Understanding the Essential Role of DLP in SASE Deployments

What Are DLP and SASE?

What Is DLP?

Data loss prevention (DLP) is a security technology that protects sensitive data from unauthorized access, misuse, or accidental exposure. DLP solutions discover, classify, and monitor data—in motion, at rest, or in use—and enforce policies to prevent breaches. By ensuring only authorized users can access or share sensitive data, DLP reduces risks and helps organizations meet regulatory compliance requirements.

Learn more: What Is DLP?

What Is SASE?

Secure access service edge (SASE) is a security framework that unifies security and networking into one cloud-delivered platform. SASE provides secure access to resources across endpoints, SaaS, and clouds by integrating SD-WAN, secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB), firewall as a service (FWaaS), zero trust network access (ZTNA), and more. Designed for modern, decentralized workforces, SASE reduces risks while simplifying IT operations.

Learn more: What Is SASE?

What’s Driving the Attention on DLP and SASE?

Modern computing environments expose sensitive data to evolving risks and challenges. Key drivers accelerating the adoption of strong DLP and SASE solutions include:

• Distributed data: Sensitive data resides across endpoints, SaaS platforms, and cloud services, making it harder to track and protect.
• Remote work and BYOD: Hybrid work and bring-your-own-device policies expand attack surfaces, introducing unmanaged devices and insecure access points to corporate networks.
• Regulatory compliance: Data privacy laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) impose heavy fines for noncompliance.
• Legacy tool limitations: Traditional point solutions for DLP often create fragmented security, inconsistent management policies, and costly administrative overhead.
• Encrypted traffic: Over 95% of web traffic is encrypted, and more than 87% of threats now hide within those encrypted channels, complicating inspection efforts.
• Sophisticated threats: Advanced ransomware, phishing, and insider threats increasingly target vulnerable data and unprotected channels in distributed networks.

Why Embed DLP Within a SASE Framework?

Legacy DLP tools struggle to meet the needs of modern, cloud-driven environments. Siloed solutions create security gaps and complicate policy management, making it harder to protect sensitive data. Embedding unified DLP into a SASE framework solves these challenges by unifying data security, improving real-time threat detection, and ensuring scalable, adaptive security.

Key advantages include:

• Unified and consistent policies across endpoints, cloud apps, email, and SaaS
• Real-time inspection for data-in-motion and data-at-rest, even in encrypted traffic
• Cloud-based scalability for streamlined visibility and control as organizations grow
• Policies that adjust automatically based on user behavior, device trust, and access risks

Use Cases of DLP in SASE Deployments

DLP within a SASE framework provides actionable solutions to common threats and vulnerabilities. For example, it helps organizations:

• Prevent data exfiltration: Stop users from accidentally leaking data through oversharing, misconfigurations, or risky apps like GenAI.
  Protect SaaS applications: Prevent unauthorized sharing or exposure of sensitive data within SaaS platforms like CRMs and collaboration tools.
• Secure BYOD workflows: Block data transfers to unmanaged personal devices and apps, ensuring compliance for mobile and remote workers.
• Stop phishing and ransomware: Detect and prevent data exfiltration attacks hidden in encrypted traffic before attackers can succeed.

Strategic Benefits of DLP in SASE

Beyond addressing specific threats, integrating DLP into SASE transforms a company’s overall approach to security. By integrating zero trust principles, DLP ensures only verified users and devices can access sensitive data, eliminating the risks of implicit trust in cloud-heavy ecosystems.

It also supports SASE’s goal of consistent protection, enabling organizations to secure data anywhere—on-premises, in the cloud, or across endpoints. Unified policies and real-time analytics help teams prioritize risks, adapt to new threats, and scale protection alongside business growth.

Operational Advantages of Integrated DLP and SASE

Embedding DLP into SASE streamlines IT workflows and reduces burdens associated with legacy tools. Key operational benefits include:

• Simpler management: A unified approach to data policy creation and enforcement eliminates redundancies and consolidates workflows.
• Enhanced visibility: Integrated dashboards provide a single view into data flows, threats, and compliance across all systems.
• Faster incident response: Automation and centralized alerts enable teams to quickly and accurately identify and address risks.
• Lower costs: A unified platform reduces reliance on multiple point solutions, cutting costs and complexity.
• Accurate detection: Advanced methods like exact data match (EDM) reduce false positives, letting IT teams focus on real threats.

Ultimately, DLP as part of a SASE framework helps organizations operate with confidence in today's decentralized and cloud-centric environments.

How Zscaler Can Help

Zscaler’s unified DLP solution is purpose-built for today’s distributed and cloud-first environments. A Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide DLP 2025 Vendor Assessment, Zscaler DLP delivers advanced capabilities that eliminate gaps and simplify security management, providing:

• Seamless integration: Enforce consistent policies across endpoints, cloud, email, and SaaS for unified data protection.
• Encrypted traffic inspection: Inspect TLS/SSL traffic in real time to uncover threats without degrading performance.
• AI-powered precision: Minimize false positives with accurate detection of sensitive data, powered by AI and automation.
• Cloud-based scalability: Scale protection effortlessly across distributed workforces and applications.

Zscaler DLP natively integrates with Zscaler Zero Trust SASE to securely connect users, sites, and clouds without routed overlays or VPNs, offering reduced risk, lower costs, and great user experiences.

Learn more about Unified DLP.