Are you getting SASE-savvy?
Creating an effective cyber security framework in today’s complex digital world demands that organisations develop a proper understanding of Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE.
The migration of users, services and resources converging at the edge demands new thinking and approaches around security and connectivity.
Many organisations assume they have things in place, but in reality they don’t. One of the biggest misunderstandings relates to perceptions of where the company boundaries lie.
Before the days of cloud and hyper-mobility, it was reasonable for security chiefs to conceive of a perimeter, but this is now well and truly in the past. But most antivirus technologies remain there, leaving the door half open for many businesses operating in today’s highly-distributed environment.
There are three key business technology trends guiding cyber security today, according to recent research by Palo Alto Networks.
The first is that the cloud has completely modernised productivity, with its elastic apps and services, 24/7 availability anywhere, and increased mobile devices productivity with SaaS aps.
The second is that tech investments and deployment have totally shifted due to COVID-19. This has created new impetus for cloud migration, the creation of better digital customer experiences along with the drive to simplify and modernise IT landscapes.
And the third is the fact – uncomfortable as it may be – that the ‘new normal’ is here to stay. Some two-thirds of organisations have indicated they plan to retain WFH policies.
According to Palo Alto, today’s best cyber security offerings should have six key attributes:
– Adaptability and scale for changing work dynamics
– Modernize and simplify current tool set and estate
– Increase long-term value of security investments
– Gain complete visibility and control – eliminate “trust”
– Align with and accelerate cloud initiatives
– Automate as much of the estate as possible
How to get SASE?
As the edge becomes especially critical for collaboration, communications and productivity – especially during the pandemic – an inability to properly secure it will naturally reverse any gains, leading to competitive disadvantage.
Organisations need to first shift to a modern, unified approach, that is less focused on ‘products’, and more on the user case.
Awareness of SASE has certainly increased, however, there remains some confusion as to what it should actually look like. Many organisations may claim they have achieved it, yet a look under the hood reveals a different story.
And of course it goes without saying the underlying ethos needs to be one of ‘zero trust’, as much as that’s possible.
From an architecture standpoint, it’s important to utilise cloud-native platforms leveraging public cloud services. And there are three elements to this.
–Auto-Scaling leverages hyperscale compute, customer instances individually scale up to meet demand and scale back when over
–Isolation means each customer instance is essentially a VPC (virtual private cloud) of security including load balancing compute and remote network bandwidth
– Service interruption is eliminated since each customer is isolated, no matter what other customers are doing, there is no interruption to your service
Further, unified platforms increase long-term value, reducing the number of policies to administer, management effort and TCO and visibility gaps, all the while increasing scale and capacity planning.
This produces a number of compelling security outcomes for organisations.
Complete visibility at scale means less tendency to make compromises, which reduces risk. More use cases can be addressed via a single platform, leading to a significant simplification of network security. And consistent security with SLA-backed performance to cloud and SaaS leads to better user experiences.
Another important consideration in deploying effective SASE frameworks is having a simple telecommunications environment, yet one that is highly flexible with a more holistic approach to connectivity.
As a leading provider of business technology solutions, Enablis has a deep understanding of the importance of effective cyber security in today’s fast-evolving digital world. Connect with us today to learn more about how SASE can support your business – speak with a SASE security expert or visit our Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) resource centre here.