05 Nov What is SASE? Is it right for your enterprise?

A new cloud security solution: secure access service edge

With changing technological trends come new services, and that’s how SASE has entered the stage. Since 2019, the prevalence of new accessible platforms has encouraged the development of hardware, software, and apps for better communication and data response. That’s primarily what SASE is about, known as “secure access service edge,” pronounced as sassy.

Today, organizations need later, agile control over their platforms and networks. Users and staff need constant access to networks. Remote working has expanded greatly since the COVID pandemic. Threats and malware hazards have also exploded. These factors, combined with others like public cloud infrastructure and SaaS, created different security and connection demands.

The demands and revitalized approach is what the SASE model hopes to ultimately address. It’s a combination of powerful cybersecurity tools and elements, marrying them into one unified model. SASE makes use of firewall-as-a-service, zero-trust policy coordination, and active monitoring, to name a few things. The idea is to provide real-time contextual security depending on the needs of the entity in question (typically meaning an enterprise or business, but can mean individuals too). It accomplishes this with cloud-based infrastructure, so it maintains a reactive and agile environment.

SASE deploys security sessions and helps security by identifying context information, like user identity and behavior. It also “remembers” security regulation and permission info. The real power is what it can associate with this context information in real-time: properly identifying different persons, offices, networks, edge computing locations, apps, and even devices.

An incoming cybersecurity and administrative model

Garter, who defined SASE, predicts the adoption and growth of SASE will reach 40% by the end of 2024. Ideally, trend adopters are the ones who come out ahead of the game.

Is SASE right for me?

With a general idea of what SASE is, a bigger question remains: is it right for you? Practical applications aside, not all organizations are ready for cloud models. It comes down to understanding the needs of your enterprise and how SASE can work within it.

To give you an idea, we can break down specific benefits associated with SASE.

Agile and improved threat management

SASE’s cloud infrastructure means the deployment of security policies is easier. Things like data protection and recovery, network monitoring, implementation of adaptative firewalls, and use of sandbox environments are a few traits you can expect in a SASE implementation.

Renewed performance

Instant connection to remote environments and people means faster responses. Cloud infrastructure also saves you time by setting up resources near-instantly and on demand, cooperating with your business needs, rather than against it.

Reduction in costs

A single cloud platform removes the need for managing multiple software suites, cutting down on complexity and cost investment.

Responsive and proactive protection resources

The tools and policies SASE platforms have means you have powerful resources to protect your enterprise data, even remotely. In an environment where cybersecurity threats are at an all-time high, it’s an invaluable resource.

That is only a cursory glance at some of the benefits provided by a SASE cloud platform.

Should I implement SASE?

From the benefits, assess your current needs, such as:

• Is your business reliant on more remote network environments?
• How secure is current infrastructure and data protection?
• How fast (or slow) can you set up resources for workers, including protection monitoring?
• Can your capital afford the involvement of SASE platforms?
• Do you want to shift legacy infrastructure to a cloud environment?

The answer, often is that yes, SASE will provide a universal way to address many of the current problems modern businesses face today. If you’re aiming to renovate your cybersecurity initiative with a cloud-focused approach, SASE is the answer.