Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) converges networking and security capabilities into a single, cloud-delivered framework that ensures users get secure and optimized access wherever they are.
More organizations are adopting SASE to deliver faster, more reliable remote connectivity while strengthening security. Traditional VPNs and perimeter-based security models weren’t designed to handle modern distributed workforces, especially:
In contrast, SASE remote access provides fast access to every user, device, and application, regardless of location, while maintaining consistent security controls.
The traditional approach to remote user connectivity utilizes VPNs to create an encrypted tunnel between the off-site user and the internal network. With a VPN, users can mask their IP address, making it appear as if a remote device is connecting from the local network.
This enables users to access internal resources while they are out of the office.
But, given the scale of hybrid workforces and the diversity of devices and networks they are connecting from, VPNs struggle to facilitate remote user connectivity in modern organizations.
Here are the most common challenges you can spot with the traditional approach:
These challenges combine to create unsafe workflows and inconsistent, frustrating remote user experiences. Overcoming them while still utilizing traditional remote access models requires expensive infrastructure upgrades and additional hardware.
Other traditional remote user connectivity approaches, such as remote desktop protocol (RDP), also present significant security issues in the current threat landscape.
The best enterprise solution to improve remote user connectivity is a comprehensive SASE solution.
Secure access service edge optimizes remote user connectivity, providing the security and networking performance required for modern hybrid workforces.
It achieves this by combining a number of technologies:
These technologies combine to deliver a consistent, safe, and high-quality SASE user experience for remote users.
While SWG, CASB, and FWaaS provide valuable security capabilities, the key components enabling SASE remote access are SD-WAN and ZTNA connectivity.
SD-WAN replaces expensive hardware, such as Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), that provides private and fast connectivity between business locations along predetermined paths. SD-WAN delivers optimal data transfer through dynamic path selection, using software to identify the most efficient route between any two points on the network. It also applies internal business policies and protections, including encryption.
ZTNA connectivity replaces VPNs by authenticating each access request. While VPNs authenticate users and create encrypted tunnels into the corporate network, ZTNA offers more granular access and control by assessing each request separately. The framework often incorporates contextual information, such as device posture and behavioral patterns, to assess the risk associated with each request.
This reduces your attack surface and limits lateral movement to minimize the impact of a successful attack.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to enhancing remote user connectivity with SASE.
Remote workers often have to deal with unpredictable connectivity and slow application speeds. SASE uses real-time analytics to assess network conditions and dynamically select the optimal path for each type of traffic.
This means business-critical applications can be prioritized – less important traffic is routed over alternate paths.
This approach:
The SASE user experience is aided by a global network of nodes or Points of Presence (PoPs) that extend functionality to the network edge.
Traditional VPNs backhaul traffic to a centralized data center, causing latency and bottlenecks.
In contrast, SASE routes traffic to the nearest PoP, reducing the distance data must travel to enable faster remote user connectivity. This allows SASE performance optimization regardless of an employee’s location and fewer bottlenecks with data routed to different PoPs depending on available capacity.
Traditional VPNs create tunnels into the corporate network, providing all-or-nothing access. This provides users with more access than necessary, creating additional security risks. SASE remote access, based on ZTNA connectivity, solves this by:
This enhances security and minimizes your attack surface by limiting the impact of compromised accounts.
Every network will encounter performance issues. The key is to monitor performance, identify issues, and respond as quickly as possible. Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) capabilities provide the data needed for SASE performance optimization with real-time insights into:
With this information, IT can take proactive steps to deliver the best possible SASE user experience for employees, whether they are in the office or working remotely.
Remote work SASE solutions provide consistent protection regardless of where the user is connecting from.
This leads to a predictable and consistent SASE user experience, with appropriate safeguards always in place to protect every user, application, and device.
As a cloud-native framework, SASE also delivers scalable and flexible security services (SWG, FWaaS, CASB) that adapt to your needs. This means organizations get the same level of protection regardless of traffic volume and can update security controls in response to an evolving threat landscape.
To improve remote user connectivity with SASE, you need to ensure a successful deployment of the technology. Listed below are the best practices for implementing remote work SASE solutions:
As more organizations learn how to improve remote user connectivity with SASE, the framework is redefining how to support today’s hybrid workforces.
With optimized networking and protection based on ZTNA connectivity, you can move on from legacy remote work models and deliver a seamless working experience for employees anywhere in the world.
To learn more about SASE and the future of remote work technology, schedule a quick call with one of Check Point’s experts today. Our easy-to-use SASE platform connects users, sites, and resources with secure ZTNA connectivity and on-device internet protection that is 10x faster than the competition.
