What is SASE?

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) combines networking and security functions into a single cloud-delivered service model.

What is SASE?

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE, pronounced "sassy") is an IT model defined by Gartner in 2019 that combines software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) with core security services — including secure web gateways (SWG), cloud access security brokers (CASB), firewall as a service (FWaaS), and zero trust network access (ZTNA) — and delivers them from a single cloud-native platform.

Core components of SASE

  • SD-WAN: Software-defined networking that optimizes traffic routing
  • SWG: Secure web gateway that filters unwanted software/malware from user-initiated traffic
  • CASB: Cloud access security broker for cloud service visibility and control
  • FWaaS: Cloud-delivered firewall capabilities
  • ZTNA: Zero trust network access for secure application access

Benefits of SASE

SASE reduces complexity by consolidating multiple security and networking services, improves performance through optimized routing, provides consistent security policies regardless of user location, and reduces costs by eliminating hardware appliances.