SASE vs SSPM

Modern organizations are increasingly reliant on Software as a Service (SaaS) applications to support their distributed workforces. However, while these applications have a wide range of useful features, they can pose serious security risks to the business if not properly managed and secured.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) solutions offer companies the visibility and control that they need to secure their growing SaaS footprints. These complementary solutions address a range of SaaS security risks and help to eliminate the blind spots that leave corporate clouds vulnerable to attack.

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What is Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)?

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) integrates network management and network security components into a single, cloud-native solution. Some of the main components of a SASE solution include:

Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN): SD-WAN moves network infrastructure to the software level, offering optimal routing of site-to-site and site-to-Internet traffic over the available network media (MPLS, broadband, or wireless links).
Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA): ZTNA offers secure remote access with explicit identity-based access controls, offering secure, scalable management of access to corporate networks, applications, and in-app functionality.
Secure Web Gateway (SWG): SWGs secure Internet access to non-corporate web applications and services, providing protection against malware, bots, and browsing to unauthorized or phishing sites.
Firewall as a Service (FWaaS): Cloud-based FWaaS offerings provide enterprise-grade threat detection and prevention for multi-site organizations, simplifying security for branch locations.
Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB): CASB solutions implement data loss prevention (DLP), policy enforcement, access control, and advanced threat prevention for corporate SaaS applications.

Network traffic entering the corporate WAN does so through the nearest SASE point of presence (PoP). This solution inspects the network traffic, applies corporate security policies, and then routes it over the corporate WAN to the PoP nearest its destination.

SASE provides complete, integrated visibility into the corporate WAN, as well as the ability to apply consistent security policies to complex multi-cloud infrastructure. Since all traffic flows through at least one SASE PoP, everything is inspected and secured en route to its destination.

What is SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)?

SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) helps to ensure the security of an organization’s SaaS solutions. Its primary focus is to monitor SaaS configurations to protect against configuration drift and potential security gaps creeping in.

Some of the key features that SSPM offers to achieve this goal include:

Continuous Monitoring: SSPM solutions constantly monitor an organization’s SaaS platforms. This enables them to rapidly identify and respond to potential security gaps that could open up in an organization’s SaaS infrastructure.
Misconfiguration Detection: Security misconfigurations are a common security challenge for SaaS applications. SSPM monitors for potential misconfigurations and alerts security personnel, enabling them to quickly address the issue.
Remediation Support: SSPM can streamline and expedite remediation efforts via automated remediation. Security personnel can use the SSPM console to centrally manage and correct issues across their entire SaaS footprint.
Consolidated Visibility: SSPM offers centralized, consolidated visibility into an organization’s SaaS usage and security. This visibility aids threat detection, regulatory compliance, as well as strategic SaaS investment and continuous improvement.

The Difference Between SSPM and SASE

SSPM and SASE are both designed to improve an organization’s security posture, including that of its cloud footprint. However, they have different approaches and areas of focus.

SASE offers generalized protection to the entire corporate WAN. All WAN traffic passes through SASE solutions, which inspect the traffic and apply security policies. While SASE can incorporate application awareness – providing the ability to address application-specific security risks – it lacks the granularity of SSPM.

SSPM is a complementary solution to SASE, focusing specifically on the SaaS applications within an organization’s IT infrastructure. The tailored monitoring and protection offered by SSPM can help to identify potential configuration drifts and security risks specific to a particular SaaS application. These potential issues may be invisible to SASE, which focuses more on identifying malicious content and policy violations than an improperly configured and insecure SaaS application.

Choose the Right Solution for Your Organization

Cloud security is crucial for any organization, and companies need to have solutions in place to protect against a range of potential risks. SASE and SSPM solutions are complementary, not competing solutions. One provides broad protection against cloud security threats, while the other focuses specifically on managing the risks of SaaS misconfigurations.

A comprehensive cloud security strategy incorporates both SASE and SSPM capabilities. Otherwise, an organization runs the risk of visibility and security gaps that could leave it vulnerable to exploitation.

SaaS Security and SASE with Check Point

As SaaS solutions make up a growing component of many companies’ digital attack surface, SaaS security becomes central to cybersecurity and data security. To learn more about securing your organization’s SaaS footprint, check out the CISO’s Definitive Guide to SaaS Security.

The combination of SASE and SSPM is essential to protect SaaS applications and the corporate cloud against cyberattacks. Find out how Check Point’s Harmony SaaS can manage the security risks of your SaaS apps with a free demo.