Cyber Security
Securing the modern workforce: Zero Trust in a SASE architecture By Nick Savvides
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OVID-19 has driven a not just a revolution in the way we work but also in the technologies we use. Today, the working sphere has become far more flexible for many more workers. Employees now need to access their data from outside their traditional locations, and through new applications, often outside of the visibility of their security tools that assumed fixed perimeters. These changes have firmly established a realisation that organisations must adapt far quicker than anticipated to the changing security environment. One of the key challenges with such upheaval is that users will be looking for any possible shortcuts and workarounds to help make their workflow easier and, without the structure of the workplace, many will find their risk perceptions decreasing. Between the increased threat of malicious attacks brought about by the expanded threat surface, combined with less visibility over potential insider threats, security teams face a daunting challenge in securing data and supporting legitimate actions in a world that looks nothing like the one traditional security structures were built for.
Traditional security and the modern workforce When our data and applications lived inside our own data centres, so did our security stacks. However, when data and applications moved to the cloud, our security stacks unfortunately stayed planted where they were – all while separate cloud specific security tools gained traction.
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This divergent model delivered the worst of both worlds where the flow of data for all users, even remote users, was forced to pass through an on-site central data centre through established security measures, while some cloud applications had completely different security measures. Wide-scale remote working amplified these problems resulting in weak performance, high latencies, and connection failures – placing security firmly in the way of productivity. In order to avoid the performance problems, many companies now connect their mobile or remote employees and their branch offices directly to the internet and cloud applications. They use technologies such as SD-WAN, but are forced to forego the peace of mind provided by centralized on-premise security technologies. This updated model, with multiple access points across a wide geographical landscape, has become the ideal target for cybercriminals looking to extort sensitive data. And those cybercriminals aren’t wasting any time – according to a study by the University of Maryland, hackers attack every 39 seconds, or an average of 2,244 times a day. This, coupled with the fact that 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by 2020, means securing the cloud has become a high priority.
SASE brings networking and IT security to the cloud To address these performance and security considerations, the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) model has
