What is Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) in Cybersecurity?


SASE recognizes a much-needed structure for granular networking that permits greater control of cloud service access after security into the cloud. Let's look at what this newly invented phrase means and how it's being used in the business.

Supporting a rising number of remote employees securely is at the top of any company's priorities list. Even after the epidemic, studies suggest that many organizations will shift to having more home workers than office workers.

Even yet, the reality of maintaining a secure, cost-effective, and efficient network has proven to be a constant problem. It has prompted some experts to propose the creation of a new category that combines WAN and LAN operations.

What is SASE?

Gartner initially introduced Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE (pronounced "sassy"), in their August 2019 research.

With more distant users and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, data moving from the data center to cloud services, and more traffic traveling to public cloud services and branch offices than returning to the data center, a new network security strategy is needed.

SASE is a cloud-delivered service paradigm that combines wide-area networking (WAN) with network security services such as CASB, FWaaS, and Zero Trust.

"SASE capabilities are given as a service based on the entity's identification, real-time context, corporate security/compliance regulations, and continuous risk/trust assessment during the sessions," according to Gartner.

People, groups of people (branch offices), equipment, apps, services, IoT systems, and edge computing locations can all be connected with entity identities. "By 2024, at least 40% of companies will have clear strategies to use SASE, up from less than 1% at year-end 2018," according to Gartner.

A SASE architecture recognizes persons and devices, enacts policy-based security, and grants secure access to the desired application or data. This method enables businesses to implement secure access regardless of where their users, apps, or devices are located.

Why is SASE Required?

To run their operations and enable dispersed workflows for distant and mobile users, enterprise networks are becoming more reliant on cloud-based apps. As a result, the traditional corporate network has rapidly expanded beyond the network edge, presenting infrastructure executives with the challenge of securing and managing an ever-expanding attack surface.

While networks have progressed quickly enough to handle these distant endpoints' processes, most security products have not, making VPN-only solutions outdated. To stay competitive, enterprises must protect and manage all endpoints with the same security and networking standards as their on-premises infrastructure, independent of location.

Working of SASE

SASE is a hybrid security solution that combines an advanced SD-WAN edge at the branch with complete cloud-delivered security services.

Previously, all application traffic from branch sites was routed to the corporate data center through private MPLS services for security inspection and verification. When applications were only hosted in the company data center, this architecture was adequate. The old network architecture is no longer enough now that apps and services have moved to the cloud.

Application performance and user experience suffer as Internet-bound traffic must first pass via the data center and corporate firewall before reaching its destination. Traditional perimeter-based security is inadequate as more remote employees connect directly to cloud apps. Enterprises can assure direct, secure access to apps and services across multi-cloud environments by modernizing WAN and security infrastructures with SASE, regardless of location or the devices used to access them.

Advantages of SASE

SASE isn't simply a trendy acronym. A SASE architecture provides several critical commercial benefits to businesses. They are as follows −

  • Both Customer satisfaction and Corporate productivity have improved.

  • Enterprise-wide security policy enforcement that is more uniform.

  • Risk reduction and brand image preservation.

  • Reduced WAN and security expenditures, as well as increased IT efficiency.

  • Automated WAN and security solution deployment and management.

  • Performance and dependability of the application have improved.

  • Ability to assess and implement new security technologies as and when they are available.

How SASE Security Approach Benefits Your Company?

Following are the ways in which the SASE Security approach can benefit a company −

  • Create and Deploy Security Services − A cloud-based architecture may be used to create and deploy security services such as threat prevention, web filtering, sandboxing, DNS security, credential theft prevention, data loss prevention.

  • Savings − Using a single platform instead of buying and administering several-point solutions can drastically cut your expenditures and IT resources.

  • Reduces Complexity − By consolidating your security stack into a cloud-based network security service architecture, you may reduce the amount of security solutions your IT team must manage, update, and support.

  • Increases Performance − With a cloud architecture, you can connect to resources no matter where they are. The Apps, the internet, and the company data are all accessible from anywhere in the world.

  • Session Protection − When users, devices, and apps connect, a Zero Trust approach to the cloud removes trust assumptions. Whether a user is on or off the business network, a SASE solution will give total session protection.

  • Threat prevention − By integrating comprehensive content inspection into a SASE system, you can increase network security and visibility.

  • Data protection − Using a SASE framework to implement data protection policies helps prevent unauthorized access and misuse of sensitive data.

How Can Businesses Implement SASE?

When it comes to SASE deployment, many companies adopt a piecemeal approach. Some may have already incorporated SASE without realizing its features.

Following are some critical steps that businesses may take to embrace a SASE model completely −

  • Keeping the remote workers safe

  • Using a cloud perimeter to protect branch offices

  • Self-hosted apps to the cloud migration

  • Using a single, cloud-native policy enforcement system to replace security equipment

Updated on: 18-Apr-2022

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