Legacy security systems can no longer keep up with the demands of artificial intelligence (AI) and software-as-a-service (SaaS), according to cloud security company Netskope. Outdated tools force businesses to choose between weaker protection and slower performance, leaving gaps that attackers can exploit.
“Trying to handle all these demands with outdated security and networking architectures has forced technology leaders to make sacrifices: an inferior security posture, or a degraded user experience. Often both,” Bob Gilbert, vice president of strategy and chief evangelist of Netskope, said in an email interview with Back End News.
Gilbert pointed out that an estimated 330 quintillion bytes of data are created every day, and traditional networking and security tools often work against each other in managing that flow. A dispersed workforce also requires flexibility without compromising governance. But when security controls slow performance, employees are inclined to take shortcuts that introduce new risks.
The growing use of AI and SaaS has further complicated the landscape.
“We have released extensive research showing how AI and cloud environments are vectors for new cyber threats targeting employees, or data leaks,” Gilbert said.
In response, many companies have added layers of security tools to protect themselves, but Gilbert noted that this often leads to large and complex systems that are costly and inefficient.
Netskope promotes a single-pass Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) model, which differs from traditional multi-pass security systems.
“Our platform doesn’t ask anyone to choose between security and performance,” Gilbert said. “It delivers everything necessary for both modern AI, cloud, data and network security, and optimized network performance and user experience, which are two essential needs of modern businesses that have historically competed with each other.”
Traditional multi-pass approaches, he said, can create delays and even security gaps. Some vendors recommend bypassing SSL inspections for critical applications like Microsoft 365, leaving vulnerabilities. Others require multiple layers of tools that repeatedly scan traffic, users, and devices, adding latency.
Gilbert said Netskope’s platform allows organizations to monitor network activity in real time from a single console. Its infrastructure, called NewEdge, supports 117 data centers that deliver localized services to more than 220 countries and territories.
“We ensure optimal network performance thanks to our underlying infrastructure,” Gilbert said, citing built-in tools such as Digital Experience Management.
Gilbert noted that AI and machine learning are playing an increasing role in improving cyber defense.
“AI algorithms have been instrumental in building more efficient threat detection, and their role in improving prevention and response is gradually increasing with the advent of generative and agentic AI,” he said. “Predictive AI is also making it easier to know what attackers are likely to do and therefore gives us a headstart to beat them.”
He explained that AI can detect cloned websites used for credential theft by scanning image and text components to determine authenticity. AI is also applied in Data Loss Prevention, automatically stopping users from sending sensitive information to unauthorized destinations. AI can also prevent files with hidden malware from being opened in cloud or corporate environments.
Netskope is also exploring Agentic AI to support security teams in incident response. Gilbert cited the company’s Data Security Posture Management tool as an example of how AI agents can help classify and monitor sensitive information.
Gilbert said real-time risk scoring models powered by AI have become essential to managing today’s high data volumes.
“With the volume of traffic and data modern organizations generate, it is simply impossible to manage this process manually,” he said. “When embedded in a unified network security platform, where all security tools work in unison, it is easier to ensure that risk-scoring models are fed with complete, accurate, and real-time data. This reduces false positives and makes prioritization more effective.”
One of the major challenges with SaaS applications, Gilbert said, is latency caused by routing data through multiple layers of legacy tools.
“Research shows that users won’t hesitate to bypass security rules for convenience, which can result in rampant ‘shadow IT/cloud’ among organizations,” he said.
Visibility is another challenge. With thousands of cloud apps in use across organizations, monitoring them individually is difficult. Netskope addresses this through its Cloud Confidence Index, a database of more than 82,000 applications rated by risk level. “Our technology helps organizations to discover all cloud applications used within their environment, and use pre-defined risk scoring to apply out-of-the-box security policies,” Gilbert said.
According to Gilbert, a single-vendor, cloud-native approach makes it easier for enterprises to expand security coverage across a global workforce.
“We recently deployed our platform in a global organization across 200 sites and 14,000 users, including in mainland China, in four months and without business disruption,” he said.
The implementation was possible, he added, because Netskope’s tools and policies are consolidated into one platform that can be deployed remotely across both managed and unmanaged devices.
“Deploying dozens of separate security solutions to each connected device and user can entail a high degree of complexity,” Gilbert said.
As AI and SaaS adoption continues to expand, Netskope believes that cloud-delivered SASE will be the more practical option for businesses looking to balance security, performance, and scalability.