What is CASB?

CASB stands for Cloud Access Security Broker.  It functions as an enforcement point between the enterprise and cloud service providers, enabling zero-trust access control and policy enforcement for SaaS applications. With many organizations utilizing multiple cloud services, it is critical to have insight into all applications across every cloud provider.    

How does CASB work?

CASB works by first discovering all cloud applications across the enterprise. Next, it classifies the applications and data and develops risk estimates for each of these attributes. Then CASB creates a unique security policy based on the risk elements it has discovered, and enforces these policies to identify any threats, vulnerabilities and incidents, helping to reduce the organization’s risk profile. CASB is typically deployed as a cloud service or via on-premises versions. 

How does CASB reduce security risks?

CASB can implement a wide range of services such as: 

• Access Control 
• Threat Prevention 
• Data Loss prevention 
• Application Visibility  
• Granular Control 
• Strong Analytics 

These services can help ensure compliance with data privacy and other regulatory requirements. They also provide the enterprise with visibility to assess & manage unsanctioned shadow IT environments. Organizations are enabled with a comprehensive view of all cloud applications & activity across all their cloud environments. Threat protection detects compromised users and bogus cloud applications, as well as identifying ransomware.  

Granular control is a good example of how CASB can help de-risk the enterprise. Granular control and visibility can determine which applications users can access based on specific criteria. Such user criteria can be job title, user location, security status, as well as other elements of their profile. Limiting access helps reduce business risk so only authorized users in the enterprise can access critical applications such as financial data or other sensitive data. 

CASB vs. SASE

SASE stands for secure access service edge. It is a broad framework for integrating network and security elements. SASE enables enterprises to connect users to applications securely, regardless of their location. In addition, it can incorporate several network security functions such as secure web gateway (SWG), firewall as a service (FWaaS), and zero trust network access (ZTNA). While CASB is often enabled as a stand-alone service, it can also be integrated into the SASE model, providing control and visibility for all cloud–based applications, thus providing an enhanced security posture across the enterprise. 

How can Lumen help?

To explore how Lumen can protect your business explore our SASE Solutions. 

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