What Does CASB Work?
CASB implements access control, visibility, threat prevention, and data protection for an SaaS services that are used by an organization. By sitting at the edge of the cloud and inspecting all traffic entering and leaving it, CASB can block traffic that violates corporate policy or is determined to pose a potential risk to an organization and its cloud infrastructure.
A CASB solution can be deployed either as a physical security appliance or a SaaS solution. Corporate cloud infrastructure can be configured so that the CASB solution is in line with traffic flows entering and all traffic to and from corporate cloud solutions passes through it. Alternatively, CASB can integrate via APIs to gain the visibility and control that it requires.
Both deployment options enables a CASB solution to filter traffic based on its internal rules. These rules could include zero-trust access controls, corporate security policies, and limited threat prevention and filtering.
The 4 Pillars of CASB
CASB is an important component of an organization’s cloud security infrastructure. Its core capabilities can be broken down into four main pillars.
#1. Visibility
The cloud shared responsibility model makes it much more difficult for companies to achieve visibility into their cloud environments. With the underlying infrastructure under the control of the cloud provider and inaccessible to the customer, organizations have limited security visibility and cannot use familiar tools from on-prem environments.
CASB can help to improve cloud visibility by offering insight into how users and applications access and use an organization’s cloud-based applications. Access logs provide an understanding of how the corporate cloud infrastructure works and visibility into attempted attacks. Additionally, CASB can provide insight into shadow IT, where the use of unapproved SaaS apps runs the risk of data leaks and other security threats.
#2. Cloud Data Security
Companies are increasingly moving to cloud infrastructure to take advantage of its numerous benefits, and more effectively support and secure a remote workforce. With this shift comes the need to protect corporate cloud environments at the same level as corporate data centers.
CASB is a crucial component of a corporate cloud security program. It implements access management and data loss prevention (DLP) to help control access to and secure an organization’s cloud-based assets.
#3. Threat Protection
Cloud-based solutions can be used to store and transmit malicious content. This includes attachments to phishing messages and malware distributed via cloud storage and SaaS solutions.
CASB offers advanced threat prevention, including the ability to identify and block the distribution of malware through cloud-based infrastructure. Every file uploaded, shared, and downloaded from the cloud can be inspected for potential threats before reaching its destination.
#4. Compliance
An expanding array of regulations — such as GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and PCI DSS — are designed to protect customers’ sensitive data. A common requirement of these laws is that an organization demonstrate that access to this data is limited to authorized users and not exposed in an attack.
CASB can help companies to achieve and demonstrate compliance with these regulations. Defining strict access controls helps to ensure that only legitimate users have access to protected data, and access logs can demonstrate the success of these security controls to auditors.
The Role of CASB in SASE
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) implements an integrated networking and security stack in a cloud-based solution. On the networking side, SASE includes software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) and other network quality of service (QoS) features to ensure that traffic is routed optimally to its intended destination over the corporate WAN.
On the security side, SASE integrates a range of security features, such as a next-generation firewall (NGFW), web application firewall (WAF), and secure web gateway (SWG). The objective is to implement a full network security stack that offers equivalent protection to the security solutions traditionally deployed at the perimeter of the corporate LAN.
CASB is one of the security solutions commonly integrated into SASE. The access control, policy enforcement, and threat prevention capabilities that it provides are essential to protecting an organization’s cloud-based resources against unauthorized access and various cyber threats.
CASB with Harmony Connect
Check Point’s Harmony SASE, integrating CASB – whose capabilities are provided by Harmony Connect Internet Access and Harmony Email and Collaboration – with other vital networking and security capabilities. By using CASB as part of an integrated security platform, an organization can extend its cybersecurity and threat prevention capabilities to the cloud in a usable and scalable way.
As companies move to the cloud, effective cloud security becomes increasingly vital. Learn more about improving your organization’s cloud security by signing up for a free demo of Harmony Connect today.
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