What is the primary purpose of a cloud access security broker (CASB)?

The primary purpose of a cloud access security broker (CASB) is to enforce security policies across cloud services. CASBs act as an intermediary between users and cloud service providers, ensuring that an organization’s security policies are applied consistently to all cloud services being used.

By doing so, a CASB helps organizations maintain visibility into their cloud usage, manage risks, and ensure compliance with regulations and internal policies. This includes controlling access to sensitive data, implementing encryption, and monitoring user behavior to detect any potential security threats. Essentially, a CASB provides the necessary tools to secure data and applications in the cloud while allowing organizations to leverage the flexibility and scalability that cloud services offer.

The other options do not align with the specific function of a CASB. Optimizing network performance relates more to network management tools, direct internet access pertains to connectivity services, and monitoring physical server health is related to on-premises infrastructure management rather than cloud access or security. Thus, the focus of the CASB is distinctly on enforcing security policies to protect cloud resources effectively.