How to Choose the Right CASB Solution for Your Business

There are four pillars that are essential to CASB solutions: visibility, account management and security, compliance, and threat protection. Each of these pillars has different capabilities that you should look for when choosing the right CASB solution for your organization.

A good CASB has the ability to detect and quickly classify cloud applications. This can help prevent tool sprawl that leads to data breaches.

1. Understanding Your Needs

A CASB can be an invaluable tool for businesses of all sizes. But like any security solution, it’s important to understand your company’s specific needs before making a purchase. Start by determining the types of threats your business faces and how you would like to prevent them. Then, evaluate the features offered by CASB vendors to find the best fit.

A good CASB should have a robust suite of protections. This includes anti-phishing, malware protection, account takeover prevention, and more. Some solutions also offer additional data protection capabilities, such as encryption and tokenization. Finally, a CASB should be able to track user behavior and identify anomalous activities such as uploading large files or opening suspicious links.

Another consideration when choosing a CASB is its deployment model. Some are cloud-based, while others are deployed on-premises or via a hybrid approach. Make sure the deployment model fits with your IT infrastructure and security policies.

Finally, it’s essential to understand your budget before purchasing a CASB. While there are many options available, not all are affordable for every company. Evaluate the cost of each CASB vendor and determine which one is right for you. Many CASB providers offer a free trial or proof of concept (PoC) to help you decide which is the best fit for your business. Start by testing a CASB on your most critical apps to ensure compatibility and test its effectiveness before deploying it across the entire organization.

2. Getting Started With a Trial

With the proliferation of cloud applications and multiple devices, it’s challenging to maintain visibility into how data moves in your multicloud environment. CASB solutions solve this problem by delivering visibility and control of cloud-based apps that your business uses. They can reveal shadow IT, control unauthorized applications and enable compliance with data security policies.

Look for a CASB that supports your business goals and works with your current security infrastructure. The solution should also provide a single view of your entire multicloud ecosystem, whether it’s an on-premise gateway similar to a proxy or an API cloud-centric CASB. It should also provide a clear, comprehensive report of your data movement, and offer advanced threat protection and DLP capabilities.

A good CASB will be able to detect anomalous behavior that might be caused by malware or other cyberattacks, such as a user suddenly downloading large files or logging in from an unusual location. It should also have a broad set of policies that allow it to identify and prevent data leaks in your organization’s cloud environments.

Lastly, the best CASBs will be able to help your team improve account management and security in popular SaaS applications by providing an easy-to-use platform that makes it simple for users to manage their accounts. In a work-from-anywhere environment, this is an important benefit to have for your employees so they can stay productive when working remotely.

3. Do Your Research

There is a vast amount of potentially sensitive information in the cloud and traveling to and from it, ranging from trade secrets to personal data. A reliable CASB solution will classify this information and offer protections like encryption, tokenization and highly granular access control. This will help IT staff maintain control over security in the cloud while also closing security gaps that could lead to threats such as shadow IT, data leaks and consumer privacy compliance issues.

Look for a solution that integrates with your other security applications like DLP, SIEM and firewalls. The best CASB solutions will work seamlessly with your existing infrastructure to protect the enterprise from cyber threats and cloud application usage policy violations. Look for solutions that offer a full suite of protections including anti-phishing, malware detection and ransomware detection. In addition, the solution should be able to protect both SaaS and IaaS environments.

Finally, make sure that the CASB solution you choose does not impact network performance. Some CASBs, such as proxy-based solutions, create a “man in the middle” effect that can slow down networks. Others, like WithSecure, are API based and are designed not to interfere with network performance.

In addition, look for a CASB that has been tested and validated by independent third parties. This will ensure that the vendor has a solid track record of preventing breaches and responding quickly to security incidents.

4. Get a Quote

Once you’ve narrowed down your list of possible CASB vendors, it’s time to compare prices and features. Consider factors like scalability, deployment mode and security capabilities. Also, look for a solution that can be used with your existing technologies, such as secure web gateways, application firewalls and data loss prevention tools. This can help minimize the need for rework and eliminate potential security loopholes.

Ultimately, your CASB should be a part of your overall security ecosystem and protect data within both cloud and on-premises systems. It should detect data movement between platforms and allow you to take action to prevent data loss, including encryption, tokenization or upload prevention. It should also integrate with your SIEM and NGFW, as well as offer threat intelligence.

Finally, you should consider whether a solution can be used to control shadow IT by detecting anomalies, such as unusual attempts to download customer data from Salesforce or strange files being shared in third-party solutions like G Suite and Box. It should also be able to identify and stop malware threats, including email phishing and file sharing, at the gateway.

Additionally, look for a CASB that supports field-level data encryption across all services. This can be especially important for regulated industries where compliance is critical. Lastly, make sure to evaluate the support team. A good CASB will have a knowledgeable and responsive team to assist with any questions or concerns you may have.