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SaaS Information Security Checklist. Protect Your Product and User Data

SaaS Information Security Checklist. Protect Your Product and User Data

July 30, 2018
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8 min read
Technology
By
Alex Slobozhan
COO

Security issues in cloud computing have become critical with the growing demand for SaaS services. It isn't difficult to prove that SaaS startups are popular and profitable. Such famous applications, as Jira, Slack, Trello, Dropbox and Google Drive belong to this group. What are the reasons for the success of SaaS technology?

What are the reasons for the success of SaaS technology?

The thing is that it is convenient, helps to save user money and reduce their efforts. The SaaS vendor takes all responsibilities of the application's support:

  • An organization of hosts and data center
  • Development and updates
  • Operating system and management
  • Resources of network, servers, storage

As for the specific advantages of the SaaS industry, we can define 5 the most important of them:

1
Simple access depends only on a stable Internet connection
2
No matter where you are and what device do you use
3
The user doesn't need to control updates, because they are automatic
4
Modern and popular examples of SaaS are quite affordable
5
The client shouldn't spend time on installing the app. He only signs up

All the mentioned benefits of SaaS make it a very flexible and attractive solution. But they also cause its vulnerability from the point of view of operational security. SaaS environment can be useful both for private and corporate needs. Many users turn to cloud-based services for personal purposes. At the same time, businesses, establishments, and organizations install SaaS solutions. It helps simplify the realization of their everyday tasks. Both types of users show a high interest for an appropriate level of their data protection. Having no control over the hardware that handles their information, users want to get a 100% guarantee of its security. Actually, "Security is the No. 1 reason preventing firms from moving to SaaS software."

According to Forrester, outside attacks, human errors, and malicious insiders are the most common causes of data loss. From 2009 to 2014 the number of cybersecurity attacks increased tenfold (from 3.4 to 42.8 million per year). In 2017 the cost of the data breach amounted to $3.62 million, while the cost per stolen record lowered to $141. Breach detection and mitigation expenses are the least of the SaaS business owners' worries. In fact, indirect damages make up a large part of the losses. Reputational hits promote increased client turnover and higher customer acquisition cost. Most companies cannot handle these problems.

What SaaS threats you can face due to the lack of cloud computing security?

Usually, enterprises have to solve from 20 to 30 such problems per month. The main security threats for the SaaS cloud delivery model on the public cloud are:

  • Inappropriate sharing causes loss of information
  • Insider SaaS security risks of getting damage to sensitive data
  • Compromised accounts of the company's employees
  • Usage of shadow IT products, especially mobile apps

To prevent catastrophic losses to your project, we offer a short SaaS security checklist. It will help you look at potential vulnerabilities from the first day of development to the successful launch and beyond.

Secure SaaS application: how does it look like?

Before starting work with any cloud application, many users examine its security principles. What aspects are of vital importance for them?

1
Protection of transiting private information between clients and the service
2
An obligatory authentication that provides security of users' accounts
3
Logging/auditing to maintain convenience for the majority of responsible users
4
Incorporation of the full cloud security framework for processing sensitive data

Market leaders like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, provide full information about the protection of their cloud services. We prepared several tips on achieving excellent web security at all stages of SaaS development.

SaaS security best practices during development

Building a secure application from the ground up is always easier and cheaper than dealing with data breaches. Every IT company has a set of SaaS security controls, protocols, and procedures. Nobody wants to fix the issues after the received damage. But, as a founder, you should encourage your partners to follow the SaaS security best practices:

1
Develop and uphold a security review checklist.
All members of the development team should be aware of the requirements from the beginning of the project. There are no universal information security models or checks to perform on all code. They depend on the project. With the help of the chosen IT vendor, design a list of potential security flaws to keep in mind, update and review it regularly. The new threats will permanently arise in any type of SaaS systems. No matter whether you outsource software development to a freelancer or a dedicated team. You should ask security-centric questions during the interviews to ensure every person working on the project prioritizes quality over speed.
2
Perform and analyze security-oriented tests
Quality assurance and automated testing focus on the code's integrity and debugging. But the development life cycle should also include security-specific testing sessions. The whole technical team can take part in targeting the product's weak spots and looking for vulnerabilities. You can rely on the OWASP Testing Guide that includes information about SaaS security monitoring. The latest fourth edition has been released in 2014. It contains dozens of test procedures for authentication, error handling, business logic, input validation, and network security in cloud computing.
3
Keep a backlog of security issues
Whichever management tool you prefer, there should be a log of all vulnerabilities located by developers or testers. Make sure everyone can add and track issues to correct them later. Security backlog increases the awareness level among software engineers working on your project.
4
Choose tested cryptography tools
Cryptography requires experience and expertise. So, you should request the team use the best of the existing cryptography libraries, mechanisms, and tools. This approach ensures your encryption stays secure. As the result, you will minimize risks associated with SaaS. The product will be able to withstand hackers' attempts to disrupt its work and steal users' data.
5
Be careful with deadlines
Nowadays many customers set impossible deadlines to the SaaS development teams. They want to get an adaptable, fast and unique application in the shortest time possible. Moreover, this product should be suitable for different devices and operating systems. That's why developers feel a lack of time for creating a reliable and effective security system.

Ongoing SaaS security efforts

Information security measures shouldn't stop after the product's deploy and launch. Once users start interacting with your SaaS app, the number of security risks of cloud computing increases. Thus, ongoing security efforts are necessary to protect the project. At Freshcode, we recommend these breach-preventative methods that complement each other:

1
Secure deployment
There are 2 ways of SaaS deployment: using a public cloud or host by the product provider. In the first case, you need to pay attention to the protection from the DoS attacks or network penetration. Using reliable vendors like Google and Amazon, the customer can put on them the responsibility of SaaS security architecture by adopting their special services. It's also a good idea to check whether the system has compliance with security principles and standards, set by authorities.
2
Check third-party dependencies
Current SaaS development is almost impossible without using many third-party libraries. If any of them possesses a critical flaw, your SaaS website might be at risk. Check open source components for security issues on a daily basis. You should address them before they cause security breaches and reputational damage.
3
Integrate real-time protection into the product
Code and SQL injections, account takeovers, and XSS attacks are the common breach methods used to undermine SaaS products. Real-time monitoring through protection logic differentiates between legitimate queries and attacks protecting the product from breaches. You can incorporate such tools into the code at the development stage. And then, integrate the third-party security services after launch.
4
Check for vulnerabilities using a penetration testing team
To perform the full-scale check of your SaaS platform, order a full blind discovery. Unlike in-house developers, testers, and users, professional pentesters question even basic assumptions. They provide a comprehensive list of vulnerabilities and issues in need of urgent improvement.
5
Accustom your employees to security practices
Everyone at your company should remember about the cloud security risks and preventative measures to be used every day. Simple routines like locking computers while stepping away and using password managers are good security practices. Unfortunately, they often get overlooked. Secure employee accounts with encrypted work hardware, including smartphones. Create an onboarding and offboarding list to secure proprietary information when new people join your team and when they leave.

User-side measures to achieve best cloud security

No matter how tight you make the security of your SaaS product, users can become a liability. We have some ideas on preventing data leaks and showcasing your information security policies to users. You can try these methods:

1
Encourage complex password and authentication
Require users to create passwords that meet your criteria. It can be the smallest length, special characters, and mixed case letters. Explain why this is important for personal data security. Two-factor authentication is preferable for SaaS providers. Especially, if they handle sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or SSNs.
2
Check suspicious user activity
Some customers may use your SaaS application to bother you or other users, try to hack the app and steal the data. You should track questionable users and prevent them from causing too much trouble. It's possible to implement user tracking in the app or through third-party security services.
3
Inform clients about the risks of using personal devices
Today one employee can have up to 4 devices. They are PC or laptop, smartphone, smart-watch and, tablet. With the development of SaaS products, many companies ask workers to bring their own devices. This helps an entrepreneur to save money and provides the officer an opportunity to work anywhere. Even though this practice seems very convenient both for the company and the employee, it causes a serious risk. While software as a service client can quickly use corporative data online, hackers can do the same. It becomes more difficult to control users' actions and data transmitting.

Thinking that nobody needs your or your customers' private details is a great misconception. It causes loss-making hackers' attacks. Neglect of SaaS issues and solutions can cause great damage to your company. That's why maintaining information protection in cloud computing is a complicated task. It's necessary to treat it with the utmost care from the development stage to well after launch. Ongoing security measures can protect your company from massive losses. So, use our checklist to ensure your SaaS company is safe on all fronts.

We have overlooked all of the main SaaS benefits and risks. Now, you can see that this technology is worth your attention. If you have pressing questions about SaaS security audit, you can contact FreshCode team. We will help you improve your project's defenses or develop the product with impenetrable software as a service security. Let's talk about the realization of your SaaS ideas!

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With a keen understanding of the software development landscape, Alex implements best practices to deliver exceptional experiences for Freshcode clients.

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