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The shift to cloud applications, remote work, and distributed environments has made traditional network security obsolete. This blog explains where SASE in cybersecurity comes from, what it includes, and why modern enterprises are adopting it as the foundation of secure, high-performance connectivity
The way organisations operate has evolved faster than their security models. Teams connect from homes, shared workspaces, airports, and mobile devices. Applications no longer sit inside a single data centre – they’re distributed across SaaS platforms, public clouds, and hybrid environments. Data now moves in every direction, across networks the organisation does not fully control.
In this landscape, the old “secure the office perimeter” approach breaks down. Security needs to travel with the user, not stay behind in a physical building.
This challenge is exactly what led to the creation of SASE.
The term Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) was introduced by Gartner in 2019 to describe a new cloud-native architecture for secure connectivity. Gartner saw that enterprises were struggling with too many point solutions—VPNs, firewalls, proxies, CASB tools, SD-WAN boxes, and needed a single, unified model that could secure users and apps from anywhere.
Gartner defined SASE in response to the growing challenges enterprises were facing with traditional network architectures. Organisations were relying on a patchwork of scattered security tools, suffering from slow performance caused by traffic backhauling, and struggling to protect remote users consistently. As applications moved to SaaS and multi-cloud environments, security gaps widened, and IT teams were burdened with increasing complexity and operational overhead. SASE was introduced as a unified, cloud-delivered architecture to solve these issues by converging networking and security into a single model.
A complete SASE architecture brings together multiple cloud-delivered security and networking technologies. Each solves a specific challenge, but together, they form a unified framework that protects users, devices, and data everywhere.
An SWG acts as the first line of defence between users and the internet. It
• Blocks malicious websites, phishing links, and unwanted content
• Enforces browsing policies and compliance controls
• Prevents data leakage through unsafe web interactions
In a cloud-first world, an SWG keeps users safe even when they’re working outside the office.
CASB monitors and secures how employees use cloud and SaaS applications. It helps organisations:
• Detect risky cloud usage (shadow IT)
• Protect sensitive data inside SaaS platforms
• Apply DLP policies across apps like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or Salesforce
• Control user actions such as downloads, uploads, and file sharing
CASB has become essential as businesses increasingly rely on SaaS
ZTNA replaces VPNs with a modern, identity-driven approach. Its key principles include:
• “Never trust, always verify”
• Providing the minimum required access to users
• Connecting users only to the applications they need, not the full network
• Reducing lateral movement, which prevents breaches from spreading internally
ZTNA ensures that every access request is continuously validated.
FWaaS delivers traditional firewall capabilities from the cloud. It offers:
• Centralised policy management
• Traffic inspection at scale
• Intrusion prevention
• Consistent enforcement across branches, remote users, and cloud workloads
Unlike physical firewalls, FWaaS scales instantly and handles distributed environments effortlessly.
SD-WAN optimises how traffic moves across networks. It:
• Selects the best, fastest, most reliable path for each user
• Reduces latency by routing traffic directly to the cloud
• Improves application performance (SaaS, VoIP, video, etc.)
• Cuts WAN costs by using a mix of MPLS, broadband, and LTE
SD-WAN ensures high performance no matter where users connect from.
Individually, these tools solve important problems:
Secure Web Gateway (SWG) protects users from unsafe or non-compliant websites.
Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) secures data across cloud and SaaS applications.
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) enforces identity-based, least-privilege access to corporate resources.
Each component is powerful on its own, but not enough on its own.
When organisations try to implement them separately, they run into the same challenges that pushed Gartner to define SASE in the first place:
• Multiple consoles, dashboards, and vendors to manage
• Security policies that don’t align across tools
• Higher operational and licensing overhead
• Limited visibility across remote users and cloud apps
• Performance issues caused by fragmented routing paths
In short, individually, these tools improve security… but together, without a unified architecture, they create complexity.
This is exactly why SASE was designed.
SASE brings SWG, CASB, ZTNA, FWaaS, and SD-WAN into one cloud-delivered framework — meaning one policy engine, one enforcement layer, and one operational model.
The result: stronger security, simplified operations, and consistent protection for every user, on every device, from every location.
As organisations continue embracing cloud, SaaS, remote work, and distributed operations, the limitations of traditional security models become impossible to ignore.
SASE offers a unified, modern alternative — one architecture, one policy framework, and one consistent security experience for every user, device, and application.
Enterprises that adopt SASE aren’t just improving security; they’re building a future-ready foundation that scales with the business, reduces operational overhead, and
keeps performance high.
In a world where connectivity is everywhere, SASE is how organisations stay secure everywhere. To support your SASE journey, CyberAssure offers expert guidance on secure cloud access, Zero Trust, and modern network architecture.