Cyber Security Solutions, Compliance, and Consulting Services - IT Security

We offer It security management, data, network, & Information security services for protecting information & mitigating security risks to your organization.

What It Takes to Manage Your SaaS Security

In today’s world, SaaS serves as the cornerstone of the Cloud Service Delivery Model.

It’s helping organizations scale productivity by providing access to applications without having to host them in-house. 

As much as SaaS revolutionizing the digital landscape, it is also posing three major security challenges. Let’s discuss what they are and how they can be tackled. 

1. Misconfiguration Management

It isn’t always straightforward to configure app settings. Besides hundreds of security settings, the average app could have several user roles and permissions. To top it all, there are industry standards and protocols many organizations aim to meet.  

What makes securing SaaS apps even more challenging is the indifference of app owners towards security teams. Instead, they’re most engaged with the departments predominantly using the app. 

When app security is not a priority for organizations, it isn’t reasonable to expect smooth control over SaaS attacks.

2. 3rd Party App Access

The de facto industry standard for authorization, OAuth 2.0, allows applications to access resources on behalf of a user. 

In other words, an application relies on the user’s permission for having delegated access to certain resources—known as the scopes. The approval/rejection of scopes determines if the app will be allowed to perform the encoded instructions.

Like computer machines and executable files, SaaS apps need to be able to seamlessly resolve security threats and other problematic files. 

3. Device-to-SaaS-User Posture 

Security teams should be able to assess and manage risks associated with SaaS users and connected devices. This essentially means collecting security-related data (disk encryption, OS, antivirus status, etc.) from the connected devices.

Depending on the app being used, devices with a compromised security status will put you in a vulnerable position. The risk to the organization is elevated in the case of privileged users. These are the ones having administrative access to perform software configuration changes. 

A more holistic approach should be the answer, where security experts correlate concerns from the device and user point of view. This could involve relating SaaS app user roles and permissions to corresponding devices’ compliance and security

Saas Security Posture Management – A Solution for SaaS Stack Challenges

Gartner deems SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) pivotal in analyzing security risks and handling security posture. 

Compared to cloud solutions, the added advantage of SSPM comes in the form of preventative measures.

Take the CASB solution for example. It alerts you only after the incident has taken place. On the other hand, an SSPM solution like Adaptive Shield plays two important roles in security checks and remediation:

  1. It empowers security teams to deal with misconfigurations, incorrect permissions, or exposures. 
  2. It allows visibility into 3rd party apps integrated into your SaaS-to-SaaS environment.   

On the whole, Adaptive Shield comprises security checks and remediation. The former entails continuously monitoring signs of misconfiguration and alerting you in the case of divergence. Whereas, the latter is about facilitating you in fixing these misconfigurations.