Policy Enforcement and Compliance in SASE: A Legal and Technical Review

Abstract

SASE technology combines security functions with cloud delivery methods, marking a decisive break from traditional protection processes. This article documents how SASE frameworks facilitate uniform policy application while addressing regulatory mandates across distributed environments. Moving beyond perimeter defenses, SASE implements adaptive protection that follows users and applications regardless of physical location. The architecture incorporates Zero Trust architecture, eliminating location-based trust assumptions in favor of identity factors, contextual signals, and continuous verification throughout access sessions. By integrating connectivity, filtering, access brokering, and data protection components, SASE provides comprehensive controls addressing requirements from frameworks including GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. As business operations expand across cloud platforms and distributed workforces become standard practice, conventional security models demonstrate increasing restraints. SASE addresses these practical challenges through the definition of central policy, which is applied consistently throughout environments, eliminating protection gaps while providing necessary visibility. Through consolidated management interfaces, security teams establish unified controls that extend protection across diverse resources without creating operational friction. The resulting security model improves threat identification, incident containment, administrative efficiency, and compliance validation processes across complex technology landscapes, transforming how organizations implement security controls within contemporary distributed operations.