Organizations are concerned about regulatory compliance, and rightfully so. Penalties, brand damage and operational shutdowns are only some of the risks and costs of being non-compliant. Digital transformation has only made regulatory compliance more challenging, since legacy security technologies were not designed to assist with compliance in modern IT environments. Rather, they were designed for on-prem infrastructures and castle-and-moat security models, which are outdated and soon to be obsolete. Maintaining regulatory compliance in current times requires updating the security solutions in use.
Changes in the Regulatory Landscape
Organizations have been dealing with a regulatory landscape that has significantly evolved in the last few years. Regulations like PCI DSS, HIPAA, PHI and GDPR have been around for a while. Recently, they have inspired new regulations, like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and its update the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). In addition, existing regulations are being updated to keep up with technological evolvements. Organizations have to keep up with these changes and continue to achieve, maintain and demonstrate compliance.
A Distributed Enterprise
At the same time, the modern enterprise has transitioned to cloud computing. The numerous advantages delivered by the cloud are also accompanied by a compliance challenge: sensitive data is being stored and processed outside the organization, and it is not always known where. In addition, employees are working remotely, possibly (probably?) downloading and processing user information in jurisdictions with different privacy laws.
GDPR and similar regulations impose restrictions on transferring constituents’ data to countries without sufficient data privacy laws. But how can organizations comply with this requirement in the era of cloud computing and remote work? Ensuring the implementation of compulsory security controls for data stored on external devices and infrastructure only piles on more difficulties for companies.
As a result, digital transformation has made compliance much more difficult: data and users are everywhere. This means organizations need a solution that provides global visibility into the network, while enabling policy enforcement across the entire infrastructure.
It’s Time to Replace Legacy Remote Access Technology
In the traditional perimeter-focused security model, traffic between the corporate network and the public Internet was analyzed, inspected and secured. But as companies progressed to the cloud and remote work, this changed. Remote network traffic was routed back to a central location for inspection and enforcement. Then, it was routed to its final destination.
Such a model sounds like the right solution, since it provides visibility and control that are required for compliance. But there’s also a high cost to pay in network performance and scalability. And as traffic volumes grow, so do the numbers on that price tag.
The result is network latency, which impacts the user experience. In addition, security is also questionable. VPNs lack the required access controls and security capabilities, resulting in compromised security or the need to add standalone solutions, which are complex and expensive to scale.
Staying Compliant Despite Enterprise Growth
Zero trust has emerged as an answer to the limitations of VPNs and legacy security architectures. To implement a zero trust security model at scale, organizations need solutions that can collectively enforce access controls across the entire network without compromising on network performance or visibility.
A cloud-native and global zero trust architecture is the optimal way to achieve this. A cloud-native security solution is able to scale with the business and traffic volume as it grows. In addition, cloud-based security services reduce the performance impact of regulatory compliance and security, since they are available everywhere a company’s users and data are.
Zero trust architectures help businesses grow while maintaining regulatory compliance, without compromising on either one. Global visibility and automated data collection and reporting simplify regulatory compliance with strong, scalable security. Security Service Edge (SSE) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) deliver the zero trust security architecture for helping enterprises achieve regulatory compliance. By converging networking and network security functionality into a cloud-native solution, SASE transitions security tools needed for dynamic regulatory compliance, to the cloud.
Cato provides the world’s most robust single-vendor SASE platform, converging Cato SD-WAN and a cloud-native security service edge, Cato SSE 360, including ZTNA, SWG, CASB/DLP, and FWaaS into a global cloud service. With over 75 PoPs worldwide, Cato optimizes and secures application access for all users and locations, and is easily managed from a single pane of glass. Learn more about simplifying network security and regulatory compliance with Cato SASE Cloud.
By Eyal Webber-Zvik, Vice President of Product Marketing and Strategic Alliances at Cato Networks
About the Author
Eyal Webber-Zvik is Vice President of Product Marketing and Strategic Alliances at Cato Networks. In his role, Eyal manages a global team of product marketing directors tasked with driving the company’s messaging, position, press and media relations, and more. Previously, Eyal ran Cato’s product management organization, translating Cato’s SASE vision into a global, successful cloud service. Prior to Cato Networks, Eyal held product management, project management, and software engineering positions in several startups and the IDF.