Secure access service edge or SASE is a significant part of the cybersecurity mesh concept. It represents a new approach to security, although not universally understood. SASE blends network and security technologies, focusing on securing the network’s edge by treating the individual worker as an endpoint rather than defending the network core.
The combination of working from anywhere and cloud-based services has led to employees connecting to their applications without traversing a corporate-owned network device. Several components of SASE are solutions you are already familiar with, such as SD-WAN on the network side and cloud firewall on the security side.
Gartner predicts that by 2025, 40% of enterprises will adopt an SD-WAN solution coupled with a cloud-delivered web secure web gateway from the same vendor, a significant increase from only five percent in August of 2021.
More CIOs are investing in cloud security to enable resiliency and further protection, including cloud access security brokers (CASBs), cloud security posture management, and cloud workforce protection platforms. A large majority, 89%, plan to deploy these technologies this year, creating an overlapping set of capabilities to protect against cloud risks. With zero trust network access and SaaS-delivered identity access management already deployed, companies are now beginning to invest in SASE to support the needs of digital transformation, edge computing, and workforce mobility.