There are plenty of cybersecurity attacks and defenses coming your way in 2023. Ransomware will continue to dominate the threat landscape and Dark Web scans will find more stolen PII; the new year is bringing us just as much help as it is concern.

One of the ways that security experts are working to consolidate best practices and fight off threat actors is called secure access service edge. What the heck is SASE?

Living on the Edge

Think of the network as a galaxy. The sun is your cybersecurity stretching to keep everything safe. If the sun is very far away from the person observing the galaxy (that’s you, the end user) then they will not feel its warmth very well. Meanwhile, if the sun was positioned closer to the “edge” of the galaxy, then there wouldn’t be as much room for cold to find its way between you (cybercriminals being the chill in this scenario).

How do we bring secure access service to the edge? It’s going to come down to a combination of simplified and streamlined solutions, better network performance, and zero-trust frameworks. What does that mean for you as a user?

• You’ll notice an uptick in multi-factor authentication requirements to log in
• A centralized network will make using its programs and files easier
• Apps will run faster and with fewer errors
• Remote and mobile access options will be available to you in a way that doesn’t sacrifice the security of the local etwork
• You may have stricter access level stratification
• If you don’t currently use cloud services, SASE will bring them to you!

With this added safety, will come consistency and efficiency whenever you’re using the network.

Why SASE?

These days, remote workers don’t make us blink. Nearly 50% of employees enjoy a hybrid schedule, according to a 2022 study by Marketing Week Career and Salary. Virtual meetings and transferring important data outside the local network are all common, and that transition has created a lot of vulnerabilities that cybercriminals swooped in to exploit. How do we catch up?

A zero-trust security framework assumes everything is suspect until proven safe. The name comes from zero-day vulnerabilities, which are places where the attack surface (that refers to anywhere that a hacker might get into the system) is exposed in a newly-launched program or service. This leaves the software at risk until the developers release a new version to “patch” the issue. Until you update the software to include the patch, you’re at risk!

To help mitigate those kinds of threats, security experts developed what’s known as a zero-trust framework. This approach assumes your system is vulnerable until every part of it has been examined and deemed acceptable to use, i.e., not at risk. It calculates how safe each asset is before allowing it to connect to the network or system. That includes vetting new users and revoking access if they step out of line!

Conclusion

This is just one of many exciting new things coming our way this upcoming year. Meanwhile, staying aware of what’s going on around you, so you can recognize and report suspicious behavior, will always be the best defense against data breaches. 95% of breaches happen because of human error! Hopefully, SASE will help.

What do you think…ready to take the plunge?