Businesses are increasingly reliant on SaaS applications for operational efficiency and increasing productivity, but this brings with it a growing risk of data breaches due to misconfigurations, unauthorised access to information and user-induced actions.
Gartner predicted that 45% of organisations globally will have experienced attacks on their software supply chains by 2025.
According to a new report “State of SaaS Security 2024 Report,” by security platform AppOmni, 31% of organisations experienced a SaaS data breach in the last 12 months, a 5% increase over the previous year. Nearly half of firms who use Microsoft 365 believe they have fewer than 10 applications connected to the platform, but the report’s aggregated data shows that the average number of connections is over a thousand. A third admitted that they don’t know how many SaaS apps are deployed in their organisation. The surge in security breaches may be linked to inadequate visibility of the apps being deployed, including third-party connections to core SaaS platforms.
When data enters the cloud, it travels beyond the perimeter of the organisation, and copies of it can exist in different regions worldwide. This is further complicated with SaaS solutions, which often rely on other PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) providers, resulting in reduced visibility into where data resides and what controls are implemented to protect it. Under these conditions, the threat of a data breach can arise from unauthorised access by a Cloud Service Provider, whether it’s the primary SaaS provider or another entity from the cloud supply chain. The data breach may be intentional, for example carried out by a malicious employee or an external attacker exploiting vulnerabilities, or it can occur accidentally due to human error.
They may involve inadequate access control, excessive permissions, unencrypted data, or the use of insecure protocols, all of which may introduce security risks. In the SaaS model, security responsibilities are divided under the Shared Responsibility Model. While SaaS providers are responsible for the security of the
applications and underlying infrastructure, customers are responsible for implementing secure configurations to protect their data as it moves through the SaaS applications.
Driven by the need to improve productivity or meet their specific needs, employees may turn to certain cloud-based applications (Ex. Canva, WeTransfer, ChatGPT, Google Forms) without the knowledge of the IT department. This is Shadow SaaS. While these solutions might prove to be useful, they introduce potential security and compliance risks potentially exposing sensitive data and bypassing established security protocols.
Suridata is a SaaS Security Platform that provides:
One view across all SaaS environments, monitors both managed and unmanaged applications. This vigilant oversight is critical in averting unauthorized access and strengthening the security posture to extend coverage and regain oversight over the sprawling shadow SaaS universe in organizations.
The comprehensive visibility and remediation workflows allow for the effective management of intricate SaaS environments by a single team, eliminating the complexity and cost of managing multiple security vendors.
proactively monitors the SaaS landscape, detecting any changes, updates or deviations from a secured baseline. It proactively offers security recommendations, ensuring that the organization’s SaaS applications remain fortified against emerging threats and unsecure use.
fortifies security controls such as Single Sign-On (SSO) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), which are vital in preventing unsecured access to SaaS applications.
Onboarding SaaS applications with Suridata guarantees access to specialized knowledge in securing each application in alignment with industry best practices. This minimizes the need for extensive in-house security efforts for each application.
