Many APAC organisations have scaled up their network capacity in 2022, and this trend has become increasingly apparent over the last two years. The demand for hybrid working models, greater focus on customer experience on the enterprise front, and intensified usage of digital applications are just some examples that have contributed to this increase in demand for greater network requirements.
While this surge in adopting modern IT architectures together with newer, more innovative technologies has led to APAC organisations to rapidly expand their digital footprint, this has also in turn exposed them to increased technology risks and cyberattacks from bad actors. In fact, cybersecurity was listed as the top priority for APAC C-suites in 2022 based on IDC’s Worldwide CEO Sentiment Survey.
How then should APAC organisations evaluate and boost their state of network security today, especially with it being a top priority? As they continue to navigate through an ever menacing cyberthreat landscape, modern enterprises can no longer rely on traditional security solutions, which could now be deemed as inadequate in its reliability, performance, and security capabilities.
Instead, there is no better time than now for organisations to explore how security solutions stemming from newer frameworks such as Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) can help transform, simplify, and secure their networks.
SASE – the ultimate guide to greater cloud security solutions
The cyber landscape must contend with ever-evolving cyber threats, which is why it is imperative for APAC organisations to invest and acquire the right cybersecurity solutions that will suit their existing IT infrastructure demands. Bearing in mind the current internal and external security controls, data flows, and level of cyber awareness and readiness that employees possess, organisations must look ahead in terms of securing and protecting their valuable data at all levels within its network.
Organisations need to build a better, dynamic security posture that can proactively identify and stop sophisticated malware and ransomware threats – even the ones that are constantly evolving. In this regard, the SASE framework should be used as a guiding approach as to which cloud security service and solutions to adopt—unifying network and security management. This framework unifies several established technologies that merges Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) capabilities and network security functions – SD-WAN, Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Secure Web Gateway, and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). Solutions with integrated security functionalities of Zero Trust and CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) for granular access controls across the hybrid cloud environment will be ever more critical.
Of course, to be successful, organisations should establish a mature foundation, clarity on segmentation of roles and applications, as well as well-defined policies.
SASE solutions – the game changer
The core advantage of SASE is that it is designed with the user in mind and begins with the idea of Zero Trust. Here are five key benefits that enterprises will receive through an SASE experience.
Increased productivity for employees
Employee’s productivity should always be a concern especially if it is caused by poor network and application performance. Additionally, user response times to Software as a Service (SaaS) applications are slow when they access the network.
SASE solves this through its combination of networking and security capabilities into a unified, built-for-cloud architecture that shifts the focus of security from traffic flow centred to identity-centred. Regardless of the location of the user or the nature of the technologies that connects the user and systems, SASE gives an enterprise’s workforce the performance and user experience they need.
Reduced management cost
Enterprises who are currently using diverse point products to manage security would face IT sprawl, and this typically leads to an excessive cost in managing this infrastructure. This complexity creates an IT environment that is not conducive to hybrid work or optimal access to cloud applications.
Using SASE, organisations can increase visibility and control over the network security infrastructure by consolidating security and networking services. Cybersecurity teams can manage the consolidated services from a ‘single pane of glass,’ usually with just one operator, thereby reducing management cost complexity.
Protecting assets from evolving cyber threats
Cyber criminals today are highly ingenious and evolving cyber threats, such as ransomware, pose as a continuous threat to cloud architectures. Cyber criminals who are successful in hacking into VPN-based access can corrupt data and assets within an enterprise’s network.
SASE secures assets and data through enforcing identity and context-based authentication as well as continuous validation for security configuration and posture. Furthermore, SASE also enhances security by enabling least-privileged access.
Fast deployment and improved incident response times
Traditional models like VPNs have slow response time to cybersecurity breaches and deployment of security services as it requires centralised authentication, with incident management routed through that central location. Those few seconds can make a difference in an enterprise salvaging data or assets after an incident.
SASE’s aggregation of threat intelligence across all cybersecurity solutions enables enterprises to quickly implement identity-based security policies and cloud-based firewall – such as FWaaS, while improving incident response times through decentralising security services – on-premises or cloud-based to save time and costs.
Flexibility in securing the expanding perimeter
With many enterprises in APAC adopting the Hybrid and remote work models, and enterprise SaaS applications being accessed over the cloud, the edge of the network becomes uncertain which gives an inaccurate assessment of the potential attack surface.
As SASE ensures that security policies follow the user and devices used to access applications and resources, it guarantees that mission-critical business assets are well-protected when cloud services are accessed, including any access beyond the perimeter.
Organisations who do not currently have the required expertise and knowledge could explore partnering with managed security service providers (MSSPs) such as Lumen Technologies, that will be able to not only fill the gaps and provide the solutions that caters to their cybersecurity needs, but also have the experience in implementing and managing cloud environments – creating a holistic end to end service management.
Conclusion
Moving forward, organisations will inevitably need to be able to confidently deliver immersive digital experiences across distributed environments and geographies. Hence, we will see a growth in interest for SASE amongst APAC organisations to secure their networks – with network security set as a key priority in 2023 for many global MNCs, given the rise of cyberthreats and consequences on business reputation and customer loyalty. This will provide APAC organisations with the opportunity to transform their networks through improved agility, while simplifying and securing it with greater control and visibility.
