and apps remarkably secure.
Zero Trust provides huge insight into company resources. It makes it easy to find out which device or user is accessing what and at what time. It also reveals all attempts made to access the network.
These visibility and access protection features of Zero Trust helps to reduce vulnerabilities and also automate through artificial Intelligence.
A SASE suite manages security technology and infrastructure. The framework’s integrated data approach provides a higher level of data analytics, uncovers vulnerable areas, and avoids potential cyberattacks before they are implemented.
Hence, a SASE model combined with Zero Trust Network helps boost system management, save organizations from suffering the high cost of cyberattacks, and strengthen data security walls.
Compared to traditional point solutions, agencies and businesses are able to use their infrastructure and technology approaches effectively with the SASE model and Zero Trust Network. Here are additional benefits of adopting the two networks.
- Timely and reliable security. SASE’s cloud computing feature improves WAN performance by providing WAN optimization as a component of the underlying network fabric. It removes resource limitations and offers reliable security.
- Increased security posture. Point solutions used to be reasonable in the period where the “castle-and-moat” paradigm delivered adequate network security. But when all network edges are accounted for, harnessing Zero Trust and SASE will boost security posture.
- Easy scaling. The SASE architecture introduces scalability with the operations of a cloud-delivering platform to the network security environment.
- More granulated features. Unlike the traditional point solutions where enterprises implement policies that leverage individual IP addresses to determine access to resources. SASE and Zero Trust Network scrutinize specific user identities and applications requesting data access.
Conclusion
SASE represents a consolidated framework for organizations to streamline infrastructure and technology management. This strategy helps to boost flexibility, lessen complexity, boost performance, and save money.
The SASE network makes Zero Trust easy to enforce and consistently attributes role-based, granular policies for data movement and identity-centric controls across the entire network.
A holistic and result-oriented approach to cybersecurity incorporates the SASE and Zero Trust model with other significant security solutions that prioritize user and device identity at the center of the security equation.