More organizations are turning their eyes to edge computing as cloud adoption reaches new heights. Experts predict there will be 55 billion edge devices by 2022 as latency and resilience demands grow and 5G makes these networks possible. While this growth is impressive, it raises several security concerns.

Edge computing expands attack surfaces, and data centers lack the resources of traditional cloud infrastructure. If security approaches don’t shift to meet these new challenges, the edge may bring more risks than value.

Here are six ways companies can improve their security as companies prepare to expand their edge environments in 2022.

1. Zero-Trust Architecture

Another way edge environments can ensure security by design is to embrace a zero-trust approach. While many think of zero trust as a method of restricting user access, it applies to devices, too. Each edge device should only have access to what it absolutely needs, and even then, authenticate its identity before access.

Edge environments are too complex and full of endpoints to trust any network request. Implementing zero-trust security will ensure one endpoint doesn’t jeopardize the rest of the network. Zero-trust architecture also works well with SASE, as SASE provides the context necessary for situational authorization.

2. SASE

One of the most important security upgrades is secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. SASE brings wide-area networking (WAN) and network security services into a single cloud solution. This convergence gives organizations more transparency and control over their operations, which is essential for edge security.

Monitoring edge networks can be challenging given their distributed, endpoint-heavy nature. SASE makes it easier to look into and control these networks by reducing complexity and automating background security tasks. As IT sprawl rises and edge environments become increasingly complex, that benefit will become difficult to overlook.

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