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Secure Access Service Edge in 2024: A Norm for Cybersecurity

According to KPMG, remote/hybrid working has harmed nearly 90% of businesses in the battle against cyberattacks, fraud prevention, and compliance risk mitigation. Businesses are more exposed to cyber threats as cloud solutions become more widely adopted.

To respond to the rising traffic between public cloud services and corporate data centers, there is a necessity for the integration of network and security solutions to provide quick and secure data transfer. SASE (secure access service edge) is an integrated network-security platform that aligns with these features. As a result, it has the power to change corporate cybersecurity practices completely.

What is SASE?

SASE is a unified network and security access services solution. It enables employees to work from anywhere on any device while maintaining the same level of security as if they were working in a corporate office with corporate devices. 

SASE has many components that constitute network access services and security access services (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1: Components of SASE

SASE has network and security components. SD-WAN, carriers, content distribution networks and edge equipment are part of network as a service components of SASE. FWaaS, zero trust network and SWG are part of security as a service components.
Components of SASE

Network as a service part includes:

  • Carriers: It refers to the set of equipment and network technologies that are utilized to send data from one point to another.
  • Software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN): It encrypts the data transfer between WAN and SaaS-IaaS carriers.
  • Content distribution networks: It is a collection of geographically diverse servers that accelerates online content delivery by moving it closer to users.
  • Edge equipment: A piece of hardware that regulates data flow at the intersection of two networks. 
  • Bandwidth aggregation: Having a single stronger connection by combining the bandwidth of at least two devices.

Security as a service part includes:

  • Firewall as a service: FwaaS is a cloud-based security system that has capabilities like:
    • Access control
    • URL filtering
    • Intrusion prevention systems
  • Zero trust network: It is a security mechanism that requires each user attempting to access documents or services on the network to provide verification.
  • Secure web gateway: SWG is another cloud-based security system that has the following features:
    • URL filtering
    • Encrypted traffic analysis
    • Detecting malicious code and software
  • Virtual private network (VPN): It protects the company’s network’s online privacy by using a private network that is separate from the public internet.

Why should companies adopt SASE?

The way we worked changed significantly in recent years. As a result, how companies access the network and how they use it should also change.

In recent years, we have seen a technological trend towards cloud computing solutions that are both agile and cost-effective. Since the Covid-19 outbreak required remote working, cloud tool investments rose.

In 2022, Gartner expected a further 21% increase for cloud investments compared to the prior year where the corporate spending will hit around 480 billion dollars. Thus, many employees perform a large part of their work in cloud computing services, not in the corporate data center or facilities. But by using pre-SASE network and security systems corporations have an ineffective flow of data and cybersecurity. 

Traditional data flow

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks or public internet networks are commonly used by businesses to support data and service flow between cloud services and users. Companies build VPNs to securely use the public internet. In a typical corporate setting, data travels like this: 

  1. MPLS arrives at the router. 
  2. The internet arrives at a router. 
  3. It is switched out to a VPN concentrator.
  4. Data is examined by a firewall security system for access to information usage. 

As a result, data traffic is inefficient. Not only does it bring latency and the risk of data loss, but it is also costly. 

Data flow with SASE  

SASE services, which are deployed at the cloud’s edge, secure and allow direct communications to the resources that the end user is attempting to access. Because all security services are offered at the cloud’s edge, traffic no longer needs to move twice.

What are the benefits of SASE?

  • Provide cybersecurity: Firms get additional security and insight into their network with holistic analysis embedded into a SASE system.
  • Minimize IT costs: Firms are no longer restricted by using a private MPLS network from a single provider but they can select bandwidth from any provider available to their end users. By optimizing bandwidth firms can reduce network-related costs. Also, buying different cyber security solutions as a bundle provides a chance of bargaining for corporations which can provide further cost reduction. 
  • Reduce latency and possibility of data loss: A more optimal flow of traffic reduces latency and the risk of data loss.
  • Ease IT infrastructure management: Many firms that try to improve their cybersecurity, use multiple security solutions. These security solutions tend to be individually managed and they have a lack of integration capabilities. SASE promises the ability to have a single platform for all security measures so it eases IT infrastructure management.
  • Improve corporate compliance: Thanks to the zero-trust policies SASE improves corporate compliance since all activities of employees should be authorized by the verification they provide. 
  • Ensure corporate flexibility: SASE ensures that people can work from any location and devices securely.

How to choose partners for SASE? 

  • Integrability: The primary motivation for enterprises to employ SASE is to safeguard their cloud-based business processes. Thus, when investigating collaborating, the first point firms must look for is whether the SASE solution supplied by possible providers is compatible with the cloud computing platform they use. For example, if your company uses Microsoft Azure, the SASE you buy must be functional with it.
  • International credentials and certificates: Certifications such as ISO 27001, 27002, and HIPAA demonstrate your candidate partners’ ability to handle sensitive data. It is critical to examine such certifications before beginning a collaboration to avoid any data breaches. 
  • Previous work: The vendor should be able to provide case studies from previous projects. Contacting firms that have worked with the vendor could be a good method to find out partnership possibilities.
  • Customer support model: As customer service practices, different providers have different policies. When you have a problem, for example, certain vendors are easy to contact. You should evaluate the necessity for excellent customer service based on your organization’s IT abilities.
  • Price: Different vendors offer different price packages for SASE. As with any business decision, firms should compare prices and decide accordingly. 

You can also read our Software Defined Perimeter: Definition, Importance & Use Cases and Top 4 Secure Web Login Best Practices for Corporations articles to enhance your company’s cybersecurity measures.

Please contact us if you require additional information about cloud-based cybersecurity solutions:

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Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
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Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised businesses on their enterprise software, automation, cloud, AI / ML and other technology related decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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