The race toward remote workplaces has led organizations to struggle with which cybersecurity option they should implement to protect themselves and their employees. Zero Trust and Security Access Service Edge are the top two candidates that can help you mitigate these increased security threats.
Now, organizations need to see which one of these two cybersecurity solutions is a perfect fit for them. Let’s compare Zero Trust and SASE, which one avoids most of the threats and which is more flexible for the users.
What Is Zero Trust?
Zero Trust is a security framework that assumes everyone on your organization’s network is hostile. Therefore, it uses a security scheme as its guide to filter users who utilize a network that is always on alert from internal and external threats.
It operates on the never trust, always verify principle to protect digital environments by continuous authentication and authorization.
Limiting access privileges to each network segment secures the organization by reducing the number of opportunities a hacker could use to gain access to the network. A Zero Trust approach will help your organization in:
- Protecting sensitive company data,
- Boosting ability to meet compliance audits,
- Reducing the risk of breaches,
- Improving detecting time,
- Improving visibility into the network,
- Increasing control over cloud infrastructure.
Planning For Zero Trust
Organizations that successfully implement Zero Trust prioritize network security and allocate significant resources for full coverage.
However, the IT team needs to carefully monitor the Zero Trust architecture as it can cause productivity delays. For example, if an employee gets promoted and their access isn’t updated with their latest privileges, they will not be able to access the necessary resources and carry out their daily tasks.
Zero Trust follows five principles as a set of scope; these are:
- Knowing the protection surface
- Understanding the existing cybersecurity controls
- Incorporating new tools
- Applying a detailed policy
- Deploying tools for monitoring the perimeter
SASE
SASE acts as a proactive security approach that can immediately expand cloud traffic, making it a complete package that works with SD-WAN capabilities. Organizations started using SASE during the pandemic as they learned its importance as their consolidated workspace turned into single endpoints worldwide.
SASE aims to minimize the level of complexity in the cloud infrastructure by creating sufficient optimized connectivity for remote workers. Organizational data centers are replaced with cloud resources that facilitate access from around the globe.
SASE aims to maximize efficiency by allowing organizations to implement a unified system consisting of several layers of security.
How Does SASE Work?
Fundamentally, SASE consists of five core components that are:
1. SD-WAN Service
A cloud-adopted connectivity service that increases application performance by evenly distributing the traffic across numerous layers of network and security while reducing the need for maintenance.
2. Firewall As A Service
A firewall is an element between the network and security layers that filter and monitor user-created traffic flowing towards the organization’s network. FWaaS eliminates all threats created by the users that are potentially harmful to sensitive data and negatively impact security.
3. Secure Web Gateway
After tracking any incoming user-generated cyber threats that may be a part of the incoming traffic, SASE uses SWG to alert defense systems and enforce security policies to prevent any damage to cloud resources.
4. Cloud Access Security Broker
CASB acts as a secure connection tool for applications and users that are a part of the cloud. It constantly monitors the exchange of services and activates the security and data protection policies to ensure the safety of the cloud and retain the organization’s compliance with security regulations.
5. Zero Trust Network Access
SASE also uses the don’t trust, must verify protocol that limits privilege access to cloud resources to lower exposure to inside threats. SASE also focuses on re-enforcing the security and accessibility of the network from any global endpoint.
Zero Trust Vs. SASE: Which Is More Suitable?
One thing we forget when we compare Zero Trust and SASE is that they are not competing security models; instead, Zero Trust is a component of SASE cloud services.
To decide which is the most suitable option, we need to evaluate the longevity of the two. Zero Trust is most commonly used as a short-term objective that protects the sensitive data of a business, whereas SASE acts as a long-term security strategy.
For efficient security of your cloud resources, you must invest in the SASE approach by gradually advancing your network and security. However, setting up a SASE infrastructure will take time as the designers list the necessary technologies and solutions your organization needs.
You will integrate these components with your cloud service to enhance your network’s security. Moreover, both Zero Trust and SASE should be equally important as they help organizations build a robust security strategy to protect their network.
Commonly, organizations should consider adopting Zero Trust principles to secure their remote workspaces while inclining towards SASE for all-new networking projects. SASE also devises a frame to make the Zero Trust approach flexible and easy to manage.
Conclusion
Organizations need to secure their cloud infrastructures and opt for either Zero Trust or SASE. Zero Trust is the most suitable option if you want to eliminate the risk of potential attacks, but if your goal is to spot at-risk areas to circumvent the episodes, then you need to adopt SASE. Better analytics and a higher level of protection not only secure your sensitive data but also saves money.
