A cloud access security broker (CASB) is a
software tool or service that sits between an organization's on-premises
infrastructure and a cloud provider's infrastructure. A CASB acts as a
gatekeeper, allowing the organization to extend the reach of their security
policies beyond their own infrastructure.
CASBs work by ensuring that
network traffic between on-premises devices and the cloud provider complies
with the organization's security policies. The value of cloud access security
brokers stems from their ability to give insight into cloud application use
across cloud platforms and identity unsanctioned use. This is especially
important in regulated industries. CASBs use auto-discovery to identify cloud
applications in use and identify high-risk applications, high-risk users and
other key risk factors. Cloud access brokers may enforce a number of different
security access controls, including encryption and device profiling. They may
also provide other services such as credential mapping when single sign-on is
not available.
CASBs are particularly useful in
organizations with shadow IT operations or liberal security policies that allow
operating units to procure and manage their own cloud resources. The data that
CASBs collect can be used for reasons other than security, such as monitoring cloud
service usage for budgeting purposes. Vendors in the cloud access security
space include CipherCloud and Netskope.
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