With employees accessing applications and data through hybrid work environments, organizations need a way to secure remote workers. A secure service edge can help achieve this.

SSE is an architecture built for the cloud that combines security and networking in one platform. It provides continuous security across SaaS, cloud and private applications using a unified policy framework.

Access Control

It is important to have an SSE solution that covers all aspects of secure service edge. As employees and trusted partners increasingly access content, apps, data, and other resources via mobile or internet devices, a SSE solution will become more and more essential. SSE protects end users from unauthorized and malicious access, enables secure access to web, cloud, and private applications, and provides digital experience monitoring.

SSE, a cloud platform, integrates networking functions and security, including software-defined wide-area network (SDWAN), firewalls as services, secure web portals (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). It provides consistent application and security enforcement for users and locations while providing centralized visibility of traffic.

SSE includes an identity-based zero trust access control system that never puts users on the corporate network. This enables fast, reliable WANs without the necessity of a Virtual Private Network (VPN). In addition, a robust defense-in-depth strategy for detecting and preventing malware and other threats is an important part of SSE.

Threat Protection

SSE protects internet sessions from threats, so users are able to connect securely with critical business apps no matter their location. It enables hybrid work by employees, secures the cloud and private data connection, accelerates cloud-migrations, as well as simplifies the integration of M&As.

Security services are delivered through a cloud platform which can track user-to application connections, irrespective of location or devices. This eliminates gaps between point-products and the need to manually update traditional legacy appliances.

Zero trust access: SSE systems should allow least-privileged access based on a zero trust policy, including user role and behavior, device, application and content. This protects against lateral movement while preventing applications from being found, reducing attack surfaces.

SSE enforces policies: SSE combines unified threats prevention capabilities with CASB/ZTNA technologies in order to enforce corporate policy on all end-users, no matter where they are located within the network or which devices they use. This helps reduce the risk that insiders, ransomwares and other types of threats can be posed by employees who connect to sensitive information or use cloud-based applications that aren't compliant with corporate security policies.

Data Security

Organizations need to safeguard information as remote and mobile users access applications and data via the internet. Secure service edges delivers security through the unification of web gateways (SWG), cloud-access security brokers (CASB), as well as zero-trust network access (ZTNA).

SSE's centralized cloud DLP capabilities allow for sensitive data to be located, classified and protected in an integrated way. This can support compliance policies such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and GDPR.

SSE solutions must also have advanced threat prevention capabilities, such as cloud firewall as a service (FWaaS), CASB inspection of data in SaaS apps, and adaptive access control. SSE is built around adaptive access, which detects changes in the device's posture and adjusts its access.

Monitoring

It is crucial to monitor Internet sessions when you are working with a Secure Service Edge. This lets you see how your network works and what applications are being utilized.

Monitoring will help you identify problems before they occur and safeguard your business. This can also help you improve your user experience and reduce costs.

SSE platforms capable of inspecting web and data trafic on a large scale are critical. Vendors should have strong service-level agreement (SLAs), and experience evaluating inline traffic at major multinationals.

One of the most common uses for a Security Service Edge is to enforce control policies on mobile, cloud and internet access. It can be used to enforce corporate internet policies and access controls for compliance, or mitigate risk by blocking content and isolating malware.