Safeguarding SaaS Applications has become necessary among enterprises due to the industry’s seemingly inexorable proliferation of SaaS platforms. To maintain the effective operation of your app, we’ll read about the significance of protecting your SaaS and the SaaS Security Best Practices you need to implement in this blog.
Table of Contents:
- What is SaaS Security?
- Why is SaaS Security Important?
- 10 Best SaaS Security Best Practices
- Enhanced Authentication
- Data Encryption
- Monitoring and Vetting
- Discovery and Inventories
- Controls that Match Your Risk Level
- Controls for Identity and Access Management that Work
- Use a Security-first Software Development Life Cycle
- Using CASB Tools
- Situational Awareness
- Utilize Products that Provide Reliable Authentication
- How will PingSafe help with SaaS Security?
- Conclusion
What is SaaS Security?
SaaS Security refers to the safety precautions to protect data in SaaS applications running in the cloud. It comprises companies’ methods to protect private customer information and sensitive company data stored in the cloud. SaaS security is a shared responsibility between service providers and their customers.
SaaS security is necessary for effective SaaS management to accomplish objectives, including reducing the number of unused licenses, eliminating shadow IT, and acquiring high visibility to lessen security concerns.
Why is SaaS Security Important?
The security risks provided by environments that use Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) are well managed by many enterprises. Teams from IT and security frequently work together using integrated business procedures and software. IaaS and PaaS security and management products have a sizable market.
SaaS programs frequently function differently and provide benefits for businesses. They can, however, be more challenging to manage in terms of security:
- Complexity: SaaS solutions are made to be used by many different teams throughout a company. For example, sales teams use record systems to save client information, development teams to save source code, and HR teams to keep employee information. Various end users regularly use these SaaS programs, some of whom may be technical novices. Security teams find it challenging to comprehend SaaS apps due to their extreme volume and complexity of use.
- Communication: Security teams and the business managers who choose and oversee new SaaS solutions rarely interact. It is more difficult for security teams to comprehend the scope of use and the associated hazards to the organization when these applications fully operate because of the limited team contact.
- Collaboration: Internal teams that maintain SaaS apps usually don’t have the guidance to keep them secure and instead focus on functionality and business needs. There must be constant coordination between business and security requirements.
10 Best SaaS Security Best Practices
Let us now take a look at the top 10 SaaS security best practices:
#1. Enhanced Authentication
Determining how users should be given access to SaaS services can be difficult because cloud providers may handle authentication in various ways. Although not all do, manufacturers can combine client-managed identity providers like Active Directory (AD) with Security Assertion Markup Language, OpenID Connect, and Open Authorization. The same is true for the multi-factor authentication support provided by various manufacturers.
To traverse the many SaaS options available, the security team needs to be informed of the services used and the supported alternatives for each service as SaaS security best practices. Thanks to this context, administrators can choose the optimal authentication method (or methods) based on the company’s needs.
#2. Data Encryption
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is frequently employed on the channels used to communicate with SaaS programs to safeguard data while it is in transit. A few SaaS providers also provide encryption services for data security when it is at rest. This functionality may need to be enabled, or it may be the default.
Following SaaS security best practices, examine the security options provided by each service to see whether data encryption is feasible. Make careful to turn on the encryption when it is appropriate.
#3. Monitoring and Vetting
Following SaaS security best practices, potential SaaS providers should be reviewed and assessed (just like you would with other providers). It is essential to comprehend the service’s intended purpose, the security model utilized to deliver the service, and any optional security measures.
#4. Discovery and Inventories
Since SaaS consumption patterns can be unpredictable, especially when apps are deployed quickly, the capacity to track all SaaS usage is crucial. Following SaaS security best practices, watch out for unforeseen changes and new, unreported SaaS usage, and be cautious.
When possible, mix automation and human data collection methods to keep up with the rapidly evolving SaaS usage and maintain an accurate, up-to-date inventory of the services utilized and who uses them.
#5. Controls that Match Your Risk Level
Security measures can be established by the SaaS vendor’s accepted levels of risk. SaaS suppliers must compete against one another because any control on data access, processing, and monitoring will certainly impact system performance. Due to high-profile security breaches, the pendulum has swung back, and a more balanced strategy is currently being developed as SaaS security best practices. Previously, this balance was weighted toward corporate performance.
#6. Controls for Identity and Access Management that Work
IAM (identity and access management) technology verifies users’ identities. The capacity to integrate with IAM systems is critical for SaaS users. Business users don’t want to use a separate password while entering into a different section of a platform used by the entire company. A comprehensive access control that can track who accessed what and when is required for any IAM system following SaaS security best practices.
#7. Use a Security-first Software Development Life Cycle
A security focus is given to the software development process by using a safe, security-prioritized Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Penetration testing and threat modeling can also help raise the SDLC’s security profile.
#8. Using CASB Tools
Consider installing a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) solution if the SaaS provider does not provide adequate security as SaaS security best practices. Thanks to CASB, organizations can incorporate controls that SaaS providers do not provide or do not natively support.
Look at the options you have to address any security model weaknesses in the SaaS supplier. You must also be aware of the various CASB deployment options to select the deployment configuration (such as API- or proxy-based) optimal for your business’s architecture.
#9. Situational Awareness
Keep track of the data and logs the SaaS provider provides following SaaS security best practices, monitor how you’re utilizing the service, and analyze the data using tools like CASBs. SaaS products must be handled differently by IT and security executives from standard websites since they are sophisticated tools that require the same level of protection as any enterprise program.
Be careful to implement methods for systematic risk management when implementing SaaS security best practices; this will help ensure that customers use SaaS safely and that your organization’s SaaS usage is kept secure.
#10. Utilize Products that Provide Reliable Authentication
Cloud service providers offer a variety of authentication mechanisms. Some enable you to connect with a client-managed identity provider (such as OpenID Connect, Open Authorization, etc.)
You need to be familiar with the choices your cloud provider provides. The optimal authentication approach can then be selected based on the demands of your company. To guarantee that account and password policies are compatible with how your SaaS applications are used, choose a SaaS provider that supports Active Directory Single Sign-On (AD SSO) wherever this is available.
How will PingSafe help with SaaS Security?
PingSafe is a thorough cloud security platform that offers defense for businesses of all sizes and industries. It can assist in removing all dangers and issues, recognized and unseen. It can help you with your Saas security needs:
Features:
- Configuration issues are automatically addressed and fixed in the cloud. Graphs show resource misconfigurations, lateral movement paths, and impact radius.
- Monitoring ongoing security posture of new or existing cloud services, concentrating on security issues and advised practices, and alerting to security defaults.
- Building as a Code: comparing the implementation and configuration of IaC to other standards like PCI-DSS and the CIS benchmark. CI/CD integration support can be used to stop merge and pull requests with hardcoded secrets.
- Locate the cloud assets/resources with CVEs known to be vulnerable (information from 10 or more sources with extensive coverage).
- Threat Watch: A dashboard for tracking issues with the environment’s zero-day vulnerabilities.
- Security vulnerability assessment for virtual machine snapshots and bill of materials (BOM) reporting for agentless apps.
Conclusion
In some crucial financial and regulatory areas, SaaS technology presents the potential for cheaper costs and more nimble performance in the banking industry. These apps typically focus on managing sensitive client information, regulatory compliance, and other business processes. SaaS applications can be much more secure than on-premise apps by following SaaS security best practices, and the bank has several options for keeping control of the security architecture, such as the encryption of customer data.
