What Are SASE Solutions?
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a cybersecurity and networking framework introduced by Gartner in 2019 to address the limitations of traditional perimeter-based security. SASE merges wide area networking (WAN) functions with security services, such as secure web gateways (SWG), cloud access security brokers (CASB), firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS), and zero trust network access (ZTNA).
This integration is delivered primarily through a cloud-based approach, enabling organizations to unify their networking and security strategies in an era defined by remote work and the rapid adoption of cloud services. The key advantage of SASE is this consolidated approach; it moves security from hardware appliances onto a scalable, flexible cloud platform that can provide uniform policy enforcement wherever users, devices, or applications reside.
With increasingly distributed workforces and growing adoption of SaaS platforms, legacy security models struggle to keep up. SASE solutions address these challenges by integrating multiple security and networking capabilities, ensuring consistent protection regardless of location, device, or network. This reduces complexity while maintaining strong protection.
In this article:
Key Features of SASE Solutions
Convergence of Networking and Security
Traditional networks often forced IT teams to operate with fragmented systems, where security appliances and network optimization solutions worked in silos. SASE eliminates these silos by delivering both network connectivity (such as SD-WAN) and security services (like firewalls and threat protection) via a single, integrated cloud service.
The unified model allows enterprises to apply security controls directly to the network traffic irrespective of where it originates. This ensures that the same security posture and policy enforcement extend to all users—onsite, remote, or mobile—without the need for separate hardware or point solutions at each location.
Learn more in our detailed guides to VPN replacement and SASE security
Cloud-Native, Global Edge Architecture
SASE solutions are inherently cloud-native. Rather than routing traffic through centralized data centers, a SASE architecture leverages a distributed network of cloud-based points of presence (PoPs) to achieve low-latency, high-performance connections. This global edge footprint ensures that security and networking services are physically closer to users, apps, and endpoints, regardless of geographic location.
Cloud-native design also supports elastic scaling and continuous updates, keeping services up-to-date without manual intervention. By shifting security and networking functions to the edge, organizations reduce network latency and bottlenecks caused by traditional backhauling methods. The result is improved end-user experience—crucial for latency-sensitive applications or for users accessing resources across regions.
Identity-Driven Security with Context Awareness
Instead of relying solely on IP addresses or locations, SASE enforces security policies based on user identity, device posture, application context, and other real-time factors. This zero trust approach evaluates each connection attempt dynamically, requiring continuous authentication and authorization for access to network resources.
Context awareness extends beyond authentication to include the status of the user’s device, their behavioral patterns, the sensitivity of the requested resource, and real-time threat intelligence. This enables SASE solutions to deliver granular, adaptive access controls, ensuring that elevated privileges or network access are only granted under secure and verified circumstances.
Consistent, Policy-Based Security Across All Edges
SASE enforces standardized security policies across disparate networks, users, and locations. Whether users work from corporate offices, remote sites, or mobile devices, SASE solutions deliver uniform policy enforcement from the cloud. Admins create and manage policies via centralized consoles, which are automatically distributed to all coverage points. This prevents security gaps caused by inconsistent device or location-based protections.
Automated, centralized policy management also speeds up the deployment of security updates and compliance changes. This is particularly valuable for organizations operating globally, where policy drift and regional disparities can expose the business to vulnerabilities. Consistency in policy enforcement, regardless of where traffic originates or terminates, is critical for regulatory compliance.
Optimized Application Performance
SASE platforms incorporate network optimization techniques such as intelligent routing, traffic shaping, and WAN acceleration. These features are especially important as organizations increasingly rely on SaaS applications and offer support for remote work. By dynamically selecting optimal network paths and minimizing unnecessary traffic hops, SASE can reduce application latency and improve reliability.
The combination of performance optimization and integrated security ensures that end-users have secure access to business-critical tools without trade-offs between speed and safety. In practice, this means employees can access resources efficiently from any location, without the slowdowns that typically result from traditional, security-centric backhauling or packet inspection methods.
Notable SASE Solutions and Tools
1. Seraphic
Seraphic is a cloud-delivered platform purpose-built to secure the enterprise browser ecosystem. Unlike traditional solutions that rely on proxies, gateways, or device agents, Seraphic embeds protection directly into the browser layer, ensuring seamless security for any user, device, or location. It eliminates the gaps left by fragmented endpoint tools and legacy controls with a unified architecture designed for the modern web.
Key features include:
- Universal browser coverage: Native protection across Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, Electron-based apps, and even in-app browsers like Teams or Slack.
- Advanced threat defense: Real-time mitigation against phishing, malicious extensions, drive-by downloads, and evolving browser-based exploits.
- Data protection and DLP controls: Granular policies to prevent data leakage through uploads, copy-paste, screenshots, or shadow IT.
- Zero-performance impact: Lightweight architecture with no reliance on VPNs, VDI, or traffic redirection—delivering a frictionless user experience.
- Visibility and compliance: Comprehensive logging and analytics for user activity, security incidents, and compliance reporting.
- Seamless integration: Works alongside existing SASE, SSE, and endpoint security tools without requiring infrastructure changes.
With Seraphic, organizations gain true SASE for browsers: a unified, cloud-native approach that secures the most critical enterprise access point while keeping users productive anywhere.
2. Cato
Cato’s SASE Cloud Platform is an integrated cloud-native service that connects and secures enterprise locations, remote users, applications, and cloud environments over a global private backbone. It replaces fragmented point solutions and legacy network services with a unified architecture that delivers consistent performance and security coverage.
Key features include:
- Global private backbone: SLA-backed encrypted backbone with a dense global PoP footprint for high-performance connectivity across regions.
- Traffic optimization and acceleration: End-to-end performance enhancements for latency-sensitive applications like voice, video, and SaaS workloads.
- Digital experience monitoring (DEM): Real-time visibility, AI/ML-based analysis, and proactive issue resolution without additional sensor deployment.
- Cloud on-ramps: Multiple connection options, including SD-WAN devices, virtual appliances, cross-connects, and IPSec tunnels, to integrate physical locations and cloud datacenters.
- Embedded SSE 360 security stack: Unified security services including FWaaS, SWG, IPS, malware prevention, DNS security, CASB, DLP, and ZTNA.
3. Cloudflare
Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud is a unified, cloud-native platform to modernize enterprise networking and security by delivering SASE and SSE capabilities through a global network. Intended to eliminate the complexity of fragmented solutions, it connects and protects users, devices, applications, and networks from over 330 cities.
Key features include:
- Global anycast network: 330+ city footprint ensures low-latency, resilient connectivity with integrated security enforcement at the network edge.
- Single-pass inspection: Unified processing for networking and security functions to reduce latency, simplify policy management, and eliminate redundant tools.
- Zero trust access: Secure application and infrastructure access without VPNs, with identity- and context-based policy enforcement through Cloudflare Access.
- Integrated threat intelligence: Leverages insights from blocking 247 billion threats daily to detect and prevent advanced attacks across multiple vectors.
- Flexible on-ramps: Multiple connection methods for users, sites, and clouds, enabling rapid deployment without major infrastructure changes.
4. Fortinet
Fortinet’s Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution unifies networking and security into a platform for the hybrid workforce. Built on the FortiSASE cloud-delivered Security Service Edge (SSE) and integrated with Fortinet’s Secure SD-WAN, it extends zero trust principles and consistent policy enforcement from the network edge to remote users.
Key features include:
- Global SASE cloud network: Offers various PoPs, including Fortinet-owned locations and Google Cloud backbone integrations, for low-latency, high-reliability connectivity.
- Integrated secure SD-WAN: Native SD-WAN in each PoP with FortiGate integration for Secure Private Access and optimized application performance.
- Unified FortiClient agent: Single agent for secure access, endpoint protection, vulnerability assessment, and zero trust enforcement.
- AI-powered security: Includes SWG, FWaaS, ZTNA, CASB, RBI, and DEM in one operating system.
- Thin edge security: Extends enterprise-grade protection to branch and device-edge locations via FortiAP, FortiSwitch, and FortiExtender without additional appliances.
5. Prisma SASE
Prisma SASE by Palo Alto Networks is an AI-powered platform that unifies networking and security to protect users, applications, data, and devices across hybrid work environments. Designed for a workforce that operates from offices, homes, and on the move, it combines zero trust security, multicloud networking, and AI-driven threat prevention into one solution.
Key features include:
- AI-powered security: Uses AI and machine learning to detect and stop threats faster across users, devices, and applications.
- Unified networking and security: Integrates zero trust principles with SD-WAN and cloud-delivered security for simplified operations and consistent policy enforcement.
- Multicloud architecture: Built to securely connect and protect resources across multiple cloud providers with optimized application performance.
- Device coverage: Secures both managed and unmanaged devices.
- Data protection everywhere: Enforces unified policies to prevent data leaks and protect sensitive information across locations and applications.
6. Cisco Secure Access Service Edge
Cisco’s Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform combines market-leading networking and security to deliver secure access for users, devices, and applications. Built to simplify IT environments and strengthen security posture, Cisco SASE converges SD-WAN, cloud-delivered security, and zero trust access into a single, scalable solution.
Key features include:
- Unified networking and security: Integrates Cisco SD-WAN, SWG, ZTNA, DNS-layer security, CASB, and SSE services into a single platform for simplified management.
- Identity-first zero trust: Enforces granular, least-privilege access controls based on user identity, device posture, and context.
- Cloud-native scalability: Designed to scale across multicloud environments without sacrificing performance or security.
- Always-on connectivity: Delivers secure, reliable access for users, devices, and applications, whether on-site, remote, or mobile.
- Optimized IT operations: Reduces complexity through tool consolidation, centralized policy management, and simplified deployment.
7. NordLayer
NordLayer’s Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution unifies networking and security into a scalable, cloud-based service to protect business data, resources, and users across locations. By combining SD-WAN with integrated security capabilities such as FWaaS, CASB, SWG, and ZTNA, NordLayer replaces siloed point solutions with a centralized platform.
Key features include:
- Unified security dashboard: Centralized control for multiple security layers, enabling quick deployment and easy management.
- Integrated SD-WAN and security services: Combines FWaaS, CASB, SWG, and ZTNA into a unified cloud-native solution.
- SaaS application protection: Secures business data and user privacy in apps like Slack, Jira, and Confluence with access control, encryption, and segmentation.
- Automated threat prevention: Blocks access to untrusted websites and mitigates malware or phishing risks.
- Cloud LAN for remote access: Enables secure device-to-device connectivity across global locations.
Conclusion
SASE solutions provide a unified, cloud-native framework that delivers consistent security and optimized connectivity across distributed environments. By converging networking and security functions into a single service, organizations can reduce operational complexity, improve performance, and enforce uniform policies regardless of user location or device. This approach supports the modern hybrid workforce, enabling secure, low-latency access to applications and data while adapting to evolving threats and regulatory requirements.
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