SASE: The Ultimate Guide To Secure Access Service Edge

As enterprises move towards the cloud and mobility becomes the norm, networking and security solutions must evolve accordingly. Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) enters the picture here. SASE is an up-and-coming technology category that aims to offer specific network security features. 

The Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture reduces external traffic normally sent back to the data center. This article will delve into the definition of SASE, the problems it solves, and its benefits and drawbacks.

What Is SASE?

SASE is pronounced, "sassy." It belongs to a category of products and services that combines network security functions with software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN). SASE is a new framework that tackles the challenge of managing network and security demands for external traffic without routing it through the data center. 

As enterprises increasingly rely on cloud-based applications, it puts pressure on the data center, causing congestion and latency. SASE solves this by allocating necessary network and security functions from the cloud closer to the user and applications. This reduces the burden on the data center and improves network response times. 

You can secure and connect devices through a global platform using a SASE solution. SASE solutions are delivered as services and turn-key edge appliances. In addition, SASE incorporates several network and security functions.

These include firewall as a service, malware protection, data loss prevention, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, software as a service, secure web gateways, cloud access security brokers (CASBs), and zero-trust network access. This makes SASE an attractive option for most organizations.

How Does SASE Work?

SASE is built on a cloud-based platform that integrates multiple network and security functions into a single system. The key elements of SASE include:

1. SD-WAN

SD-WAN technology allows organizations to connect their remote offices, data centers, and cloud environments using software-based networking instead of traditional hardware-based networking. As a result, SD-WAN enables organizations to optimize their network traffic, reduce latency, and improve application performance.

2. Cloud-Based Security Services

SASE leverages cloud-based security services to provide a more comprehensive security solution than traditional security architectures. These security services include secure web gateways (SWG), cloud access security brokers (CASB), firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS), and secure email gateways (SEG). SASE deploys these security services in the cloud and provides organizations with real-time threat detection and mitigation capabilities.

3. Zero-Trust Network Access

SASE uses a zero-trust network access (ZTNA) approach to ensure secure access to network resources. ZTNA is a security model that assumes that all network traffic is potentially malicious and requires authentication and authorization before granting access to network resources. ZTNA enables organizations to enforce granular access policies, reduce the attack surface, and improve overall security posture.

What Problems Do SASE Solutions Solve?

As more applications run in the cloud, and data and workloads live in cloud data centers and IaaS platforms, the traditional private data center is becoming less essential for enterprises. Mobility is also becoming the norm, and mobile users routinely access the cloud. Due to these changes, we have had to reconsider how we network and safeguard our workplaces, users, and resources. If the data center is no longer the organization's center, then the location of traffic analysis and policy enforcement must also change.

As witnessed on traditional Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks, backhauling traffic for security inspection degrades cloud performance. The other business tenant, the mobile user, is not addressed, while security scrutiny is directed toward the offices. SD-WAN provides a solution for sites but not for mobile users. Since SD-WAN is also Internet-based, unexpected and inefficient Internet routing could negatively affect the user experience.

There is also the issue of how to inspect traffic. Companies need to integrate multiple security technologies, which is expensive, time-consuming, and may require skills they lack. Ultimately, enterprises need to find a way to network any resource, location, or user anywhere and do so in a way that protects them and the business against the range of emerging threats.

What Are the Benefits of SASE?

SASE offers several benefits over traditional networking architectures, making it an attractive option for organizations. One of the most significant advantages of SASE is its support for cloud-based enterprise security, as opposed to on-premises security.

1. Comprehensive Security 

Regardless of the origins of the traffic or the location of corporate resources, businesses can swiftly and effectively safeguard it thanks to SASE's consolidated and unified policy management. In addition, SASE solutions provide a comprehensive suite of security functions, such as SWG (Secure Web Gateway), CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker), FWaaS (Firewall-as-a-Service), and ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access).

2. Cloud-Native

SASE solutions are cloud-native, providing flexibility and scalability and allowing enterprises to deploy them anywhere easily. This reduces the need for separate network and security solutions and simplifies the overall network architecture.

3. Identity-Driven

SASE solutions provide network access and security based on user identity, not an IP address. This means that users can access network resources securely regardless of the device being used.

4. Increased Efficiency

SASE enables organizations to optimize network traffic, reduce latency, and improve application performance. By using software-based networking and cloud-based services, SASE provides a more efficient and scalable solution than traditional networking architectures.

5. Cost-Effective

SASE eliminates the need for expensive hardware-based networking and security appliances, reducing the overall cost of networking and security infrastructure. With SASE, organizations can cost-effectively apply the latest network and security features without disrupting application performance or the end-user experience and burdening IT teams with intensive refresh cycles. SASE also eliminates the need for on-premise data centers by leveraging cloud-based services, further reducing costs. 

6. Agility and Flexibility

SASE enables organizations to quickly and easily deploy new network and security services, scale up or down as needed, and adapt to changing business needs. By leveraging cloud-based services, SASE provides a more agile and flexible solution than traditional networking architectures.

What Are the Drawbacks of SASE?

Like any technology, SASE solutions have their drawbacks, including:

1. Complexity: Implementing SASE solutions can be complex, requiring significant planning and coordination with various stakeholders.
2. Cost: SASE solutions can be expensive, particularly if deploying multiple services or requiring high bandwidth.

What Is the Potential Impact of SASE on the Future of Networking?

SASE is poised to have a significant impact on the future of networking. As organizations continue to move towards cloud-based environments and remote work becomes more prevalent, the need for secure and efficient network access will only increase. SASE offers a comprehensive and dynamic solution to these challenges, enabling organizations to improve their security posture, reduce costs, and increase agility and flexibility. 

As a result, we can expect to see continued adoption of SASE in the coming years, with more organizations leveraging its benefits to improve their network infrastructure and security. Furthermore, SASE is also driving the evolution of networking toward a more cloud-centric model. 

By moving network and security functions to the cloud, SASE enables organizations to reduce their reliance on on-premise hardware and data centers and instead leverage the scalability and agility of cloud-based services. This shift towards cloud-centric networking will likely continue, with SASE leading.

Takeaway

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) has emerged as a highly efficient cloud architecture model that seamlessly integrates network and security functions to streamline traffic and enhance remote access. With the increasing demand for cloud-based applications and remote work capabilities, SASE adoption is expected to continue to grow.