With remote work and BYOD becoming commonplace, businesses must ensure data in the cloud stays secure. One way to do that is with a CASB solution. These tools monitor cloud app use, detect unsanctioned use and enforce security policies. They also perform risk assessments and enable granular data visibility.
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Businesses deploying cloud applications risk sensitive information getting into the wrong hands. Attackers hijack email and cloud storage accounts to steal credentials, distribute malware, or release corporate data. A CASB solution like those offered by Versa Networks adds an extra layer of security between employees and cloud apps to protect against these threats. However, there are several factors to consider when selecting a CASB.
First, organizations must decide whether to integrate the CASB with existing IAS or SSO systems. They must also determine which CASB modes—Forward Proxy, Reverse Proxy, or both—they need for each of their cloud solutions. Finally, they must weigh the cost of a CASB against its benefits to the organization.
Regardless of which deployment option they choose, ensuring that the CASB supports their business’s critical integrations and features is important. For instance, a CASB that offers visibility into security threats across the cloud environment and on-premises infrastructure is a must. It should also provide an easy way to create rules and policies specific to the cloud environment.
For example, it should be able to classify data based on its security risks and determine whether to encrypt or tokenize it. A CASB should also alert security teams when it detects a threat, so they can act quickly and stop attackers in their tracks.
Security
CASB solutions act as a layer between cloud service providers and users to enforce security, compliance and governance policies. This can be done via on-premises hardware or cloud-hosted software. CASBs help companies address security gaps introduced when applications run on remote and BYOD devices.
Among the most important features to look for in a CASB are:
Complete visibility into current cloud application usage. This allows IT teams to identify the risks of a specific cloud application in use by an employee, department or location. This is achieved through autodiscovery tools that compile a list of all cloud services in use across the organization and can also identify potential risk factors such as location, device used and user behavior.
Anti-virus and antimalware capabilities that detect anomalies in normal application usage. This can be anything from an attempt to download data to a cloud storage service at an unusual time or an abnormal pattern of file sharing that could indicate the presence of malware.
CASBs can also monitor activity and provide alerts when users violate security policies. This helps security admins to regain control of the situation and protect their networks from threats. They can also encrypt or tokenize data stored in cloud applications so it cannot be read without the decryption key.
Scalability
When choosing a cloud access security broker, look for solutions supporting the cloud applications you must protect. For example, if your business uses Slack, look for CASB products that integrate with the platform. Also, look for a CASB that provides granular security controls, including field-level data encryption. Lastly, choose a CASB that offers flexible deployment methods. This will allow you to deploy the solution on-premises or through a reverse proxy, API-based, or inline deployment model.
CASB solutions are vital for maintaining visibility in the cloud environment and protecting sensitive data from malicious attacks. These tools sit at the edge of a corporate network and inspect traffic coming to and from corporate cloud solutions, detecting and preventing traffic from violating policies or posing a threat. They also enable organizations to apply existing security policies to a cloud application and can even create new approaches for a specific cloud context.
Another feature to consider when selecting a CASB is how it addresses data loss prevention (DLP) in the cloud. Some CASB solutions use sophisticated DLP detection mechanisms such as document fingerprinting to reduce detection surface area and enhance accuracy. Others use sandboxing, which runs and executes programs in an isolated environment to determine whether they are malicious.
Finally, a CASB should be able to prevent data breaches by detecting and alerting IT of suspicious activities such as unauthorized downloads or sharing of confidential data. These tools can also automatically quarantine infected files or devices that have been compromised and send them back to corporate IT for further analysis.
Deployment
Enterprises increasingly moving to cloud applications face new security and compliance challenges. CASBs are a great solution to address these issues because they enable organizations to enforce security policies across both managed and unmanaged cloud apps, and they can prevent unauthorized access to data. They also provide visibility into risky usage, enabling businesses to mitigate and remediate risks.
When choosing a CASB solutions provider, choosing one offering multiple deployment options is important. This flexibility allows you to implement a CASB solution that fits your business needs. In addition, it’s beneficial to select a CASB solutions provider that offers both forward and reverse proxy modes. This way, you can use a CASB to protect your managed applications and a reverse proxy to secure devices the enterprise doesn’t control.
Another key feature to look for is advanced CASB features like DLP, UEBA, zero trust, and integrated endpoint security. These tools can help security admins detect anomalous behavior that may indicate a malware attack, such as attempts to download files from Google Drive at a random time or unfamiliar activity on a corporate email account.
Additionally, a CASB solution can scan historical cloud data to identify suspicious patterns and encrypt data when necessary. It can also protect sensitive information from unauthorized users by blocking the transfer to unsecure destinations.
