Software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications have provided tremendous value to end users due to their easy setup and collaboration capabilities. However, because SaaS environments are often hidden to network administrators, enterprise security tools designed to protect internal data centers, servers and workstations can’t effectively protect SaaS apps or prevent data leakage. Securing SaaS apps largely includes classifying different groupings of applications in order to understand what they are doing and how to control them, as well as setting zones of trust to control access. The goal for a SaaS security implementation should be to end up with a set of well-defined and enforced application and usage policies for sanctioned, tolerated and unsanctioned SaaS applications to better protect the data they house.
The grouping of applications is based on how much trust an organization has in any given application and how each is treated based on the different levels of trust:
Some of the challenges in securing SaaS applications include handling end users who sign up for cloud applications without IT approval or governance; monitoring and blocking the use of unsanctioned applications; and dealing with a lack of visibility into data in the cloud.
When establishing a SaaS security approach to protect data and employees from data exposure or threats, organizations should ensure it includes the following:
By following these criteria, you will be able to choose a platform that provides the most comprehensive and robust protection for your organization. Securing your SaaS applications – and ultimately your organization’s data – requires a complete end-to-end platform that includes industry-leading next-generation firewalls for your network, a cloud security service to protect your SaaS apps, and advanced threat intelligence to protect against known and unknown threats.
Learn more about vetting SaaS vendors in this blog post: Your SaaS Security Checklist.
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