How to Tackle the Top SaaS Challenges of 2023

Feb
24,
2023The
Hacker
NewsCybersecurity
Webinar
/
SaaS
Security

Are
you
prepared
to
tackle
the
top
SaaS
challenges
of
2023?
With
high-profile
data
breaches
affecting
major
companies
like
Nissan
and
Slack,
it’s
clear
that
SaaS
apps
are
a
prime
target
for
cyberattacks.

The
vast
amounts
of
valuable
information
stored
in
these
apps
make
them
a
goldmine
for
hackers.
But
don’t
panic
just
yet.
With
the
right
knowledge
and
tools,
you
can
protect
your
company’s
sensitive
data
and
prevent
cyberattacks
from
wreaking
havoc
on
your
business.

To
better
prepare
and
effectively
safeguard
your
organization,
it
is
crucial
to
have
a
comprehensive
understanding
of
the
potential
entry
points
and
challenges
within
the
ever-evolving
SaaS
ecosystem.

Breaches
of
2023

Two
of
the
most
notable
breaches
to
happen
so
far
have
been
that
of
Slack/Github
and
Nissan
North
American.

Slack/Github

The
new
year
started
with
breaking
news
about
Slack’s
GitHub
repositories
being
breached
where
some
of
Slack’s
private
code
repositories
were
downloaded.
Slack
began
investigating
the
detected
breach
after
noticing
suspicious
activity,
and
determined
that
stolen
Slack
employee
tokens
were
the
source
of
the
breach.
This
breach
demonstrates
how
crucial
it
is
for
organizations
to
secure
their
repositories
and
the
sensitive
data
they
store.

Nissan
North
America

In
mid-January,
Nissan
North
America
informed
its
customers
of
a
data
breach
that
occurred
at
a
third-party
service
provider.
The
security
incident
was
reported
to
the
Office
of
the
Maine
Attorney
General,
and
it
disclosed
that
almost
18,000
customers
were
affected
by
the
breach.
The
vendor
had
received
customer
data
from
Nissan
to
use
in
developing
and
testing
software
solutions,
which
was
inadvertently
exposed
due
to
a
poorly
configured,
cloud-based
public
repository.
The
unauthorized
person
had
likely
accessed
data,
including
full
names,
dates
of
birth,
and
Nissan
account
numbers.
This
breach
demonstrates
how
organizations
granting
external
vendor
access
are
increasing
their
vulnerability
and
risk
of
an
attack,
and
the
importance
of
using
synthetic
data
to
mimic
real
data.

In
order
to
reduce
the
likelihood
of
these
types
of
attacks,
organizations
can
learn
about
the
top
5
security
challenges
anticipated
for
2023.

The
Top
5
SaaS
Security
Challenges

SaaS
Misconfigurations

Enterprises
can
have
thousands
of
security
controls
in
their
SaaS
apps.
This
presents
security
teams
with
one
of
their
biggest
challenges
–
securing
each
setting,
user
role,
and
permission
to
meet
industry
standards
and
the
company’s
security
policy.
The
challenge
is
complex,
as
configurations
can
change
with
each
app
update
and
compliance
with
industry
standards
is
more
difficult.
Additionally,
SaaS
app
owners
tend
to
sit
in
business
departments
and
are
not
trained
or
focused
on
the
app’s
security.

SaaS-to-SaaS
Access

SaaS-to-SaaS
app
integrations
are
designed
for
easy
self-service
installations
but
they
pose
a
security
nightmare.
Employees
connect
third-party
apps
to
enable
remote
work
and
improve
their
company’s
work
processes.
While
this
is
effective
in
boosting
productivity,
the
increasing
volume
of
apps
connected
to
the
company’s
SaaS
environment
creates
a
challenge
for
security
teams.

When
connecting
apps
to
their
workspaces,
employees
are
prompted
to
grant
permissions
for
the
app
to
access.
These
permissions
include
the
ability
to
read,
create,
update
and
delete
corporate
or
personal
data,
not
to
mention
that
the
app
itself
could
be
malicious.
By
clicking
“accept,”
the
permissions
they
grant
can
enable
threat
actors
to
gain
access
to
valuable
company
data.
Users
are
often
unaware
of
the
significance
of
the
permissions
they’ve
granted
to
these
third-party
apps.

Device-to-SaaS
User
Risk

Accessing
a
SaaS
app
via
an
unmanaged
device
poses
a
high
level
of
risk
for
an
organization.
The
risk
is
even
larger
when
the
device
owner
is
a
highly
privileged
user.
Personal
devices
are
susceptible
to
data
theft
and
can
unknowingly
have
malware
that
shares
SaaS
data
outside
the
organization’s
environment.
Lost
or
stolen
devices
can
also
provide
a
gateway
for
criminals
to
access
the
network.

Identity
and
Access
Governance

Every
SaaS
app
user
is
a
potential
gateway
for
a
threat
actor.
It’s
crucial
to
implement
processes
to
ensure
proper
users’
access
control
and
authentication
settings,
in
addition
to
validation
of
role-based
access
management
(as
opposed
to
individual-based
access)
and
establishing
an
understanding
of
access
governance.
Identity
and
access
governance
helps
ensure
that
security
teams
have
contextualized
visibility
and
control
of
what
is
happening
across
every
domain.

Identity
Threat
Detection
and
Response
(ITDR)

Threat
actors
are
increasingly
targeting
SaaS
applications
through
their
users.
As
more
data
shifts
to
the
cloud,
they
are
an
attractive
target
that
can
be
accessed
from
any
computer
with
the
right
login
credentials.
To
protect
against
these
types
of
attacks,
organizations
need
to
adopt
SaaS
identity
threat
detection
and
response
(ITDR)
mechanisms.
This
new
set
of
tools
is
capable
of
identifying
and
alerting
security
teams
when
there
is
an
anomaly
or
questionable
user
behavior,
or
when
a
malicious
app
is
installed.

Gaining
Full
SaaS
Ecosystem
Security

To
truly
secure
SaaS
data,
security
teams
need
to
address
the
entire
ecosystem
surrounding
the
application.
That
means
reviewing
endpoint
security
of
devices
that
access
the
system,
monitoring
user
access
for
suspicious
and
anomalous
behavior
patterns,
utilizing
an
SSPM,
like
Adaptive
Shield,
to
measure
each
application’s
security
posture,
and
develop
identity
threat
detection
&
response
(ITDR)
capabilities
within
the
SaaS
landscape.

Once
organizations
take
these
steps,
they
will
better
prepare
themselves
and
mitigate
their
SaaS
attack
surface.

For
more
on
handling
the
SaaS
security
challenges,


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