Contemporary enterprises increasingly embrace cloud technology to harness the operational advantages of delegating essential business functions. A study conducted in 2021 discovered that 90% of the organizations surveyed have integrated cloud computing into their operations, including utilizing services like software-as-a-service (SaaS).
SaaS solutions are pivotal in enabling organizations to attain critical objectives like cost reduction and accelerated time-to-market. Nevertheless, akin to other digital transformation tools, they also introduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
When organizations become customers of third-party vendors, they ultimately place their sensitive data in their hands, relying on a foundation of trust. However, even with this trust in place, if a data breach occurs due to inadequate data security practices by the SaaS provider, the responsibility for such a breach still falls squarely upon the client organization.
This article delineates the seven foremost cybersecurity risks introduced by SaaS solutions and provides insights into how organizations can proactively mitigate these risks to prevent potential data breaches.
Top 3 SaaS Security Risk
Below is a list of the three primary cybersecurity risks your organization should consider when utilizing SaaS services.
- Cloud Misconfiguration
Since SaaS environments operate within the public cloud, organizations must remain vigilant regarding the distinct cyber threats associated with cloud applications. One prevalent concern is cloud misconfigurations, which transpire when the SaaS provider or the SaaS customer neglects to properly secure the cloud environment. These lapses in security management leave organizations vulnerable to a multitude of cyber threats, including:
Cloud Leaks, Ransomware, Malware, Phishing, External Hackers, Insider threats
A prevalent misconfiguration in cloud computing involves the granting of overly generous permissions. This misstep transpires when an administrator bestows excessive access rights upon an end-user, leading to a permissions imbalance. Excessive licenses constitute a substantial security risk, frequently allowing cloud leaks, data breaches, and insider threats to manifest.
An illustrious instance of a misconfiguration by a cloud service provider is Amazon Web Services (AWS) default public access settings for S3 buckets. Beyond addressing misconfigurations from the cloud provider, your organization must introspect and enhance its security protocols. Gartner’s prediction that 99% of cloud security failures will be attributable to the customer’s actions by 2025 underscores the critical importance of internal security vigilance.
Another noteworthy example of a significant software misconfiguration is the Microsoft Power Apps Data Leak. Secuirty Researchers identified misconfigured OData APIs within Microsoft’s Power Apps portals. This oversight led to the inadvertent exposure of a staggering 38 million records spread across 47 different organizations.
2. Zero Day Vulnerabilities
A zero-day vulnerability is an unpatched software vulnerability that remains unknown to developers. Cybercriminals can exploit these vulnerabilities through attacks, often causing data breaches and loss across affected organizations.
Zero-day vulnerabilities are particularly damaging when identified in popular SaaS platforms – many organizations could be affected, causing a mass shutdown of operations. For example, Accellion’s file-sharing system, FTA, was compromised in 2020 by web shell attacks and zero-day exploits to exploit an unpatched software vulnerability. The incident was part of a broader supply chain attack that breached the sensitive data of over 100 Accellion customers, resulting in widespread operational disruptions.
Organizations must be able to rapidly identify existing vulnerabilities in their SaaS apps to prevent further security issues from occurring through delayed remediation.
3. Third Party Risk
SaaS services generate third-party risk – the risk deriving from any third party in an organization’s supply chain. Third parties can pose different levels of risk to an organization’s information security. For example, an organization will likely consider a contracted office janitor a low-level security threat, whereas a SaaS vendor is likely high-risk.
Most SaaS apps will access or store an organization’s sensitive data, including publicly identifiable information (PII) and other privileged information. Your organization may have strict security measures to mitigate cyber threats, but your protection is only as strong as the weakest link in the supply chain.
Organizations must implement effective third-party risk management programs to consistently monitor and manage the unique cyber risks their SaaS vendors contribute to the attack surface.
