Athena SASE - Secure Access Service Edge
The Smarter, Simpler, and More Secure Way to Connect
In today's highly distributed business landscape, organizations require secure, agile, and efficient network solutions to stay ahead. The rise of hybrid work, cloud adoption, and globally dispersed teams has made traditional security perimeters increasingly ineffective.
Sangfor Athena SASE (previously known as Sangfor Access Secure) is a comprehensive Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform that integrates advanced security features (ZTNA, SWG, FWaaS, DLP, EDR) with wide-area network (WAN) agility. Our cloud-native platform ensures users at the organization’s edge enjoy fast, secure and reliable access to on-premises and cloud environments, SaaS applications, and the internet from any location, at any time, and on any device.
The Need for Security Transformation
Vulnerable Workforce
The modern workforce is increasingly mobile, with employees requiring access to critical applications and resources from anywhere, at any time. However, traditional perimeter-based security architectures are not designed to protect hybrid workers from internet-born threats and unauthorized access.
Cloud Explosion
The surge in cloud workloads and SaaS applications challenges IT teams to enforce access controls and prevent data leakage. Backhauling cloud traffic through a data center security stack leads to high latency and network bottlenecks, prompting direct internet access to SaaS apps and expanding the attack surface.
Siloed Management
Relying on multiple standalone security and networking solutions is costly, complex, and time-consuming. IT teams often spend considerable resources managing software updates, patching servers, resolving mundane support tickets, and administering a fragmented policy infrastructure.
Rigid Infrastructure
To stay competitive in today's global marketplace, businesses must expand into new regions, meaning navigating challenges related to connectivity, security, scalability, and regulatory compliance like GDPR, CCPA, etc. Traditional hardware-based security and networking solutions lack the agility to scale with dynamic business demands.
Athena SASE High-Level Architecture
Athena SASE Key Features and Capabilities
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Athena SASE’s Zero Trust Guard (ZTG) is an advanced Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) service that provides secure, adaptive access to private applications hosted in public clouds or enterprise data centers. It leverages contextual awareness and the principle of least privilege to protect user access—whether working in the office, at home, or remotely.
Key features include Adaptive Authentication, Agentless Access, Continuous Device Posture Assessment, and a Granular Security Policy Engine. Together, these capabilities strike a balance between robust security and a seamless user experience.
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Athena SASE’s Secured Global Access (SGA) is a modern internet access security service that enforces consistent internet access control policies across the entire network—delivering secure, fast, and reliable access to internet resources, regardless of user location, device, or network.
Key features include Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) and Secure Web Gateway (SWG), which protect remote workers at the network edge with capabilities such as Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), URL and application filtering, DNS security, and command-and-control (C2) protection—all without the need for costly hardware.
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Athena SASE’s Zero Trust Data Protection (ZTDP) is a cloud-native solution that delivers a 3-in-1 unified approach to modern data protection. It integrates advanced Data Loss Prevention (DLP), real-time Data Detection and Response (DDR), and Zero Trust, context-aware data access controls into a single platform.
With Sangfor ZTDP, organizations gain consistent visibility and control over sensitive data across the web; AI, SaaS and traditional applications; cloud environments; endpoints; and email, enabling proactive defense against insider threats and accidental data exposure.
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At the heart of Athena SASE is a private cloud-native network spanning 70+ security PoPs and 200+ SD-WAN PoPs worldwide. The Cross Border Traffic Acceleration (CBTA) capability leverages this infrastructure to optimize and accelerate network connectivity between international locations. By intelligently routing and compressing traffic, Athena SASE significantly reduces latency and improves overall network performance across borders.
It provides enterprises with a high-performance and cost-effective alternative to MPLS. Unlike the public internet, it delivers a 99.95% uptime SLA, low latency, and consistent performance.
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Athena SASE’s Endpoint Secure Access (ESA) is a modern endpoint protection service featuring next-generation antivirus and intrusion prevention, powered by Sangfor Engine Zero—an AI-driven malware detection engine. It also includes one-click threat mitigation, data acquisition, and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
The service enables organizations to protect endpoints against advanced malware, evasive attacks, and zero-day threats. It enforces a four-stage security model—Prevention, Defense, Detection, and Response—to ensure comprehensive, 360-degree endpoint security.
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Athena SASE offers a robust, all-in-one lightweight agent that combines zero trust access, endpoint protection, secure web gateway, and data loss prevention capabilities in a single solution. This unified endpoint agent delivers comprehensive security without compromising user experience or adding complexity.
Athena SASE Competitive Advantage
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Athena SASE offers an all-inclusive security suite, integrating NGFW, SWG, ZTNA, advanced DLP, and endpoint protection into a unified platform. While some solutions only address individual components of SASE, Athena combines the full spectrum of capabilities in a single offering. Paired with an all-in-one agent, Athena also simplifies secure access from any device or location, without the need for expensive hardware appliances.
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Protect your organization with Athena SASE’s multi-layered security approach that includes AI-powered malware detection, next-generation firewall, and intrusion prevention, delivering real-time defense against advanced cyber threats. While not all vendors offer true AI capabilities, Athena SASE leverages intelligent threat prevention to ensure end-user safety across all devices, at all times, regardless of location.
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We bring extensive cloud and security delivery expertise, including over 8 years of ZTNA deployments, 10 years recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Secure Web Gateways (SWG), and 15 years of cloud-native experience.
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Streamline network and security operations through Athena SASE’s unified console, enabling effortless configuration, monitoring, and control. Unlike fragmented solutions with multiple dashboards, Athena delivers a cohesive management experience that reduces operational complexity and overhead, freeing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives. UI customization, an all-in-one agent, and agentless deployment options provide the flexibility to adapt to diverse environments.
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Athena SASE is built on a cloud-native architecture that delivers consistent security policy enforcement and global traffic optimization for any user, device, or resource—anywhere. While some ZTNA solutions operate through traditional architectures that rely on on-premises infrastructure and substantial hardware investments, Athena’s fully cloud-based design, global POP network, and zero-touch provisioning enable seamless onboarding, superior scalability, and high-performance connectivity without the overhead.
Unlock the Value of SASE with the Sangfor SASE ROI Calculator
As hybrid work and cloud adoption grow, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is gaining traction as a key framework for secure, high-performance network access. But what’s the financial impact of adopting SASE? The Sangfor SASE ROI Calculator helps you quantify the cost savings and business value of implementing Sangfor SASE.
Your customized ROI Analysis Report provides detailed insights into workforce productivity gains, security risk reduction, and infrastructure cost savings. Try the calculator today!
Athena SASE Business Benefits
Improved Workforce Productivity
Athena MDR minimizes the risk of costly breaches by delivering up to 99% detection accuracy, a low 30-minute Mean Time to Detect (MTTD), and a low Mean Time to Respond (MTTR). This speed and precision reduce operational disruptions, financial losses, and reputational damage.
Optimized TCO
Athena SASE consolidates multiple networking and security products into a single cloud-based platform. Customers save on hardware, licensing, and maintenance costs as they no longer need to integrate, maintain, and handle the renewals of multiple products.
Accelerated Digital Transformation
Security concerns and deployment complexity often hinder technology adoption. Athena SASE solves this by delivering out-of-the-box and consistent security across all users and locations. This enables organizations to embrace new technologies faster and scale their digital initiatives with confidence.
Seamless Geographic Expansion
With its global backbone PoP network, Athena SASE enables smooth expansion into new branch locations, ensures compliance with local regulatory requirements, and streamlines onboarding of remote employees, partners, and global customers.