Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platforms are a modern approach to network security that integrates networking and security functions into a unified cloud-based service. They provide secure access to applications and data for users, regardless of their location. SASE combines software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) capabilities with security functions such as secure web gateways (SWG), cloud access security brokers (CASB), firewall as a service (FWaaS), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA).
SASE is important because it addresses the challenges of securing modern distributed networks, where traditional perimeter-based security models are no longer effective. It helps organizations simplify their network and security architectures, reduce costs, and improve the user experience by providing secure access from anywhere.
In the past, companies often relied on multiple separate solutions to secure network access, connections, and identity management. However, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platforms revolutionize this approach by consolidating these functions into a single, cloud-native solution.
This unified approach enables organizations to seamlessly combine secure application and network access, all through a flexible software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. Whether delivered as a comprehensive SaaS package or a customizable suite of integrated security solutions, SASE platforms are tailored to meet the specific and evolving needs of today’s businesses.
For network security and cybersecurity professionals, SASE platforms offer several benefits. They provide a consolidated and centralized approach to security management, reducing complexity and improving visibility. SASE also enables more agile and scalable security solutions, allowing organizations to quickly adapt to changing threats and business needs.
Additionally, SASE platforms can enhance security posture by implementing Zero Trust principles, which assume that all network traffic, whether internal or external, is potentially risky and must be verified before being granted access. Overall, SASE platforms are helping network security and cybersecurity professionals improve their organization’s security posture in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platforms have evolved significantly over the past few years to meet the changing needs of network security. In the past, organizations relied on traditional security models that focused on securing the perimeter of their networks. However, with the rise of cloud computing, mobile devices, and remote work, these models became less effective.
SASE platforms emerged as a response to these challenges, combining networking and security capabilities into a single cloud-based service. They integrate technologies such as software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), secure web gateways (SWG), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) to provide secure access to applications and data for users, regardless of their location.
Today, SASE platforms are seen as a key component of modern network security architectures. They offer benefits such as improved security posture, reduced complexity, and enhanced user experience. As organizations continue to adopt cloud services and embrace remote work, SASE platforms are expected to play an even greater role in securing the modern digital enterprise.
Best Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platforms: What To Look For
When choosing the best Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform for their organization, there are several factors, features, and capabilities that organizations should consider:
- Integration of Networking and Security: Look for a platform that seamlessly integrates networking and security functions, such as SD-WAN, SWG, CASB, FWaaS, and ZTNA, into a unified service. This integration simplifies management and reduces complexity.
- Cloud-native Architecture: Choose a platform that is built on a cloud-native architecture, allowing it to scale easily and adapt to changing business needs. A cloud-native approach also ensures high availability and reliability.
- Global Presence: Consider a platform with a global presence, including a large number of Points of Presence (PoPs) around the world. This ensures low latency and high performance for users accessing applications from anywhere.
- Security Capabilities: Evaluate the platform’s security capabilities, including its ability to provide comprehensive threat protection, data loss prevention (DLP), encryption, and access control. Look for features like Zero Trust security principles and continuous authentication.
- User Experience: Consider the user experience provided by the platform, including ease of use, performance, and reliability. A good platform should provide a seamless and secure user experience, regardless of the user’s location or device.
- Cost-effectiveness: Evaluate the platform’s pricing model to ensure it aligns with your organization’s budget and requirements. Look for flexible pricing options that allow you to pay for only the services you need.
- Compliance and Regulations: Ensure that the platform complies with relevant regulations and standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. Look for features that help you maintain compliance and protect sensitive data.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Choose a platform that is scalable and flexible, allowing you to easily adapt to changing business needs. Look for features that enable you to add or remove users and applications as needed.
- Vendor Reputation and Support: Consider the reputation of the vendor and the level of support they provide. Look for a vendor with a track record of delivering high-quality products and excellent customer service.
- Interoperability: Ensure that the platform is interoperable with your existing network and security infrastructure. Look for features that enable easy integration with other systems and applications.
By considering these factors, features, and capabilities, organizations can choose the best SASE platform to meet their networking and security needs.
Best Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platforms Used By Security Professionals
1. Prisma SASE
AI-powered Prisma SASE from Palo Alto Networks is the secure foundation for IT to scale at the speed of business.
STATS & SPECIFICATIONS:
- Zero trust security: Prisma SASE consistently secures all apps used by your hybrid workforce, regardless if they’re at home, on the go or in the office. It protects all application traffic with best-in-class capabilities while securing access and data, dramatically reducing the risk of a data breach.
- Exceptional network: Prisma SASE with natively integrated Prisma SD-WAN provides the branch of the future, today. It delivers exceptional user experience while securing networks holistically (including IoT) and automating complex IT operations. It also provides elastic networks, direct-to-app access, Zero Trust and the power of AI/ML.
- AI-Powered operations: Prisma SASE is built in the cloud to secure the cloud at scale, providing uncompromised performance backed by leading SLAs. The only SASE-native Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM) ensures an exceptional experience for end users.
IDEAL FOR:
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
PRODUCT WEBSITE: Prisma SASE
2. Zscaler Cloud Security Platform
Network- and firewall-centric architectures cannot deliver the security or agility that our mobile and cloud era demands. A new architecture is required. Zscaler zero trust leverages the full power of AI. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ starts with the premise that no user, workload, or device is inherently trustworthy. The platform verifies identity, determines destination, assesses risk through AI, and enforces policy before brokering a secure connection between a user, workload, or device and an application—over any network, from anywhere. The Zero Trust Exchange is a comprehensive, integrated zero trust platform that enables security and network transformation for all users, workloads, IoT/OT, and B2B partners.
STATS & SPECIFICATIONS:
- Secure your users: Empower your people with fast, secure, and reliable access to the internet, SaaS, and private apps.
- Secure your workloads: Protect cloud workloads and cloud/SaaS data with zero trust connectivity, segmentation, and posture control.
- Secure your IoT/OT: Provide device discovery, zero trust internet access for IoT/OT, and privileged remote access to OT.
- Secure your B2B partners: Extend least-privileged access to SaaS and private apps for your business partners.
IDEAL FOR:
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
PRODUCT WEBSITE: Zscaler Cloud Security Platform
3. FortiSASE Solution
The Fortinet secure access service edge (SASE) solution enables secure access to the web, cloud, and applications for the hybrid workforce, while simplifying operations. It combines software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) with FortiSASE cloud-delivered security service edge (SSE) to extend the convergence of networking and security from the network edge to remote users.
STATS & SPECIFICATIONS:
- Powerful and flexible security enforcement: Our unique secure networking strategy is driven by a single operating system (FortiOS) and enhanced with FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services. Our innovative approach weaves security and networking functionality into a single, integrated system to deliver consistent security and user experience to any user in any location. FortiSASE enables organizations to secure access to the web, cloud, and applications with enterprise-grade cybersecurity, a unified agent, and superior user experience.
- Comprehensive control, visibility, and analytics: Our intuitive user interface includes unified network and security visibility and is easy to configure. You can instantly see endpoints, users, point-of-presence graphical information, and threat analytics. Also, FortiAnalyzer, in conjunction with FortiSASE, provides centralized logging and response capabilities for networking and security across the entire organization. This enables organizations to understand their network and security events, facilitating effective incident response and mitigation.
- Thin edge security, a unique capability: FortiSASE includes expanded integrations with the Fortinet WLAN/LAN and FortiExtender portfolios to support organizations securing thin edge locations and related devices. Our access points and extenders intelligently offload traffic to a SASE location for comprehensive security inspection at scale, for all devices. You can take a new approach to cloud-based security by extending enterprise-grade protection to thin edge locations without additional appliances, agents, or services.
IDEAL FOR:
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
PRODUCT WEBSITE: FortiSASE Solution
4. Cato SASE Cloud
Cato SASE optimally and securely connects all enterprise locations, users, applications, and clouds, into a global and secure, cloud-native platform. Cato can be gradually deployed to replace security point solutions and legacy network services.
STATS & SPECIFICATIONS:
- Connect everything: Cato SASE consolidates all enterprise traffic, WAN, internet, and cloud, into a consistent, optimized, and resilient cloud network. Cato offers a range of cloud on-ramps to easily connect physical locations, end users, and cloud data centers to the cloud network.
- Protect everywhere: Cato embedded a full security stack, SSE 360, into the cloud platform to address the distribution, scaling, resiliency, and enforcement of unified security policies everywhere and on everyone. Cato further extends protection to the endpoint for end-to-end threat prevention and detection.
- Detect what’s hidden: Cato leverages its granular network, security, and endpoint context and events to deliver a complete Threat Detection Investigation and Response (TDIR) life cycle management.
IDEAL FOR:
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
PRODUCT WEBSITE: Cato SASE Cloud
5. Barracuda Cloud-Native SASE
Barracuda’s cloud-first SASE platform will transform your business. Barracuda’s cloud-first SASE platform enables businesses to control access to data from any device, anytime, anywhere, and allows security inspection and policy enforcement in the cloud, at the branch, or on the device. Barracuda SecureEdge delivers enterprise-grade security including Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Firewall-as-a-Service, web security,and fully integrated office connectivity with Secure SD-WAN.
STATS & SPECIFICATIONS:
- Advanced multi-layered security: SecureEdge is built on the same technology as CloudGen Firewall, Barracuda’s battle-tested enterprise firewall. Purpose-built for the cloud, SecureEdge provides advanced multi-layered security to protect your business-critical resources, leveraging a rich feature-set.
- Secure SD-WAN
- Zero Trust Access
- Web security
- Management and automation
IDEAL FOR:
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
PRODUCT WEBSITE: Barracuda Cloud-Native SASE
6. Forcepoint SASE Platform
Data-first SASE from Forcepoint. Industry-leading data security, the most secure networking, and cloud protection for any app, user and device. Simplify security with Data-first SASE from Forcepoint. Data-first SASE is Forcepoint’s approach to the SASE architecture. It takes SASE beyond simply providing access by continuously safeguarding the usage of business data.
STATS & SPECIFICATIONS:
- Control all your policies and data with Forcepoint ONE SASE
- Centralize, protect and scale with data-first SASE
- Automate, simplify, and consolidate with Forcepoint
IDEAL FOR:
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
PRODUCT WEBSITE: Forcepoint SASE Platform
7. Verizon Advanced SASE
Make a strategic shift to an identity-centric, unified network and security management service.
STATS & SPECIFICATIONS:
- Simplified security: Centralized policy control and our focus on cloud-based security services helps to simplify security.
- Reduced overhead: Help free IT from routine tasks such as updating and patching appliances and systems.
- Easy management: Enjoy management of an end-to-end solution for enterprise networking and security needs.
- Security consistency: Apply more consistent security policies without regard for where a user or device connects to the network.
IDEAL FOR:
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
PRODUCT WEBSITE: Verizon Advanced SASE
8. Versa Unified SASE
The Versa Unified SASE platform delivers converged network security with software-defined WAN and LAN capabilities to support these dynamic, secure connectivity needs. Powered by AI/ML and built on the Versa Operating System (VOS), Versa’s single stack software solution dramatically simplifies SASE deployment and operations, and the single pass scanning architecture delivers unparalleled performance and network and security visibility. Today, the Versa Unified SASE platform powers some of the world’s largest and most complex enterprises, delivering resilient high performance networking with enhanced security, increased visibility and control, improved user experience, and lower cost and complexity.
STATS & SPECIFICATIONS:
- Unified management and operations to reduce administrative cost and complexity
- AI/ML suite to improve operational efficiency and accelerate threat detection and response
- Open architecture, with the platform seamlessly integrating with your existing infrastructure
- Flexible deployment architecture to fit into any environment
IDEAL FOR:
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
PRODUCT WEBSITE: Versa Unified SASE
In Conclusion…
Selecting the right Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform is crucial for organizations seeking to enhance their network security and connectivity. The best platforms offer a seamless integration of networking and security functions, providing a unified cloud-based solution. They prioritize a cloud-native architecture, ensuring scalability and adaptability to evolving business needs.
Global presence and robust security capabilities, including comprehensive threat protection and data loss prevention, are key considerations.A user-friendly experience, coupled with cost-effectiveness and compliance with regulations, further distinguishes top SASE platforms. Additionally, flexibility and interoperability with existing infrastructure are vital for a smooth implementation process. Choosing a reputable vendor with excellent support can make the difference in successfully deploying a SASE platform tailored to an organization’s unique requirements.