What is a cloud access security broker (CASB)?
Key benefits of CASBs
CASBs offer a range of security benefits that allow enterprises to mitigate risk, enforce policies across various applications and devices, and maintain regulatory compliance.
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Shadow IT assessment and management
CASBs deliver visibility into all cloud applications, sanctioned and unsanctioned. Enterprises can employee a CASB to obtain a comprehensive picture of cloud activity and enact security measures accordingly.
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Granular cloud usage control
CASBs offer detailed management of cloud usage with strong analytics. Enterprises can limit or allow access based on employee status or location, and can govern specific activities, services, or applications.
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Data loss prevention (DLP)
A CASB’s DLP capabilities help security teams protect sensitive information like financial data, proprietary data, credit card numbers, health records, or social security numbers. A CASB solution can enable policies that prevent unauthorized sharing of this data.
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Risk visibility
CASBs allow enterprises to assess the risk of unsanctioned applications and make access decisions accordingly.
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Threat prevention
CASBs detect unusual behavior across cloud applications, identifying ransomware, compromised users, and rogue applications. CASBs can analyze high-risk application use and automatically remediate threats, limiting an organization’s risk.
Four cornerstones of CASBs
Visibility
CASBs allow IT departments to identify all cloud services in use and assess subsequent risk factors. For enterprises grappling with shadow IT, CASBs offer a comprehensive understanding of all cloud-based applications employees are accessing. Risk assessments then provide information to shape IT’s access policy, including more detailed controls based on specific employee and device criteria.
Data security
A core component of a CASB system, data loss prevention (DLP) extends an enterprise’s security to all data traveling to, within, and stored in the cloud, reducing the risk of costly data leaks. A CASB protects both the data itself as well as the data’s movement.
Threat protection
By aggregating and understanding typical usage patterns, CASBs can identify anomalous behavior and recognize malicious activities. Adaptive access control, malware mitigation, and other capabilities help protect the enterprise from third party or internal threats. CASB threat protection defends against all modern threats, whether malicious or negligent.
Compliance
CASBs help ensure compliance with data privacy and safety regulations, and monitor compliance for enterprises requiring adherence to regulatory standards like HIPAA or PCI DSS.
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A CASB solution is a set of products and services that function as a secure gateway between enterprise employees and cloud applications and services.
CASBs integrate with a broad spectrum of cloud-based and on-premises applications and services, including SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Content collaborations platforms, CRMs, HR systems, cloud service providers, and more all work with CASBs.
A CASB is used to help ensure regulatory compliance and data protection, govern cloud usage across devices and cloud applications, and protect against threats. As organizations migrate services to the cloud, CASBs will become an essential element of their security profiles.
Research CASBs at enterprises like yours and consider how a vendor’s capabilities can meet your security needs and evolve with your enterprise. Many CASBs offer a free trial that can help you evaluate its features and integrations.