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The pandemic has reshaped our entire working culture . The changes were global , rapid and widespread , compressing several years ’ worth of IT changes into just a few weeks . When businesses across the globe were plunged into rapid remote working , users adapted quickly to this model . So did IT . Businesses were able to continue doing business while employee productivity actually increased .
As organisations scrambled to restructure their network and security environments overnight , the move to the cloud and Digital Transformation efforts
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS TECH CHANNELS Issue
RAM NARAYANAN , COUNTRY MANAGER , CHECK POINT SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES MIDDLE EAST
As organisations scrambled to restructure their network and security environments overnight , the move to the cloud and Digital Transformation efforts were accelerated .
were accelerated . This rapid move resulted in security gaps and new opportunities for criminals . Organisations now look to close security gaps and secure their networks , from employees ’ home PCs and mobiles to the enterprise data centre and cloud , with a holistic , end-to-end security architecture .
However , cybersecurity technology has kept constant pace with the rapid shift in the threat landscape , especially during the pandemic and subsequent move to remote work . With secure remote access being a priority for any organisation , technologies like the SD-WAN have proved popular with businesses looking to secure a remote workforce . By combining networking and security solutions in a single appliance , organisations can move this functionality to the network edge , removing the centralisation of traditional , perimeterfocused networks .
With a move to the cloud and the emergence of cloud security services , SD-WAN has converged and become what is defined as Secure Access Service Edge ( SASE ). It is an architectural model that combines an array of security capabilities including WAN , firewalls , secure gateways and Zero Trust network access , which allow users to access applications with the best possible user experience and the highest level of security , all depending on the user ’ s identity .
When organisations adopt SASE , they distribute user access to corporate resources instead of consolidating them in one place . This is the reason why , instead of routing traffic from branch offices and remote users to the data centre , where the Internet egress point was typically located , SASE recommends that users and branches should all have a direct Internet breakout , a shift to a decentralised architecture .
For any organisation to truly benefit from security solutions , it needs the ability to have visibility into the network ’ s environment . Prior to the Coronavirus pandemic , it was a challenge to gain visibility into network environments and remote working has amplified this challenge . In the past , organisations were able to rely on security operations centres ( SOCs ), endpoint detection and response ( EDR ), security information and event management ( SIEM ) technologies and others . Yet traditional tools may not be enough to combat the emerging threats .
Having said that , as remote working operations and remote security improve , 91 % of Information Technology leaders expect that SASE will crucially simplify security and management . Among organisations that have implemented SASE , 86 % report seeing security improvements . SASE flexibility also makes it easy for businesses to scale up their security infrastructure as they grow .
No organisation , irrespective of size , is immune from a cyberattack . Organisations must strive to become ‘ secure by design ’ and have a strong cybersecurity plan ; otherwise plan to fail . •
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