Barracuda launches new SASE solution to secure hybrid and remote work

Barracuda Networks, a provider of cloud-first security solutions, has announced a new platform called Barracuda SecureEdge, a SASE solution designed to help make hybrid and remote work easier to secure.

Barracuda SecureEdge integrates Barracuda's Secure SD-WAN, Firewall-as-a-Service, Zero Trust Network Access, and Secure Web Gateway capabilities.

Using a single-vendor solution enables businesses and MSPs to strengthen their security posture and help to reduce costs, the company states. Delivered as a service, Barracuda SecureEdge secures users, sites, and IoT devices, is easy to manage and connects any device, application, and cloud/hybrid environment.

According to Gartner, by 2025, 80% of enterprises will have adopted a strategy to unify web, cloud services, and private application access using a SASE/SSE architecture, up from 20% in 2021.

Using a single-vendor SASE solution like Barracuda SecureEdge can lead to cost reduction and stronger security. It reduces the number of systems to purchase and lowers internal and external support costs.

Additionally, improved security can be achieved and there are fewer risks of misconfigurations and interoperability issues that can happen between separate security systems, the company states. Today, cloud migrations, remote work, and the need for anytime, anywhere access makes a SASE solution essential.

Key use cases of the new Barracuda SecureEdge platform for customers include:

• Multi-layered network protection: Offers consistent policy enforcement for in-office and remote users, delivered from the cloud, on-premises, or in a hybrid environment.
• Protection against web-based threats: Protects against web-based threats, regardless of the location of the user.
• Secure remote access: Provides secure remote access for any user to any application and workload, with Zero Trust Access.
• Optimised cloud and application access: Facilitates optimized cloud and application access from any user or site by providing Secure SD-WAN capabilities.

SecureEdge facilitates direct access to applications for remote users with Zero Trust enforcement, URL filtering, and traffic optimisation to make the most of shared internet lines. Key highlights of the new platform are:

• Control and visibility: Provides a high level of control and visibility into user-generated traffic at each endpoint. Selective security inspection enables businesses and MSPs to maintain control over critical application traffic.
• Intent-based networking: Simplifies operations by applying intent-based networking principles across the entire platform, including SD-WAN and secure application access.
• Multiple levels of security and connectivity: Includes multiple levels of security and connectivity with auto-secure SD-WAN over all available uplinks.
• Built-in optimisation: Built-in last-mile optimisation uses advanced Forward Error Correction algorithms to mitigate packet loss and optimise network traffic. These algorithms are applied when connecting office locations as well as endpoints.

Paul Crighton, Regional Sales Director, ANZ, at Barracuda, says, "Today's IT teams face a common challenge: how to connect and secure a growing number of remote and hybrid workers, devices, and IoT systems in an increasingly cloud-based landscape. Traditional network and security architectures werent designed for this. If security is a journey, SASE is the next stage in that journey.

"Our new SASE platform, Barracuda SecureEdge secures users, sites and IoT devices, is easy to manage and connects any device, application, and cloud/hybrid environment. The result is increased integration, visibility, and security for the ever-expanding attack surface, with reduced complexity and cost."

Tim Jefferson, SVP, Engineering for Data, Network, and Application Security at Barracuda, says, "Barracuda's new SecureEdge platform provides businesses and MSPs with a SaaS solution that makes remote and hybrid work easier to secure and helps to improve security and reduce costs.

"With SecureEdge, Barracuda offers a cloud-native SASE platform that enables customers to control access to data from any device, anytime, anywhere, and allows security inspection and policy enforcement in the cloud, at the branch, or on the device."

David Peppard, Chief Technology Officer with SuperCare Health, says, "The new SecureEdge platform from Barracuda, which offers a single solution that includes secure SD-WAN and remote access for users, will enable us to extend security features to the endpoint and make remote and hybrid work easier to protect.

"By implementing device-level security and inspecting suspicious or endangered network traffic on the SD-WAN device or in the cloud, we are confident that we can achieve a dramatically increased level of security."