July 15, 2024 5m read

I Need 90 PoPs of SASE…Stat!

Christopher Rudolph
Christopher Rudolph
SASE for Healthcare

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Healthcare information security teams are tasked with a common responsibility: safeguarding devices, services, and patient data; however, they also deal with the unique regulatory and compliance requirements surrounding patient data. Compounding this challenge is the sheer number of branch offices, connectivity to internal- and cloud-based applications, and all of the disparate point products accumulated over time. Complexity abounds in healthcare, where there is no room for complexity in an industry that impacts human life. Simplicity is the want…security is the need.

Branches, and Branches, and more Branches

Healthcare organizations frequently comprise multiple hospitals and dozens of branch offices that house family doctors, radiologists, medical laboratories, and others. These branch locations are frequently in geographically disbursed areas.

Deploying security appliances in each of these locations can be too expensive, even when considering performance, manageability, and cost. Because of this, all network traffic tends to be backhauled to a primary data center or hospital to enforce security against that traffic. While this does work, it adds unnecessary latency and network overhead to already limited security and networking capabilities.

Backhauling traffic seemingly offloads deploying physical appliances at each branch but also creates risky dependencies. If connectivity to the main hospital or data center is lost, access to the applications is also lost. This causes a massive disruption in the day-to-day operations of those remote branches and can cause organizations to lose customers.

Another critical area to consider is when healthcare organizations open or acquire existing branch locations; they often come with a different networking and security architecture.  Integrating disparate solutions into existing environments can be complex …driving additional costs for new licensing and/or hardware.

All of these factors create complexity, and complexity is the enemy of security.

SASE is the Cure-All for Healthcare IT Woes

The cure for all of these challenges in healthcare organizations is what Gartner named Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE. SASE is the convergence of network and security controls into a single platform that is available as a global cloud-native service. The key components of SASE are Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Intrusion Prevention as a Service (IPS), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and optionally so much more.

The Cato SASE Cloud platform accelerates and simplifies networking and security with true zero-touch deployment and global full security offerings. Specifically in healthcare, From a compliance perspective, SASE helps with HIPAA, PCI, and other standard healthcare regulatory compliance requirements. Cato Networks was the first company to see the evolution of security and networking, and with that foresight, we created our SASE Cloud platform. With over 80 points of presence (PoPs) worldwide, customers can have the same security experience regardless of location.

Simplifying Connectivity

There is no need to deploy expensive security appliances at each branch and no need to impact performance by backhauling your network traffic; Cato Networks’ global private backbone provides powerful connectivity to all branch locations, accomplished by our extensive network of PoPs. The branch locations no longer have to connect directly to one another or a hub site; they can connect to the Cato SASE Cloud and then use our full-mesh redundant backbone network to communicate. Each site would require a small Cato Socket device to connect the branch locations to the nearest PoP. Regardless of where your branches or remote users are located, any edge can connect to the nearest Cato PoP and access the global private backbone. As we stated above, there are also lots of applications and data that employees and branch locations need to access daily. The Cato SASE platform is architected to provide both acceleration of application data and smart egress at the closest PoP to the application data center. This makes the application perform better and provides users with a better working experience, regardless of the location.

Fullerton Health Builds a Secure SASE Linking 550 Locations and the Cloud, Thanks to Cato | Read more

Simplifying Security

Security appliances in multiple branch offices make it challenging for security administrators to manage, update, and patch on regular schedules. If there are network connectivity issues, security personnel must physically visit the branch locations to manage the individual devices. This is not the best use of security personnel’s time and effort. Cato Networks SASE is a cloud-native service that accelerates and simplifies networking and security with true zero-touch deployment and global full security offerings. In our PoPs, full-stack security policies are enforced in our single-pass architecture. Specifically in healthcare, Cato’s intrusion prevention (IPS) and data loss prevention (DLP) detect and block unauthorized personnel from accessing and exfiltrating any personal information from your organization. From a compliance perspective, SASE helps with HIPAA, PCI, and other standard healthcare regulatory compliance requirements.

Security at Scale

As organizations grow, pressure on the security and networking teams to accommodate those new users and locations increases. Oftentimes, in healthcare, this comes with mergers and acquisitions. Choosing a vendor that can grow with you, with minimal impact on your workload, is crucial. Since Cato’s SASE service is completely cloud-native, it can grow with your organization without requiring your organization to rearchitect the network or purchase more expensive hardware to secure the new locations.

Conclusion

In healthcare, where safeguarding sensitive patient data is crucial, security and IT teams face unprecedented pressure. CISOs may even bear personal responsibility for breaches. Therefore, adopting comprehensive security solutions rather than relying on point-solution approaches is critical.

Transitioning to an SASE solution provides a complete suite of modern security capabilities, including ZTNA, SWG, CASB, DLP, and more, and it also streamlines maintenance. This approach reduces the burden of managing multiple products and appliances, eliminating the need to apply patches and constantly cope with staff fatigue. By consuming networking and security infrastructure as a cloud-native service, healthcare security teams can prioritize their efforts quickly and effectively.

Come read how Cato Networks helped a healthcare organization connect and secure its 500+ locations, the public cloud, and SaaS applications.

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Wondering where to begin your SASE journey?

We've got you covered!
Christopher Rudolph

Christopher Rudolph

Christopher Rudolph is the Product Marketing Manager for the Americas at Cato Networks. Chris has over 18 years of technical experience in various roles, including system administration, sales engineering, solutions architecture, enablement, and marketing at several companies, including Citrix, Trend Micro, and several startups. Christopher holds an Ed.D. in Transformational Leadership from Concordia University, an M.Ed. in Educational Technology from Liberty University, and multiple industry technical certifications.

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