Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
Secure access service edge (SASE) is an architecture that converges wide area networking and network security functions and delivers them together as a cloud service, rather than through separate point security products.
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Overview
Enterprises reach SASE services through points of presence (PoPs) spread over a wide area. The points where the enterprise connects to those PoPs are called enterprise edges. They are either clients, meaning users on desktops, laptops, and mobile devices in branch offices or remote locations, or IT resources, such as internal applications hosted in data centers, branch offices, or the cloud.
NIST lists four primary functions of SASE: optimizing network traffic to reduce latency and improve availability, access control for different types of IT resources, threat prevention, and applying a uniform security policy across all users regardless of their location.
The minimal security services in most commercial SASE offerings are firewall, secure web gateway, anti-malware, intrusion prevention (IPS), cloud access security broker (CASB), and data loss prevention (DLP) services. A security agent on the user's device can make networking decisions, direct traffic from different applications, and allow or deny connections to services based on the organization's rules.
The networking and security services that SASE delivers are not new; SASE combines them into a single package. The term was coined in 2019 and is used by industry and industry consortiums.
Similar Terms
2 termsCASB
A CASB sits between an organization's users of cloud services and the cloud service providers and enforces security policies for cloud applications. SASE is a wider architecture whose minimal security services usually include CASB alongside firewall, secure web gateway, and DLP services.
Firewall
A firewall is a single security function, traditionally delivered as an appliance. SASE delivers firewall services as one part of a package of networking and security functions supplied as a cloud service.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SASE stand for?→
SASE stands for secure access service edge.
What services does SASE include?→
The minimal security services in most commercial SASE offerings are firewall, secure web gateway, anti-malware, IPS, CASB, and DLP services. Some offerings add browser isolation, often combined with the secure web gateway.
What is an enterprise edge in SASE?→
Enterprise edges are the points where an organization connects to the SASE provider's points of presence: clients such as users' desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, and IT resources such as internal applications in data centers, branch offices, or the cloud.
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Sources
Definitions follow the government and standards body sources listed above. This site is not affiliated with the agencies or organizations cited.