Organizations rely on SaaS applications to streamline operations, and are seeing the benefits in spades. What most aren’t seeing, however, are the data security vulnerabilities they’re open to and the biggest risks to their SaaS data.
To better understand SaaS data security pitfalls (and how to avoid them), we worked with Salesforce to sponsor an insight report by Raconteur, a leading business and news analysis publishing firm. Released earlier this year, ‘A blueprint for SaaS data security’ provides a full overview of the SaaS data protection landscape, and how organizations can identify and close gaps they’re leaving open.
Here are the highlights we found most helpful:
Data security should be valued across the company
According to the report, IT isn’t the only department that should be prioritizing SaaS data security and cyber threats: it needs to be a company-wide initiative. It's up to security leaders to reframe the cyber and data security conversation, empowering employees to see it as a feature (versus a hurdle) that the company is embracing together. For more insight, watch this webinar on how to get your organization to care about data security.
Be aware of the biggest data threats
Technology is constantly advancing, and cybercriminals are doing everything they can to keep up. Cyberattacks are the top cause of data loss and corruption in organizations that aren’t aware of their responsibility for SaaS backup.
The report addresses the rise in phishing attacks and different techniques criminals use to gain entry: spear-fishing, voice phishing (or vishing), and credential phishing. These methods, while powerful on their own, are oftentimes used together to make a scam seem more legitimate to potential victims. It’s crucial that all departments are trained to recognize new and emerging threats, and have easy-to-use reporting mechanisms to stay on high alert.
Many organizations are in the dark about SaaS data protection
In 2021, over 75% of organizations had experienced a data incident within their SaaS CRM application in the last year. While many organizations are blurry on data security best practices, most are clear on the importance of boosting security capabilities. From evolving business needs to sensitive data protection to preventing data loss, they know that they need to up their game–especially since cloud is the second most common point of entry for cyber attacks.
A SaaS security strategy is based on the shared responsibility model
Building a SaaS security strategy starts with awareness of the shared responsibility model.
40% of organizations assume that the cloud provider is responsible for backing up and recovering data, which is not the case. Under the shared responsibility model, the SaaS provider is responsible for protecting the cloud infrastructure, while the customer is responsible for protecting the data that they put into the cloud. And, this is no secret–in fact, most vendors are upfront about recommending the implementation of a third-party backup and recovery solution.
Own your resiliency
Cyber attacks and human error are the most common causes of data loss, followed by integration errors. It’s critical that SaaS customers proactively source a comprehensive third-party backup and recovery solution before an incident occurs.
According to the report, organizations with third party backup solutions are confident that they can recover 100% of lost or corrupted data. Plus, a third-party backup and recovery solution enables companies to bounce back faster than if they were recovering and manually plugging in the lost data (if they can find it at all). This breaks down to hours with a third-party solution vs. days to weeks with an in-house operation. An IDC Business Value study found that Own customers experienced a 71% reduction in average data recovery time, which makes a critical impact for business continuity.
Secure data requires a zero trust approach
Trust is a foundational principle in many areas of life, and SaaS data protection is no exception. The report recommends that organizations deploy the zero trust security model. This framework mandates that every person (user) or technology (device, network, connection etc.) is required to undergo regular authentication and verification. This approach is critical, given that many SaaS platforms hold large volumes of mission-critical data without the proper accessibility and security controls. The result? Companies are left open to insider and outsider threats. By implementing the zero trust model (either by in-house strategy or choosing vendors that subscribe to it) organizations are taking the additional precautions to ensure their data is safe.
How you can protect your SaaS data
At Own, we believe that no company operating in the cloud should ever lose data. We provide secure, automated daily backups and rapid restore capabilities for Salesforce, Microsoft 365, and ServiceNow.
Download ‘A blueprint for SaaS data security’ and learn more the importance of protecting your mission-critical data, and how we can help.
