Protecting the data center is no longer enough
Users are highly distributed
Employees browse the internet and conduct business from many locations, using company-owned and personal devices. This increases the likelihood of a computer or smartphone encountering malware or falling victim to data exfiltration.
Employees often work off-network
Users may connect to the internet directly to accomplish whatever work is possible without accessing the network. When traffic isn’t routed to the data center, businesses operating on a hub and spoke model lose visibility as well as their ability to enforce the security policy. Without these guardrails, the possibility of a security incident becomes more likely as employees freely surf the net, click links, and download files without the analysis provided by a perimeter security device.
Shadow IT is a growing concern
Employees often use unsanctioned SaaS or cloud-based applications and may be storing sensitive corporate or customer data within them. Security administrators need visibility into which applications are being utilized so security and sharing policies may be applied.