SASE vs. SSE: What’s the Difference

At this point in the discussion about SSE and SASE, many will want to ask, "How does zero trust fit into this picture?" Indeed, in conversations about one of the three, the other two are typically not far behind. So, first things first: What even is zero trust?

Zero trust is an architecture built on the principle of least-privileged access, which states that entities should only be given access to an individual resource they are authorized to access, at the moment they need it, and nothing more. In other words, zero trust means secure connectivity for any entity accessing any IT resource, in a one-to-one fashion that eliminates excessive permissions. This direct-to-app access is delivered as a service at the edge through a global security cloud, meaning no traffic backhauling is required.

There are overlaps here, between zero trust and the edge-delivered security of SSE, as well as between zero trust and the edge-delivered security and connectivity of SASE. However, there are key differences. For example, SSE and SASE are focused specifically on providing services to users, while zero trust is broader in scope and provides security and connectivity for any entity, going beyond the workforce alone to include workloads , IoT/OT devices , and B2B partners .

Additionally, SSE and SASE are not inherently zero trust solutions. They are edge-delivered, but they still normally focus on establishing a defensive perimeter around the network. In other words, they try to secure network access instead of providing secure, direct-to-app access. Sadly, many purported solutions for ZTNA (a core pillar of SSE that one would expect to provide least-privileged access to private apps) do not provide true zero trust, and still involve routable IPs and network connectivity. You can read more about the weaknesses of perimeter-based architectures and routable networks in this blog .

To summarize, zero trust is the more foundational paradigm, with SSE and SASE being narrower in scope (both in terms of entities securely connected and zero trust principles applied).

The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange, the world's largest inline security cloud, serves as an intelligent switchboard that provides any-to-any connectivity, delivering comprehensive zero trust architecture as a service and at the edge. So, while other SSE and SASE offerings cannot check all the boxes of zero trust, zero trust with Zscaler can check all the boxes of SSE and SASE, all while providing least-privileged access. That's what makes it the world's first zero trust, single-vendor SASE offering .