KPN expands security services for modern corporate networks

KPN is introducing SASE KPN, a smart combination of several security solutions and forms of connectivity that makes it easier for companies to make increasingly complex company networks secure. Following the recent introductions of SD-WAN Premium and Elastic Interconnect, SASE KPN is yet another innovation that forms part of KPN’s Secure Networking portfolio for enterprise customers.

SASE KPN (Secure Access Service Edge) responds to the current need of many organizations: tight, tailored security of all data and applications regardless of where the individual users, data, applications or devices are located. The security solutions are fully integrated in the core of the KPN network – the heart of the network infrastructure – and comprise several WAN Edge Services and Security Service Edge solutions. Unlike traditional security, with SASE KPN company information is fully end-to-end, from application to server, continuously monitored and protected. Not only is that more secure but the network traffic also follows the most efficient route. This results in lower latency and greater reliability.

Modern security
“With SASE KPN we enable companies and authorities to reduce their security risks, we facilitate secure working in a variety of cloud environments (multicloud) and we also simplify the administration”, says Jilles Limburg, EVP Enterprise Market at KPN. Applications and data are generally to be found in many different places in datacenters or in the cloud. Employees want to be able to work anywhere, anytime on devices of their own. And as hybrid working has become commonplace, the number of locations from which employees log in is increasing.

“This growth in mobility entails security risks too,” Limburg continues. “The traditional approach to security, focusing solely on protecting the company network, is no longer sufficient to protect all the company information. With SASE KPN we are a lot more capable of controlling and managing the access of individual users to applications and data. This reduces the risk of data loss for companies considerably, for the simple reason that we are in a unique position to use our core network to integrate these security services with our connectivity.”

Partnership between KPN and Netskope
KPN develops the security solutions within SASE KPN in partnership with Netskope, a specialist in security services that in 2022 was proclaimed by Gartner as the leader in SSE (Security Service Edge) services. Through a strategic partnership, KPN and Netskope are working to improve companies’ security.

“Hybrid working has become the new normal. More and more organizations are opting for a SASE architecture to protect their data, wherever it is located,” says Xavier Duyck, Vice President Northern and Eastern Europe and DACH at Netskope. “For businesses, SASE is the next step in the digital transformation, allowing them to achieve greater yields and efficiency. The market demand is growing and in partnership with KPN we are an even stronger network and security partner for organizations.”

Zero Trust
SASE KPN is based on the Zero Trust principle. The basic assumption behind this relatively new security principle is that no action or user can be trusted unquestioningly. So it makes no difference whether that user is already on the company network. Only if a user’s action meets a number of predefined conditions is it allowed to go ahead. This enables companies to set up their security policy very tightly, without compromising the user experience.

The SASE KPN architecture – a smart combination of security solutions and different forms of connectivity