About Secure Access Service Edge. What happens when you forget your password? Or worse, someone else gets access to your account? The answer is simple: You’re dead. If you don’t have a secure access service (SASE), then you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to identity theft and other cybercrimes.
SASE solutions provide strong authentication and encryption to ensure that only authorized individuals can gain access to data or applications.
Here are five things you should have been taught about SASE solutions:
1. Use an authentication method that is as strong as possible.
So, whether it’s two-factor authentication or biometrics, make sure you have the strongest authentication available on your network. This is the first step in securing your network. If a criminal has access to your network, then he has the ability to do anything. From hacking into other users’ accounts to stealing your data and selling it on the black market.
2. Use in-band management:
In-band management allows for secure access to devices from inside the network without having to go outside the firewall. This reduces the risk of an attack from the outside of the network. And provides a single point of management for all devices within your environment.
3. Use out-of-band management:
Out-of-band management includes using an external device such as a Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS). This device provides centralized management and control of all devices that are not in-band managed. It also provides strong two-factor authentication via smart cards or USB tokens along with terminal services and support for multiple protocols such as Secure Shell (SSH), Remote Shell (RSH), Telnet and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
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4. Don’t forget about physical security:
The biggest threat to enterprise networks is physical security intruders, says Meredith. “You need to make sure that your data centers are secure and that you lock doors at all times. But most importantly, you need to make sure that people can’t get into these areas at all times,” he adds.
5. Always manage your passwords:
Last but not least, keep track of passwords and change them regularly so no one can use them against you if they get lost or stolen, says Meredith. “You can never be too secure,” he says. “You want to make sure that you trust the people who are accessing your network and that they are who they say they are.”
What really is SASE?
A SAS is an efficient and cost-effective way to provide strong authentication, access control and centralized management of remote access (dial-in) to the network. SAS solutions utilize one or more of the following: RADIUS servers, identity management servers, virtual private networks (VPNs), digital certificates and a variety of authentication methods including two-factor authentication.
SASE is a combination of these technologies that you can use to secure your network. “SAS is also a framework for developing security governance processes and policies,” says Meredith. “It helps you implement security processes that will protect your network from outside threats but maximize your performance and productivity.”
Access control, authentication and encryption are all important SAS technologies, but implementing them properly can be a challenge. “One of the biggest mistakes that organizations make is using a lot of technology and not having a clear plan for how they will manage it,” says a security systems architect for Cisco. “This can cause problems when you don’t have the right kind of training or tools to support those technologies.”
Access Control
One approach is to use network access control (NAC) to enable clients to connect only if they are compliant with policy requirements such as the presence of anti-virus software, firewalls and operating system patches.
The NAC device inspects every packet on the network and blocks unauthorized connections. It also helps monitor computers in real-time to detect intrusions as well as identify policy-violating activities such as excessive bandwidth consumption.
Host-based access control (HAC)
Another approach is to use host-based access control (HAC) devices that can protect servers from compromise by controlling what connections can be made from one host to another host or from one host to a group of hosts. For example, a HAC device might be used to help secure applications such as database servers or e-mail servers.