SASE: What is its Impact Today, and Where Do We Go from Here?

So what should we be doing in the meantime? The business challenges raised in the SASE design principles are very real and are impacting enterprises globally today.

Where do we go from here?

It’s clear that traditional security product boundaries won’t deliver what’s required in a cloud-native world where people and data need to connect anywhere, any time. We believe that a converged security solution will, in time, incorporate the functionalities of point products into one service, and achieve the SASE vision. If you believe a SASE architecture is for you, there are some key steps your organization could take along the path to SASE:

• Start with your people and data in the center of your cloud security design: Identify who needs to connect to which applications, where are they located, and determine how you want them to connect.
  • For users in branch offices, evaluate how you can optimize the network performance and costs with secure SD-WAN technologies. It doesn’t make any sense to continue to use backhauled approaches to connecting remote sites and users through centralized offices using private links such as MPLS or VPNs. In many of these cases, integrated cloud security services provide improved performance, visibility, and security for both remote and office-based users. Read more about how an energy services company securely migrates 50 terabytes of data to the cloud.
  • For remote users, evaluate the protection offered by cloud web security. This secures what users do when connected to the internet from anywhere, whether at home, in the office or on the road, protecting them against malware embedded in web pages, file downloads, links people click in email. Read more about how OSI Group safeguards its network and global workforce with Forcepoint.
     
• Gain visibility and control of cloud-based apps and data: Understand how your users are connecting to cloud applications? Are they using corporate devices or relying on BYOD approach? Cloud application security brokers (CASB) manage access to mission-critical applications and enforce enterprise data protection policies for information stored in those applications. This makes it easier to safely use cloud apps from managed devices as well as unmanaged devices. Read more about how Caesarstone uses Forcepoint’s converged security offerings to gain increased visibility into web traffic.
   
• Begin to migrate your security stack to the cloud by using integrated cloud web, CASB and cloud-based data loss prevention (DLP)  The integrated approach helps you take back control of your organization’s most critical data wherever users need to access and interact with it, whether at home, in the office, or the cloud. Read more about how Grupo Gentera takes microcredit to the streets securely with Forcepoint’s cloud DLP solutions.

Forcepoint pioneered the web security market and over the past three years, we have embarked on delivering a cloud-native, converged security platform, bringing the expertise from networking, network and web security to offer composable security services, called out as core components of the SASE model.  Our approach is to move away from point products like NGFW, FWaaS, SD-WAN, SWG, CASB etc. and deliver a true edge protection service that serves all the use cases for SASE. You can expect us to remain at the forefront as we work to develop a comprehensive, cloud-native, converged network, and network security solution.

Resources:

• Click here to learn more about Forcepoint’s emerging converged security platform.
• To learn more about SASE, download Gartner’s full report outlining the Secure Access Service Edge framework, “The Future of Network Security is in the Cloud.” 
• To hear a deeper discssuion on SASE architecture with industry analyst Richard Stiennon, listen to this episode of Forcepoint's To The Point podcast.