Over the past five years, major hacks in SaaS were witnessed due to an internal vulnerability. Indeed, we didn’t think this could happen either. Therefore, 80% of organizations are keeping SaaS security front-of-mind: 41% rate it high, while 39% rate it moderate. With increasing risks and growing awareness of SaaS security, we will cover major pieces one needs to put together when building a secure SaaS platform.
What is SaaS security
Security SaaS involves the adoption of various measures to ensure that SaaS applications are safe from potential danger hence ensuring compliance with government regulations. It mainly involves data protection during transmission and at rest, access control, data privacy, and many other laws and standards. Security software as a service (SaaS) makes sure that your business processes are kept secure irrespective of where it is stored or how it has been accessed.
Most people believe that this is solely the responsibility of the service provider, which is not entirely correct. The shared responsibility model states that the provider secures the underlying infrastructure and the application itself. For instance, while the provider keeps the infrastructure updated and secure against outside attacks, it is your responsibility to care about sensitive data through encryption and access controls.
SOC 2 prescribes strict controls on how information is managed, stored, or accessed to maintain users' privacy and prevent data breaches.
SaaS security issues
SaaS security involves all the stakeholders within the SaaS sector inclusive of the providers and the customers. When data is sensitive and is located in the cloud, it means that it is at high risk of being breached and or having the data leak. However, cloud environments with proper encryption, access controls, and monitoring can be quite secure.
Customers are still relying on the SaaS providers to be solely responsible for the security of the platform and the customers’ data. This consists of having strong security measures, monitoring frequently, and adhering to legislation like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Meanwhile, customers also have duties to protect their information by employing the appropriate password and two-factor authentication and avoiding phishing scams.
Financial loss, damage to reputation, and possible legal action are just some of the potential security issues in SaaS for companies following a SaaS security breach, particularly if regulatory standards have not been upheld. The customers risk becoming exposed to identity theft, fraud, and mislaid sensitive personal information. Perhaps most crucially, the impact goes far from monetary loss to impaired customer trust, business continuity, and non-conformity to industry regulations.
SaaS security standard & requirements: 3 layers
SaaS application security is a complicated topic and requires an individual approach. To meet security requirements for saas applications, providers must implement measures measures at infrastructure, network, and application levels.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is the software used in the lower part of your technology stack of either client or server. AWS, cloud storage providers, hosting companies, and internal servers, all include the foundational level of SaaS data security. To enforce SaaS security concerns at this level, you have to examine every provider and also confirm that every interaction point between the various providers is started appropriately and then sustained. The preservation of compliance is equally important for you, as the customer, and your provider.
Network
A bit higher in the server-side stack, network security in SaaS ensures that when somebody is connecting to your product, that connection is secure. It is one of the most susceptible to attack by the wrong party. Be sure there are SaaS security requirements in your organization that engage the system to automatically search for, document, and notify of possible problems. To be on the safer side, if you are concerned about the security of your network then engage third-party penetration testing companies and security consultants to help conduct the assessments.
Application and software
These SaaS security requirements cross both the server side and the client side of your technology stack. Each of you uses software and third-party applications to capture, manage, store, and analyze customer data. SaaS security must address this layer whenever one is dealing with other companies to ensure that compliance is maintained on all sides. Just as with your infrastructure, it is wise to check the applications and software that you employ for use, to see if there are potential weak links. Subscription software can be protected using software SaaS security requirements and licensing platforms such as Pace AP.
How SaaS security challenges impact your business
When software as a service security is disrupted, it is not a technology issue but a business disaster. SaaS security breaches can affect businesses in various ways, even long after a cyberattack.
So, how do SaaS security challenges impact your business?
Data loss costs: Sensitive data loss has huge recovery costs, legal expenses, and even fines in case of violations.
Reputation damage: A tarnished reputation reduces customer loyalty, increases the challenge of winning new customers, and even increases insurance premiums.
Effect of investment: Infiltration cases will deter investors and no funding will ensue.
Regulatory risks: Non-compliance with industrial regulations may result in fines and lawsuits; in some instances, it may even imply the closure of business activities.
Do you have a SaaS idea? Get a free 40-minute consultation from Overcode: we will help you assess the feasibility, choose a tech stack, understand what the team needs are, and what the approximate costs will be.
SaaS security risks
According to BetterCloud, businesses with over a thousand employees, work with over 150 SaaS applications. Can you imagine all the potential security risks? Well, you definitely wouldn’t want any of those to happen, especially when it is all in one place. That’s why it’s important to know what risks you can be exposed to.
Cloud Misconfigurations
Some of the risks are data breaches, ransomware, and insider threats that can be occasioned by cloud misconfigurations such as the granting of excessive permissions. For instance, an improperly configured Amazon S3 bucket caused the leak of millions of private pictures a few years ago. Ouch. According to Gartner, the future is also bleak with the firm estimating that by 2025, 99% of cloud security breaches will be caused by the end users.
To prevent cloud misconfigurations you can:
Grant the least privileged access and strictly control the given access.
Utilize cloud security tools, which should also use cloud-native security tools such as firewalls, Intrusion detection systems (IDS), and vulnerability scanners.
Perform surveys from time to time to check for misconfigurations and make the necessary adjustments.
Third-Party Risk
Because SaaS vendors receive and process the client’s data, third-party risks become an issue. This means that your data security in SaaS depends on the security of your suppliers, contractors, and other third parties with whom you have business dealings. It is therefore advised to manage these risks through Vendor Risk Management Programs with a continuous monitoring feature. For example, the Equifax breach compromised six million consumers' details due to a flaw in a third-party application.
How to avoid it?
Implement a Vendor Risk Management Program (VRMP) a well-defined framework for assessing and supervising third-party associates.
Conduct evaluations of the security policies, standards, and measures that vendors have in place, as well as the security certifications they hold and their response plans in case of an incident.
Ensure that vendors have well-drafted security clauses in contracts that they enter into.
Supply Chain Attacks
A supply chain attack is an attack where the hacker takes advantage of the vendor’s software, such as in the case of the SolarWinds attack. There must be clear-sightedness in the overall vendor environment of an organization to address all such risks before they are leveraged by the vendors.
To control supply chain attacks you can:
Ensure that you have a list of all third-party software and all the dependencies that you have on them.
Get the latest security notices and updates for third-party libraries.
Identify specific supply chain risks and manage them.
Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
Zero-day vulnerabilities refer to unaddressed weaknesses in software that hackers can take advantage of, and which cause massive data leaks. One of the biggest examples is the Accellion attack that happened in 2020 and impacted more than 100 organizations.
To manage zero-day vulnerabilities you can:
Ensure to develop a patching strategy where possible vulnerabilities are patched before they can be exploited.
Use an Intrusion Detection System and Security information as well as an event management system.
Incorporate and create a clear plan of the steps to be followed in the event of security breaches.
Insufficient Due Diligence
It is extremely bad when vendor due diligence is not done properly. A security software as a service vendor is not completely safe from hacking attacks, in which case your organization’s information will be at risk. This means that there is a need to develop a structured Vendor Risk Management Program that can be used to monitor and assess vendors at all times.
To handle insufficient due diligence you need:
Ensure you undergo intensive research on the potential vendors.
Monitor and evaluate the security posture of vendors.
Implement proper guidelines for handling security threats and emerging with proper protocols for handling incidents.
Non-Compliance
Even if your organization is legal, you are still at risk in case of any non-compliance on the part of your SaaS vendors.
Some of the ways you can avoid such penalties and leaks are by:
Check if your SaaS providers are compliant with industry standards that affect them (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS).
Perform compliance audits at least once a year to confirm that standards have been met.
Unclear Responsibilities
In SaaS contexts, security duties are divided between your organization and the SaaS provider. It is crucial to select each party’s responsibilities so that there is no creation of loopholes that hackers can exploit.
To manipulate unclear responsibilities you can:
Share responsibility model - a clear distinction between the security responsibilities of both the organization and the SaaS provider.
Detail security responsibilities and vendor service expectations in written SLAs.
Reassess and modify the shared responsibility model from time to time, based on the existing security requirements.
Risk assessment SaaS
Here’s some advice from our experts about SaaS risk assessment:
Do not take your SaaS provider's word for it, but run a deep assessment of SaaS risk to know the possible risks that might occur at your company's end. Check their security measures and responses, along with their partners in terms of security practices. Remember, SaaS app security is not a one-time fix, but rather an ongoing process. Keep your eyes and ears open to avoid digital surprises.
If you already have a product, but the SaaS data protection is bothering you, Overcode can do a free 40-minute consulting session where we can break down the SaaS application security checklist at hand:
Weaknesses in SaaS data protection
Compliance gaps with industry regulations
Potential threats and vulnerabilities
SaaS security best practices
In short, the rapid adoption of applications in the cloud increases the attack surface. That opens the door to any kind of cyber threat. These situations affect your sensitive information, discredit workflows, and may compromise stakeholder trust for potentially substantial financial and reputational damage. So, security challenges are of such a critical nature that they demand nothing but the implementation of best practices for SaaS security.
Data encryption
The data of the user must be turned into unreadable code, ensuring that the intercepted or compromised data itself is secured as classified. The protocols that should be used for encryption have to be at the industry standard and above, such as AES-256, in doing so. For example, Gmail encrypts emails in transit to protect sensitive information of its customers.
Make privacy a priority
Putting privacy first means being clear about how you collect, use, and protect user data. This, quite obviously, isn't just the case of morality—it’s required by the law. These norms and rules of conduct by which companies are to operate about personal data come from the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act in the US. They require clear communications to users on data rights and impose heavy penalties for non-compliance. What's even more important than building trust with your users through privacy protection is that it protects your business legally.
Educate your customers
Your users should become your first line of SaaS defense within your firm. With daily use of your systems, they are the optimal target for a variety of threats: from phishing attacks designed to swindle customers or users out of sensitive information to the more traditional hacking of a website. Therefore, your users have to be educated.
Endorse educational measures on how to identify phishing emails and the importance of changing passwords and other common cybersecurity rules. Many organizations even email security awareness information or provide training that informs the employees and users.
Make backups of user data
Store your backup copies in diverse geographies to ensure that you are protected from geographically localized events. Make sure the backups are encrypted and tested regularly to confirm the integrity and effective working conditions. Companies like Dropbox and Google Drive offer a pretty robust backup, where one can store a copy of his or her data at a secure location.
Consult with a cyber-security company
Even with strong internal measures, sometimes you need to get a view from outside. A cybersecurity consultant can perform deep security SaaS penetration tests, spot your vulnerabilities, SaaS security risk assessment, and give you specific recommendations to make you stronger.
Require stronger passwords
We can’t highlight enough that weak passwords are a very big security risk. Implement strong password policies that require a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters and a combination of numbers and symbols. Consider implementing multi-factor authentication for improved security for SaaS applications. Provide them with a password manager to facilitate the easy creation and management of secure passwords.
According to Exploding Topics, 30% of all users on the Internet have met a data breach due to their weak passwords. That's frightening statistics and a reminder of how important robust password security of SaaS is.
Regularly patch software and systems
Keeping all of your software and systems updated is one of the vital links in preventing security SaaS risks. Cyber threats are everywhere, and out-of-date software is one of the prime targets of attackers. We advise you to set up a periodic patch management process to deploy updates and security patches as soon as they are released. This can be further developed with automated patching, reducing the window of security vulnerability.
Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing
Routine IT security as a service audits and penetration testing help detect and fix any possible vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Security audits mean that your security policies, controls, and practices will be thoroughly assessed against best practices as defined by industry standards and compliance requirements. Penetration testing, on the other hand, includes simulation of real-world attacks against your defenses. With regular testing like this, you'll always be a step ahead of threats and have an improved security posture.
SaaS security considerations
We at Overcode beg you to pay attention to SaaS security. It is a real need to keep your user's information in a safe place. The basis of our security measures is the data encryption about their storage and transmission. However, we also take great care to preserve the privacy of the statistics by integrating the protection into the very fabric of our company and disclosing to our customers the measures taken in the handling of their data.
Just as important is the customer’s education. By further educating the users about threats such as phishing and the necessity of good password creation and usage we strengthen the first line of defence.
It is also important to note that security can always be reassessed through security audits and penetration testing. These evaluations assist in establishing the SaaS risk for the opponent’s exploitation, in this case, the weaknesses. Also, engaging teams with cybersecurity specialists helps to maintain the relevance and effectiveness of the security concepts.
By putting these elements together, we'll be able to offer SaaS security solutions that meet, if not rise beyond, industry SaaS security standards, giving our customers full peace of mind.
