Organizations need visibility to cloud usage and data loss prevention to prevent breaches and reduce risk. CASBs deliver both capabilities.
A CASB can detect malicious activities such as sharing files publicly, using a compromised account, or misconfigured security settings. It can also protect against insider threats, such as trading secrets or engineering designs being shared with competitors.
Increased Security
With the explosion of cloud applications and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, IT teams need help controlling data access across many different devices and applications. CASB offers a way to gain visibility into cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) usage, identifying unsanctioned apps and users while protecting corporate data and assets.
CASB can identify ransomware and other threats in SaaS, detecting abnormal behavior such as launching rogue apps or sharing sensitive files with suspicious users. With this, security teams can quickly and accurately respond to potential threats.
Organizations should choose a CASB to support their use cases and security objectives. CASB examples can be configured to weed out malicious activity based on the user’s credentials, location, and other criteria. Additionally, a robust CASB solution can encrypt or tokenize data destined for the cloud, making it difficult for attackers to steal or manipulate data. Evaluate CASB vendors using media coverage, analyst reports, and testimonials to find the best one for your use case. Then, narrow down your options by evaluating CASB’s functionality with a security team that will be using it to ensure that it meets your organization’s unique requirements and skill sets.
Reduced Risk
When a CASB detects unauthorized cloud services or devices, it can automatically alert administrators to potential security breaches and enable granular policies. It also can monitor file uploads to third-party locations and block any malicious data from leaving the network. This helps protect intellectual property, such as engineering designs, from being downloaded by contractors or stolen by insiders.
CASBs can detect and intercept ransomware threats, phishing attempts, and other malware before they reach the corporate network, preventing data loss. They can also encrypt data at rest or in transit for extra protection. Those features are essential for organizations with bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and hybrid workforces or those using cloud-based collaboration tools such as Google Docs.
Look for a CASB that integrates with other security solutions, such as Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Zero Trust Networking (ZTNA), and extended detection and response (XDR). This will help you get more visibility into your network architecture. It will help you spot any holes in your defenses, such as disjointed logs and lack of cross-platform support for mobile and web applications.
Scalability
CASBs protect data at rest and in motion through security capabilities like malware prevention, adaptive access control, threat analytics, and encryption. This provides the visibility and protection enterprises need to embrace cloud services safely.
Moreover, many CASBs offer a range of deployment options — such as proxy and API — for different environments. This helps companies avoid needing multiple vendors, which can increase scalability, integration complexity, and management costs.
IT teams need visibility into cloud applications, including sanctioned and unsanctioned SaaS tools employees use to do their jobs. CASBs can uncover these applications and enable IT to negotiate better pricing or reduce license costs.
Additionally, a CASB can help prevent Shadow IT – unauthorized applications and infrastructure outside the enterprise’s control. This is especially critical as businesses shift to an agile DevOps software model, where developers spawn workloads on their devices and in the cloud. A CASB can detect and protect these unauthorized assets before they become a severe threat to the organization. This helps reduce security risks and ensure compliance with industry regulations.
Greater Visibility
Many organizations need more visibility into their cloud apps, particularly unsanctioned ones. A CASB can discover these apps, identify their users, and determine whether they are safe or dangerous. This visibility is critical for identifying atypical access patterns that indicate rogue behavior, enabling organizations to take remedial action.
Unsanctioned and unknown applications are often used for unapproved purposes – sharing sensitive data outside the organization, downloading data from unmanaged services, or using free web-based sync clients. A CASB can enforce data-centric policies to stop this activity and protect the organization from unwanted data leakage.
Initially, CASBs focused on discovering shadow IT, but now they offer significant visibility, data security, compliance, and threat protection capabilities. When evaluating CASB vendors, look for solid feature sets across these four areas to ensure they can safely enable sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud services. Additionally, assess how a CASB is deployed and its dependencies to ensure it fits your IT architecture. This will help you assess the CASB’s scalability and performance. Also, consider a CASB’s track record of preventing breaches and quickly responding to them.
Reduced Costs
CASB offers the web gateways, firewalls, policy, and access controls businesses need for data security in the cloud without adding to IT staff and infrastructure. For example, if your organization has a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy, a CASB solution can detect shadow IT and protect personal devices from malware without interfering with employee privacy. It does this by observing modern data protection standards, inspecting only corporate applications, and ensuring all data is encrypted while remaining accessible to employees.
In addition, a CASB that discovers cloud application usage and helps you create appropriate access policies can help reduce your risk of violating newer industry mandates on data residency or security. Violations of these mandates carry hefty fines that can be prohibitively expensive. The visibility offered by a CASB lightens the compliance burden, making it easier for organizations to comply with these strict regulations and mandates. CASB has many benefits, but selecting the right one for your business is essential. Look for a CASB that supports broad third-party integrations and XDR to deliver complete visibility into your multi-cloud environment.
