The way we work has undergone a fundamental change. Applications no longer reside exclusively in a central data center, and employees are no longer confined to a single office. This shift to hybrid work and cloud-based applications has rendered traditional, perimeter-based security models obsolete. Businesses now require a security solution that can follow users and data wherever they go, and this is where Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) comes into play.
SASE converges networking and security into a single, cloud-delivered service, providing consistent protection and optimised access for all users, regardless of their location. This article examines the primary use cases of FortiSASE, Fortinet’s comprehensive SASE solution, illustrating how it secures everything from basic internet browsing to controlled access to critical private applications.
How Secure Access Has Changed
For decades, security was built around a strong perimeter—a corporate firewall protecting a well-defined internal network. This “castle-and-moat” approach worked when everyone was inside the castle walls. Today, the workforce is distributed, and applications have moved to the cloud, creating significant challenges.
Traditional security struggles with inconsistent policies for remote users, the complexity and performance bottlenecks of VPNs, a lack of visibility into SaaS application usage, and the risk of exposing private applications to the internet. FortiSASE addresses these issues by delivering unified, cloud-native security from Fortinet’s global network of Points of Presence (PoPs), all powered by industry-leading FortiGuard threat intelligence.
Key Ways FortiSASE Can Help
FortiSASE provides a single platform to solve multiple secure access challenges, ensuring that every connection is protected and optimised.
Keeping Internet Access Secure
The most fundamental use case is protecting users as they access the public internet. FortiSASE ensures that all users, whether at home, in a coffee shop, or at a branch office, are protected by the same set of security policies. This is achieved through flexible connectivity options:
- Agent-based remote access: The FortiClient agent is deployed on user devices (laptops, desktops) to steer all internet traffic through the nearest FortiSASE PoP for inspection.
- Agentless access: Users without the agent can still be protected through a secure web gateway that provides in-browser security.
- Site-based access: For branch offices, FortiExtender devices or FortiAPs can be used to tunnel all site traffic to FortiSASE.
The benefits are clear: consistent web filtering, robust malware protection, and centralised visibility into all user activity, closing the security gaps left by traditional VPNs.
Protecting Private Applications
Beyond the public internet, organisations need to secure access to applications hosted in private data centres or private clouds. FortiSASE achieves this by adopting a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) model, which operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify.”
- ZTNA for Private Apps: FortiSASE provides granular, per-application access to resources located behind FortiGate firewalls. Instead of giving a user full network access like a traditional VPN, ZTNA grants access only to the specific application they are authorised to use.
- Optimised SD-WAN Private Access: For organisations with FortiGates, Fortinet FortiSASE can extend its SD-WAN capabilities to create optimised, redundant pathways for both TCP and UDP-based applications, ensuring a high-quality user experience.
- NGFW Private Access: This capability extends secure access for UDP applications and even allows agentless users to access private web applications.
This approach dramatically reduces the network’s attack surface, prevents lateral movement by attackers, and provides a faster, more seamless experience for authorised users.
Securing SaaS Applications
As businesses increasingly rely on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications like Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Workday, securing the data within them becomes crucial. FortiSASE provides robust Secure SaaS Access through its integrated Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) capabilities.
- API-based FortiCASB: This component integrates directly with SaaS applications via APIs to provide deep visibility into data, detect misconfigurations, and enforce compliance policies.
- Inline-CASB: By inspecting traffic in real-time (including SSL-encrypted traffic), FortiSASE can enforce policies on SaaS usage. This helps identify “shadow IT” (unapproved apps) and control what data can be uploaded or downloaded.
These features enable organisations to protect sensitive data, gain visibility into all SaaS usage, and ensure they meet regulatory compliance requirements.
Examples of FortiSASE in Action
The power of FortiSASE is best understood through practical examples:
- A professional services firm: Secures its hybrid workforce by using FortiSASE SIA to protect users accessing Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Zoom from any location, ensuring consistent policy enforcement and threat protection.
- A global enterprise: Enables secure remote work for its development team by implementing ZTNA. Developers are granted least-privilege access only to specific private Git repositories and development servers, minimising the risk of a breach.
- A retail chain: Uses SD-WAN private access to create a secure and resilient connection from its numerous branch locations back to its central data centre, ensuring that point-of-sale and inventory systems are always available and performant.
Why FortiSASE Stands Out
Adopting FortiSASE offers several strategic benefits over deploying multiple point solutions:
- Unified Policy: A single set of policies can be enforced across the internet, SaaS, and private application access.
- Cloud-Native Scalability: The global network of PoPs ensures that security can scale with your business without requiring hardware upgrades.
- Integration with the Fortinet Security Fabric: Provides unparalleled end-to-end visibility from the user endpoint to the cloud.
- Reduced Complexity: Consolidating networking and security into a single platform simplifies management and lowers the total cost of ownership.
Final Thoughts on FortiSASE
In today’s hybrid IT landscape, a holistic approach to secure access is no longer a luxury—it is a necessity. The traditional perimeter has dissolved, and security must now be intelligent, flexible, and universally applied.
FortiSASE provides a future-ready platform that effectively bridges the gap between secure internet access, SaaS control, and private application protection. By delivering a unified, cloud-native solution, it simplifies complexity, strengthens security posture, and enables businesses to thrive in a work-from-anywhere world. For any organisation looking to modernise its security for a distributed workforce and a cloud-first strategy, evaluating FortiSASE is a critical step forward.