A CASB is a cloud-based or on-premises security software positioned between users and cloud services, both sanctioned and unsanctioned, whether those users are on-site or remote. CASBs play the critical role of enforcing enterprise security policies for accessing those cloud services. First defined by Gartner in 2012, they add CASBs “interject enterprise security policies as the cloud-based resources are accessed.” Security features included in CASB solutions include: Read More.

CASB can be API-based or proxy-based, where a forward proxy can control managed devices and a reverse proxy for unmanaged devices. A CASB’s ability to detect unsanctioned cloud applications (shadow IT), encrypt traffic, and identify sensitive traffic is invaluable to network security. CASB solutions aren’t a one-size-fits-all product. SaaS applications today have specialized APIs that require a compatible CASB to protect the application’s specific traffic. Enterprise organizations can have a suite of CASB solutions to cover the network’s cloud application traffic. Read More.

8 Best Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) Solutions for 2025

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Your cloud environment likely has invisible doorways hackers can easily exploit — an uncomfortable reality most organizations face while operating without proper protection

A cloud access security broker (CASB) solution sits between users and cloud services to protect data and enforce security policies. They serve as both gatekeepers and detectives across your entire cloud ecosystem.

In recent years, CASB solutions have become part of broader secure access service edge (SASE) technology as edge and cloud security risks have expanded to include all threats outside the network perimeter, including edge computing, IoT, mobile, cloud, web, email, and more.

We’ve assessed the CASB market to identify the top CASB vendors for those in the market for a CASB solution.

SEE: Cloud Access Security Broker Policy (TechRepublic Premium)

Featured Cybersecurity Software

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CASB Solution	Data Loss Prevention	Behavioural Analytics	Integrations	Free trial?
Broadcom	✅	✅	SIEM, SWG, IAM	❌
Censornet	✅	✅	IAM, Email and Web	✅
Forcepoint	✅	✅	SIEM, IDaaS, NGFW	Demo only
iBoss	✅	❌	Microsoft 365, Google Workspace	❌
SkyHigh Security CASB	✅	✅	SIEM, SWG, IAM, EMM	Demo only
Microsoft Defender	✅	✅	Azure, Office 365	❌
Netskope	✅	✅	SIEM, EDR, EMM, SWG	Demo only
Palo Alto Networks	✅	✅	Prisma Cloud, NGFW, SIEM	60 days

Broadcom

Best for compliance

Broadcom’s solution for addressing visibility into cloud application security is the Symantec CloudSOC CASB.Big cybersecurity acquisitions of Blue Coat Systems and Symantec in the last decade provided the roots of Broadcom’s CASB offerings. Paired with the Symantec cloud data loss prevention (DLP) solution, the Symantec DLP Cloud includes CASB Audit, CASB for SaaS and IaaS, and CASB Gateway.

Visit Broadcom

Deep content inspection and context analysis for visibility into how sensitive data travels
API-based inline deployment for fast risk scoring, behavioral analysis, and detection
Continuous monitoring of unsanctioned applications, malware, and security policies
Central policy engine for controlling how users and apps access and use data

Highly regulated industries — such as finance, healthcare, and government organizations — that require rigorous compliance and deep visibility into sensitive data flows.

Multiple deployment routes, including endpoints, agentless, web, proxy chaining, and unified authentication

Compliance focus for organizations with strict data protection needs

No free trial
Limited support contact options

Contact Broadcom’s sales team for pricing details or find an official distributor or consulting services partner.

Censornet

Best for reporting

As part of the vendor’s Autonomous Security Engine (ASE) solution, Censornet Cloud Access Security Broker integrates adaptive multi-factor authentication, email security, and web security. Censornet’s CASB also offers Identity as a Service (IDaaS) for secure user authentication.

Censornet offers extensive reporting capabilities, including pre-built trend reports. Users can download and email reports to other members of the organization or to customers. Multiple report views allow security teams to report by device, threat level, user, and other views.

Visit Censornet

Risk assessment, rating, and categorization for cloud applications
Granular policy-setting control by user, role, device, network, and function
Audit reports with multiple criteria, including app class, risk level, and threat type
Security awareness training product

Mid-sized to large organizations needing robust reporting and visibility capabilities, particularly valuable for IT and security teams who frequently share detailed reports internally or externally.

Multiple customers have praised the technical support team
Extensive reporting options
Free trial

Might take time for inexperienced teams to fully customize

The CASB plan starts at £3.19 per user/month and includes access to granular action-level control and an extensive app catalogue.

Read more about application security

Forcepoint

Best for risk analysis

Forcepoint’s CASB products protect sensitive data and critical applications. Its cloud audit and protection capabilities are designed for real-time activity monitoring and analytics. Forcepoint has added to its CASB offerings with technology acquisitions from Imperva and Bitglass.

It uses malware engines from CrowdStrike and Bitdefender to halt malware that’s transferred between users and SaaS applications.

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Native user behavioral analysis for profiling app risks and business impact
Customizable and advanced risk metrics for evaluating cloud app threat posture
Interoperability with Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) partners like Okta, Ping, and Centrify
MFA for user identification

Enterprises seeking advanced risk analytics and user behavioral insights, particularly valuable for industries facing sophisticated threats like finance, technology, and healthcare.

Detects unmanaged SaaS solutions being used by employees and allows admins to block those applications
Integrates CASB data in Common Event Format, a security logging system, for existing SIEM environments
Integrates with other Forcepoint solutions, including web security and NGFW

Customer support is priced as an add-on

Forcepoint offers potential customers a demo. Contact its sales team for a specific quote for your enterprise. You can also talk to an expert for customized pricing on Forcepoint DLP and Forcepoint DLP SaaS.

iBoss

Best for zero trust

iBoss offers CASB as a product in its zero-trust platform’s Application and Data Discovery capabilities.

iBoss restricts data transfers in corporate systems, redirecting file uploads and other transfers to company accounts if a user tries to send business data to a personal account. iBoss’s CASB offerings are particularly useful for social media as well as for Google and Microsoft cloud applications. The product is well-rated by users and analysts alike.

Visit iBoss

Out-of-band deployment options via APIs from MS365, Google, and Box
Policy management based on users, groups, and information accessed for data security
Native integration with Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Policy-based application controls for social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Businesses prioritizing zero-trust security principles, especially organizations extensively using social media, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365 applications, as well as those with distributed remote workforces.

Easy-to-use dashboard displaying usage and application data
Highly useful for Office 365 and Google applications

iBoss doesn’t have a standalone CASB, and users must pay additional fees for CASB functionality in some plans.

iBoss has three zero-trust plans, only one of which includes both inline and out-of-band API CASB features (Zero Trust Complete). The least expensive plan requires add-on pricing for both CASB features, while the median plan requires add-on pricing for out-of-band API CASB.

Skyhigh Security CASB

Best for access controls

Skyhigh Security’s CASB solution supports data loss prevention policies and blocks attempts to download corporate information to employees’ personal devices.Skyhigh uses both forward and reverse proxy for inline deployment. It provides API integrations for various business applications, including Slack, Zoom, and GitHub, as well as multiple identity and access management tools. Skyhigh—McAfee’s former cloud business—includes the CASB tool as part of its SASE platform.

Visit Skyhigh Security

Central policy engine with options for templates, importing, and custom policy creation
Integrations with existing security software like SIEM, secure web gateways (SWG), NGFWs, and EMM
User behavior analytics to identify potential insider threats
Shadow IT Cloud Registry, which assesses potential risks for cloud applications that employees might want to use

Enterprises demanding granular access policies and rigorous data protection capabilities. It’s particularly suited for large organizations managing extensive cloud environments with high compliance requirements.

Gives customers access to 261-point risk assessments and ratings of pertinent cloud applications
Offers highly granular access policies based on IP address, location, activity, and other criteria
Detects malicious or negligent behavior with machine learning

No free trial
Might be challenging for inexperienced analysts to fully learn because of its granular policies and advanced risk assessments

Skyhigh offers a demo for potential customers. It has three plans: Essential, Advanced, and Complete. The Essential plan doesn’t have endpoint data loss prevention. To receive an exact quote, contact Skyhigh’s sales team.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Best for Windows environments

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps addresses DLP, compliance, discovery, access, and other security functions across business environments such as social media, SaaS apps, and email. Office 365 is a particularly strong use case.

Defender for Cloud Apps supports blocking downloads on untrusted devices. Admins can also label files based on the sensitivity of the data in the file, creating protective rules that limit how the data can be accessed and shared.

Visit Microsoft Defender

Add-on application governance for OAuth-enabled apps in Azure’s Active Directory instance
Central view of cloud security configuration gaps with remediation recommendations
Download blocking for untrusted devices

Enterprises demanding granular access policies and rigorous data protection capabilities. It suits large organizations that are managing extensive cloud environments with high compliance requirements.

Provides real-time controls for remediating threat behavior identified at access points
Over 90 risk factors and 26,000+ available app risk and business assessments
Good choice for Microsoft cloud environments

Limited third-party SaaS integrations
No free trial

Unlike most of Microsoft’s security solutions, Defender for Cloud Apps doesn’t have a free trial specific to its product. Contact Microsoft’s sales team for further pricing information.

Netskope

Best for security integrations

Netskope has long been a leader in CASB technology, with continuous security assessment and compliance. The company has also packaged together a number of offerings as a SASE solution. Highlights of the CASB solution include the Cloud Exchange for tech integrations, including third-party security solutions like EDR and SIEM, and malware blocking for both email and storage service.

Visit Netskope

Encryption at rest or managed in real time with certified FIPS 140-2 Level 3 key management systems
Integrations with productivity, SSO, cloud storage, EMM, and security applications
Dashboard aggregating all traffic, users, and devices for SaaS, IaaS, and web activities
Role-based access control for administrator, analyst, and other privileged user roles

Enterprises seeking comprehensive security integration capabilities, especially beneficial to large, security-conscious organizations leveraging multiple third-party security solutions such as EDR and SIEM tools.

Netskope offers regular technical account management sessions for customers
Access to 40 threat intelligence feeds informing the detection of anomalous behavior

No free trial
24/7 support and phone call customer service is only available through additional cost

Potential customers can request a demo from Netskope and an executive briefing to create specific business solutions custom to their organization. For exact pricing, contact the sales team.

Palo Alto Networks Next-Gen CASB

Best for Prisma Cloud and Palo Alto NGFW customers

Palo Alto Networks has brought its considerable security expertise to bear on the CASB and SaaS protection market with an offering that includes SaaS monitoring, compliance, DLP and threat protection.

Palo Alto’s SaaS Security and Enterprise DLP products combine to create the CASB. The Next-Generation CASB also has strong integrations with Palo Alto firewalls and access solutions, making it a good choice for businesses already using Palo Alto security products.

Visit Palo Alto Networks

Advanced DLP functionality via deep learning, NLP, and optical character recognition (OCR)
Activity monitoring through scans of traffic, ports, protocols, HTTP/S, FTP, and PrivateVPN
Built-in data security reporting for compliance auditing such as GDPR
Application controls for setting risk attributes and policy

Existing Palo Alto Networks customers. It is particularly for enterprises already leveraging Prisma Cloud, Palo Alto NGFW, and related security products as well as those seeking streamlined integration and advanced SaaS security management.

Native integration with PAN’s VM-Series, NGFW, and Prisma Access solutions
60-day free trial for the Next-Generation CASB solution

May be challenging for smaller, less experienced teams to learn and implement

Potential buyers can take advantage of the Next-Gen CASB’s lengthy free trial. For an enterprise-specific quote, Contact Palo Alto’s sales team.

Use cases and industry applications of CASB

Here are a few real-life use cases of CASB solutions in different industries:

Finance: CASBs help financial institutions protect sensitive customer data and comply with strict industry regulations. By providing encryption, real-time monitoring, and detailed logs, CASBs significantly reduce data breaches and unauthorized access risks.
Healthcare: In healthcare, CASBs secure patient data stored and shared in the cloud, ensuring compliance with HIPAA standards. Real-time alerts and data encryption keep protected health information (PHI) secure, preventing costly compliance violations.
Government: Government agencies rely on CASBs to manage and secure cloud-based services, protecting sensitive national and citizen data. Robust authorization, continuous monitoring, and advanced threat detection help maintain security and regulatory compliance across government cloud applications.
Education: CASBs help educational institutions manage user access securely and protect student records. With SSO and detailed activity logs, CASBs simplify user management and enhance data security, reducing the administrative burden on IT staff.

Challenges and limitations of CASBs

There are some downsides of using CASBs in your cloud security system. Some of these challenges include:

Performance Impact: Real-time monitoring and encryption can introduce latency, affecting app performance and user productivity.
Deployment Complexity: Rolling out CASBs across varied cloud environments demands careful planning, technical know-how, and ongoing oversight.
False Positives: Legitimate user actions can trigger inaccurate alerts, causing distractions and reducing focus on real threats.
Integration Gaps: Not all cloud apps integrate well with CASBs, limiting visibility and control over some services.

Best practices for implementing CASB

Deploying a CASB can be complex due to its role across cloud and on/off-premise environments. Follow these steps for a successful rollout:

Establish visibility

Start by analyzing cloud usage—track users, apps, departments, locations, and devices. Web traffic logs can help identify patterns and guide CASB selection.

Assess risk

Develop a cloud risk model based on typical usage. Account for threats like leaked credentials or unauthorized access by former employees. Extend existing models or create new ones tailored to your security needs.

Deploy and monitor

Apply the risk model to shadow IT usage and deploy the CASB. Enforce policies, assign risk scores, and categorize services to enhance visibility and control. After deployment, continuously monitor CASB performance. Many organizations begin with a limited rollout before expanding network-wide.

Read more about best business practices for cloud security.

How to choose the best CASB for your business

CASBs aren’t one-size-fits-all. Keep these factors in mind when evaluating options:

Match team expertise: Select a CASB aligned with your team’s skills. Experienced teams may prefer customizable platforms, while newer teams might need intuitive interfaces and built-in templates.
Stay within budget: Shortlist options, request tailored quotes, and collaborate with stakeholders to choose a cost-effective fit.
Check integration support: Ensure the CASB works with all critical cloud apps your organization uses—like Slack or Microsoft 365.
Evaluate vendor support: Teams with limited experience should prioritize vendors with strong, responsive support; advanced teams may need less hands-on help.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Still have questions about CASBs? These answers clarify their role and how they compare to other security tools.

Do I need a CASB if I have a firewall?

A firewall alone isn’t enough, especially for cloud-heavy environments. CASBs monitor cloud usage, detect threats beyond the perimeter, and fill gaps left by firewalls—even next-gen ones.

How is CASB different from SIEM?

CASBs focus on cloud apps, while SIEM tools monitor a wider range of environments, including on-premise systems, generating alerts across your entire tech stack.

How is CASB different from DLP?

DLP protects sensitive data, and is often a feature within CASB solutions. CASBs go beyond DLP by offering broader cloud security capabilities.

How is CASB different from SASE?

SASE includes CASB-like features but also handles wide-scale networking and security for remote users. It’s broader and takes longer to deploy, while CASB is more focused and quicker to implement.

How we evaluated CASB solutions

To provide a well-rounded and practical evaluation of cloud access security broker (CASB) solutions, we used a multi-dimensional research methodology that considered product capabilities, real-world performance, customer satisfaction, and market presence.

We aimed to help IT leaders, CISOs, and security professionals make confident decisions based on a blend of technical benchmarks and business realities.

Evaluation Criteria

We assessed CASB vendors using a combination of core feature sets, deployment flexibility, integration support, and pricing transparency. The primary criteria included:

Data loss prevention (DLP): Strength and customizability of DLP capabilities for protecting sensitive data.
Behavioral analytics: Availability of machine learning or heuristic analysis to detect anomalous behavior and insider threats.
Integration ecosystem: Compatibility with key platforms such as SIEM, IAM, SWG, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and other third-party security tools.
Deployment options: Support for forward proxy, reverse proxy, and API-based deployments.
Ease of use and scalability: Admin UI intuitiveness, automation options, and support for large-scale or hybrid environments.
Trial availability: Whether the vendor provides a free trial or demo to evaluate the product hands-on.
Customer support and documentation: Accessibility of technical resources, onboarding support, and post-sale service options.

Bottom Line: CASB Solutions

Cloud access security brokers help enterprises manage the wealth of cloud apps needed for everyday business operations. The more applications a company uses, the more vulnerable its security posture can be.

CASBs help mitigate the threats that besiege cloud applications, including phishing attacks, unauthorized access, and malware. These top-of-the-industry solutions will help your organization become more aware of its cloud vulnerabilities and secure its most important applications.

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