Organizations have embraced remote workforce and cloud migration as a part of the business continuity plan due to the pandemic, making perimeter security inadequate to ensure data security
IT leaders are in search of a more efficient approach that is based on user risk and identity as compared to the conventional approach of binary network connectivity. Security measures should be implemented at an endpoint closer to the remote employees rather than traffic backhauling to a central data center for inspection.
CIOs state that there are two approaches available that run on the above-stated requirement. One is the Zero Trust Architecture and the other Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
Zero Trust Architecture
The ZTA methodology requires that organizations should never trust an entity present inside or outside the network on a default basis. Any element trying to access the network has to be inspected before access is granted. This includes microservice processes, users, bots, IoT devices, etc. CIOs feel that by implementing ZTA only granular control is provided to employees or element and they have access to only the required resources.
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Secure Access Service Edge
IT Security leaders state that the emerging SASE approach helps to plug potential vulnerabilities that are a result of remote working policies. As per a study by Gartner, this approach ensures security services at the required location without affecting the user experience or the effectiveness.
CIOs are interested in the SASE approach, as the need of VPNs and traffic backhauling for inspection at a centralized datacenter has been made redundant. It relies instead on the security facilities available on the Internet, which can be provisioned and utilized wherever the need arises.
Organizations are using SASE to achieve the Zero Trust Security posture in their networks. CIOs must consider the below points when implementing the strategy in the organization.
Remote workstations protection: SASE can protect the remote workforce without requiring the need of a VPN. Employees and users are benefited by the visibility and security of “being behind the firewall” without having to implement a security or authentication action. IT security is also boosted by the fact that the compromise of one remote workstation will not affect other corporate devices.
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Mandatory Multi-Factor Authentication: IT Security leaders stated that the majority of data breach occurred as employees did not enable MFA. Multi-factor Authentication practice significantly reduces an organization’s susceptibility to data breach and lays the foundation for zero trust standards.
Reduced dependency on VPNs: CIOs increasingly prefer the deployment of SaaS applications, and as a result, dependency on VPN has reduced. VPN allows users’ access to assets they shouldn’t see or use. Access proxies, VDI, and SaaS have helped organizations to migrate to better remote access control and management platforms.
Remote workforce and cloud migration have drastically affected the security protocols of
organizations. Legacy security methods are based on reactive protocols, SASE, and ZTA help to bridge this gap and avoid potential security attacks on organizations.
