Security Service Edge (SSE) has emerged as a hot topic in the network and security markets because it provides cloud-delivered security to protect access to websites and applications. This is the key to business from any location that was adopted during the pandemic and maintained as hybrid work became the norm. SSE is also a very common topic because it is an integral part of secure access service edge (SASE) and SD-WAN.
However, cloud security is a vague concept that can cover a wide range of functions and features. Organizations know it’s important but may not understand how to evaluate the best SSE solution for their network. And, like all technologies, SSE continues to evolve to meet new business needs and emerging threats, further complicating what organizations must evaluate when choosing a solution.
Important features of SSE that you should know about
At a high level, SSE should include access control, threat protection, data security, and monitoring tools. But there is so much more to consider. That’s why I’ve put together a list of key components that organizations should keep in mind when choosing an SSE solution without a well-established infrastructure:
- A network of global presence: Points of presence (POPs) are places where organizations send their traffic through cloud-delivered security. At first, everyone focused on the vendor’s number of POPs, thinking that more means less potential for network latency. While the number of merchant POPs is important to evaluate, organizations must account for the global reach of POP locations because this has a significant impact on overall performance. For example, if the organization is in Berlin, it is more important for the SSE provider to have a POP closer to 100 in the United States. Additionally, customers should have the option to select the POP they want based on regulatory compliance requirements and the ability to restrict users from connecting from certain countries to POPs.
- Support for BYOD and agentless devices: Modern networks include a variety of devices that connect to the network and all of them need to be protected. Contractors, for example, need to access network resources using their own resources, a type of bring your own device (BYOD). And connected devices, such as cameras, printers, and medical or industrial technology, are central to how many do business, but these devices do not support agents. Organizations should prioritize an SSE solution that has the flexibility to protect all devices that connect to the network, including BYOD and agentless ones.
- Strong data loss prevention features: As mentioned above, SSE provides secure access to applications, including SaaS applications such as Salesforce, Zoom, and Slack, as well as private and corporate ones. These applications carry sensitive information that could pose a security or business risk if leaked outside of an organization’s network. This is why data loss prevention (DLP) is an important feature of SSE. Look for an SSE solution with deep DLP capabilities such as defining sensitive data patterns, scanning for patterns while inspecting traffic, and allowing or denying access based on traffic patterns. An SSE solution should also assess data loss across all domains, including network, endpoint, and SaaS applications. This ensures that data is protected when in use, in motion, and at rest.
- Integrated management of all use cases: SSE includes a wide range of security features that touch many parts of a complex, multi-cloud environment. As many vendors have bundled together different offerings and bundled them together as an SSE solution, customers often find themselves struggling with different consoles to run and manage different SSE features. This is difficult and expensive and can create weak spots in a company’s security posture. It is important to prioritize SSE solutions that provide a truly unified management experience. Ensure that you can control all deployments and configurations from a single pane of glass.
Choosing the right SSE solution for your needs
Fortinet’s SSE solution, FortiSASE, delivers comprehensive, cloud-based security with the industry’s most flexible connectivity, whether customers need an integrated agent, agentless device protection, or seamless integration with access points or SD-WAN. Because FortiSASE is built on our FortiOS operating system and is part of the Fortinet Security Fabric, our cybersecurity platform, it provides advanced features that help customers integrate security solutions and benefit from network convergence and security.
Learn more about FortiSASE and Fortinet’s approach to cloud-delivered security.
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