Word of the Day: cloud access security broker (CASB)

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms | July 9, 2019 cloud access security broker (CASB) 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. Quote of the Day "While a cloud access security broker is certainly one of the more useful products available to help achieve a cyber-resilient organization, it's of limited use without a team capable of understanding these use cases and responding to alerts generated by the system." - Rob Shapland Trending Terms cloud service provider access control shadow IT CipherCloud cloud encryption CAIQ Learning Center Incident response tools: How, when and why to use them There are several categories of dedicated incident response tools -- including vulnerability management, SIEM, network traffic analysis and data loss prevention -- that can provide information and analysis and create reports to help organizations prevent and respond appropriately to security attacks. How cloud access security brokers have evolved Cloud access security brokers made a big splash when they first entered the industry, but where are they now? Here's a look at where they stand. The CASB market is (nearly) gone but not forgotten A series of acquisitions have drastically reduced the number of stand-alone cloud access security brokers and reshaped the CASB market for years to come. CASB market poised for channel growth The CASB market, while nascent, is opening up a significant opportunity for channel firms to address clients' security concerns. The pros and cons of proxy-based security in the cloud Microsoft addressed the issue of proxy-based security for Office 365 and the associated benefits and drawbacks. Learn what Microsoft recommended and why. Quiz Yourself Brokers must work closely with cloud providers, while also _________ their services to appeal to customers. A. distinguishing B. differentiating Answer Stay in Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed! FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2018 TechTarget. All rights reserved.