SASE vs. VPN: The Case for Modern Network Security
Remote work tools have come a long way. Unreliable Skype calls are now crystal-clear meetings. The softball-size webcams we used to clamp onto our screens are now built into devices. The USBs we used to drag around are almost as obsolete as the floppy disk.
The one technology that hasn’t fully evolved with the times is the Virtual Private Network (VPN). And it’s putting many organizations’ sensitive data and critical systems at risk.
Why More MSPs and IT Teams Are Moving Beyond the VPN?
VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, were great in the 1990s and early 2000s. They gave remote users secure access to the company network, where most applications and files lived. Most modern environments don’t work that way anymore. Today, IT users need secure access to cloud applications, SaaS platforms, and systems spread across on-prem and hosted environments. Critical applications live in Microsoft 365, Salesforce, AWS, and dozens of other cloud platforms. And while VPNs can provide secure access to these platforms, they often grant users much broader network access than their jobs actually require.
With a VPN, a digital marketing manager updating the company website remotely can also access customer data. An accounting contractor can stumble across engineering designs and other intellectual property. An HVAC vendor servicing a smart building system can end up with network-level reachability to the sensitive systems and files of the finance department (a pattern that has fueled some of the largest breaches in the last 10 years). With just one compromised credential, VPNs give bad actors a foothold inside the entire network, allowing them to move laterally through systems and access business-critical applications and data. Then there are the less serious, but equally frustrating, problems of slow connections and login headaches. MSPs and IT teams waste time managing exceptions, troubleshooting connection issues, and helping users who simply forgot to turn on their VPN.
What Is SASE? And Why Is It Different?
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) takes a different approach. Unlike VPNs, which connect users to an organization’s entire network, SASE grants access to preapproved applications and services. This cloud-delivered security platform follows Zero Trust principles: Nobody is trusted by default. Every user and device is evaluated. And every request is verified. It not only protects third-party vendors from reaching sensitive data. It also limits unnecessary exposure if a user’s credentials are compromised. If a threat actor gets in, they don’t automatically inherit broad network access. They can only reach the resources assigned to that user. That smaller attack surface helps contain the threat and makes it harder for attackers to spread across the environment or compromise additional systems.
Zero Trust Access Built for How People Work
What is the difference between SASE and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?
ZTNA is a feature. SASE is the overarching framework. SASE combines ZTNA with advanced cloud security features and optimized network routing into a single, unified service edge.
SASE doesn’t just reduce risk. It also simplifies many aspects of managing remote access. Because users connect directly to approved applications and services, traffic doesn’t have to bounce through a central VPN server before reaching the cloud. That means fewer bottlenecks and a better experience for remote users. MSPs and IT teams also spend less time creating exceptions, troubleshooting connection problems, and onboarding new users. Instead of deciding who should have access to an entire network, you simply create policies around the specific applications and services people actually need to access to do their jobs. Many regulatory frameworks expect organizations to follow least privilege principles and maintain detailed records of who accessed sensitive systems. SASE helps enforce those access policies and creates an audit trail of who connected to what. We wouldn’t be surprised to see more auditors place greater emphasis on Zero Trust and least privilege controls moving forward.
We recently brought SASE into the CyberFOX portfolio. Announced on June 29, 2026, this strategic acquisition is designed to help Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and small-to-mid-sized enterprises consolidate their fragmented security tools into a single, proactive defense stack. Read more here.