Shifting security to the cloud

Build a Security Approach that Is Integrated, Simple, and Cloud Delivered

Last month I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Kenny Yeo, a cybersecurity analyst from Frost and Sullivan and one of the leading security experts in the Asia Pacific region. Kenny and I locked horns during a conference recently, and we started sharing notes on how SaaS security has evolved. It turned into quite an interesting conversation, so I wanted to get his take on recent network and security shifts that are impacting companies.

The amazing thing about our conversation is that, in less than an hour, Kenny was able to put the entire global pandemic and resulting digital transformation acceleration into a cybersecurity context—explaining in simple, direct terms exactly where enterprises are vulnerable and why. We also chatted about how web isolation resolves many of these issues and serves as the foundation for a cybersecurity approach that is integrated, simple, and cloud delivered.

Fortunately, our conversation was the subject of a Menlo Security webinar and was recorded for posterity. I urge everyone who is interested in cloud-delivered security—especially those in APAC—to watch the webinar in its entirety.

Covid-19 expanded the threat surface

According to a survey conducted in Singapore and Australia by Frost and Sullivan over the summer, 83 percent of enterprises in those two countries have increased their digital transformation efforts because of the pandemic. The number one driver of this acceleration? To enhance external client engagement.

As a result, 77 percent of businesses in Singapore and 53 percent of businesses in Australia now use more than 10 Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms. At the same time, almost nine out of 10 businesses in Singapore and three out of four businesses in Australia have increased their adoption of cloud services.

An unfortunate byproduct of this acceleration is increased cybersecurity risk. Users have been pushed to the edge of the network, using nonsanctioned devices from outside the perimeter. The expanded threat surface has stretched cybersecurity staffs thin—forcing them to defend against threats that are coming from places they never considered before.

The Promise of web isolation as a foundation of a new cybersecurity approach

During the webinar, Kenny and I explored how web isolation could mitigate the new threats resulting from the global pandemic. Rather than focusing on detection, web isolation isolates and sanitizes IT infrastructure—effectively transferring risk from inside the enterprise to a web isolation provider’s remote and virtual browser. This strategy allows security teams to refocus their mission from the tedium of detection to mitigation and positions IT as an enabler of the business rather than an inhibitor.

At the end of our discussion, we talked about how an integrated security solution that combines a secure web gateway (SWG), CASB, and a next-gen firewall can be delivered through the cloud as a flexible, highly scalable SaaS platform to provide a ubiquitous layered approach to protecting organizations in the new normal. This approach allows enterprises to deliver security services to any device with an Internet connection—regardless of the type of connection.

I can’t tell you enough about the insights Kenny brought to the webinar. You’ll just have to experience it for yourself. Watch the webinar here.