Cybersecurity: Addressing the Risks of SaaS Solutions

Organizations are increasingly turning to cloud-based “software as a service” (SaaS) solutions to handle and store proprietary information and other sensitive business data. However, a recent Risk Management Magazine article says that although companies are investing billions of dollars in SaaS solutions, their investment in the security of these systems has lagged.  Many users assume that responsibility for security lies with the vendor, but the unique nature of every application requires users to ensure proper configuration, integration, and threat detection in order to appropriately protect their SaaS applications from cyber-attacks.

The article says that threat actors are aware of the vulnerability of these applications and that monthly SaaS breaches have surged 300% year over year. It addresses the financial risks of SaaS breaches and discusses recent regulatory actions and lawsuits that have arisen out of them.  The article lists eight key considerations that risk managers and IT professionals need to take into account to ensure that these applications are appropriately secured.  Here’s are some of them:

Change management: What are our policies for continuously checking users, configurations and permissions to avoid unauthorized changes to the configuration of a system, application or infrastructure?

Integration management: Can we control app-to-app integrations, especially with the deployment of generative AI?

Breach detection and response: Can our security solutions and workflows keep up with the speed of SaaS attacks?

The article notes that by framing SaaS security as a financial risk and not simply an IT issue, risk managers will be better able to obtain executive buy-in for enhanced SaaS security measures and mitigate the risks associated with these applications.