We live in a world of risk, uncertainty, and security unrest. From time to time, you hear on the news that another big company has fallen prey to cyberattackers and lost thousands of dollars to ransomware. This is not all: vulnerability has increased with the coming of the worldwide pandemic. The spread of COVID-19 has created a new wave of phishing and malware attacks. With organizations deploying work-from-home policies to ensure business continuity, there is a lack of security purview, leaving vital data at risk.
It’s not all doom and gloom, thankfully.
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the adoption of one critical security measure that’s increasingly becoming more popular. It’s about secure access service edge or SASE (pronounced “sassy”, believe it or not). It’s the next big thing in enterprise networking according to Gartner. People want security solutions that are simple, scalable, and flexible—and, fortunately, SASE can deliver. If you are unsure whether this investment is worth it or not, less than 1% of enterprises said SASE will take 10 years before it becomes mainstream. Joke’s on them because SASE is now one of the main topics of client interest with the possibility of rendering existing networks and security models obsolete. In fact, it is estimated that by 2024, 40% of organizations will adopt this strategy.
This interest in SASE was boosted by COVID-19 in a scrabble to support a suddenly remote workforce. For instance, Cato Networks updated its software-defined perimeter platform with a single sign-on capability designed to help home-office workers. They said that SASE architectures promise less complexity, shorter deployment times, and improved security.
So what is a secure access service edge and what makes it sassy?
Reader, meet SASE
SASE addresses new security demands networks face from a variety of sources. It’s a combination of SD-WAN elements and network security into a single cloud-based service. The core capabilities include multifactor authentication and access to applications and services controlled by firewall policies. SASE can also detect sensitive data by applying specific data loss prevention rules.
It also supports all types of edges, the endpoint being the individual user, device, or application, and not the data center. This approach allows enterprises to apply secure access no matter where the devices are located. Gartner further describes it as:
“SASE capabilities are delivered as a service upon the identity of the entity, real-time context, enterprise security/compliance policies and continuous assessment of risk/trust throughout the sessions.”
Gartner strongly believes in SASE’s future—it’s this focus on the secure journey, rather than the destination, which is critical.
Here’s why you should pay attention.
Let’s explore the benefits
This new security model that is poised to conquer the world can help you in several ways:
- Offers flexibility—With a cloud-based infrastructure, you can implement and deliver security services such as data loss prevention or sandboxing;
- Cost savings—By utilizing a single platform, you will dramatically reduce your costs and IT resources;
- Reduced complexity—Simplify your IT infrastructure by minimizing the number of security products your team has to manage into a cloud-based network security service model;
- Increased performance—Access to apps, the Internet, and corporate data is available globally. This makes resources to be easily accessible, wherever they are;
- Zero Trust—SASE solutions provide complete session protection, regardless of whether a user is on or off the corporate network;
- Threat prevention—SASE’s integrated full content inspection solution enables more security and visibility into your network;
- Data protection—Prevent unauthorized access and abuse of sensitive data by implementing data protection policies within a SASE framework.
If that’s not enough to convince you, don’t miss out on the biggest advantage: increased agility to accelerate business velocity. SASE makes security intrinsic and, if done correctly, organizations can be as “aggressive” as they want and know that their environments are secure.
Join the bandwagon
With this wave of new trends, you need to step up. Speed is the new currency and SASE lets your company move faster. Be ahead of the rest of your competition and invest in a SASE strategy today with confidence.
You won’t regret it.
