These days, many (most?) people work from home or outside the office at least some of the time. It’s common to answer emails on a personal phone or join meetings from a laptop in a café. This freedom is great, but it can put sensitive business information at risk if not managed properly.
Let’s break down how companies can best protect their information in this new world, even when employees use their own devices.
When everyone worked at the office, businesses could protect their computer networks with secure walls like a “digital fortress.” Firewalls and security tools kept outsiders at bay.
That all changed when "the office" shifted to homes, coffee shops, and pretty much anywhere with Wi-Fi or a mobile connection. Employees now use family laptops, smartphones or tablets to check in on work when it is convenient. Unlike equipment in the office, these personal devices don’t always have the latest security protections.
Without strong defenses, hackers can trick users, steal passwords, or sneak into company files. Security breaches aren’t just embarrassing, they can be expensive and cause trust issues, too.
If just one employee device is hacked, it gives cybercriminals a back door into a company’s entire system.
Businesses used to rely on “VPNs” - digital tunnels that connect remote employees to the office. But VPNs grant wide access, sometimes more than employees actually need. If a hacker sneaks in, the damage can be big.
Plus, these traditional methods can’t always see what’s happening on devices outside the office. This leaves blind spots where trouble can hide.
SASE (pronounced “sassy”) stands for Secure Access Service Edge. That’s a lot of words, but here’s what matters: SASE is a cloud service that acts as a digital security checkpoint. It sits between your device (whether it’s a work laptop or a personal smartphone) and the internet.
Every time you try to connect to a work app or file, SASE checks:
Think of it as a security guard that never sleeps. They only let the right people in, and keep everyone else out.
Zero Trust is a simple but powerful idea: “Never trust, always verify.” With Zero Trust, nobody, not even staff, are automatically trusted. SASE uses zero trust rules to watch for strange or suspicious behavior.
For example, if you usually log in from Sydney at 9 a.m., but suddenly attempt access from overseas at 3 a.m., SASE would flag this and block the access.
It means companies can let you work from nearly anywhere, on almost any device, without risking sensitive data. Here’s how:
For Small Teams: You get easy, affordable security, even if you don’t have full-time IT people.
For Medium and Large Teams: Everyone’s held to the same standards. No weak links. IT staff can watch for threats and fix issues fast.
Companies can boost safety (and keep life simple) by:
Personal devices make work flexible and convenient. But they can open doors to cyber threats if not properly managed. SASE and Zero Trust are like having strong locks and an alert security team for your digital workplace.
When companies use these systems, they don’t just keep their business safe, they also make sure employees can work easily and confidently from anywhere.