Nov 10, 2022
Nov 10, 2022
SaaS security posture management (SSPM) is a critical component for companies to effectively respond to SaaS threats while complying with industry standards have strong security posture. But SSPM is often insufficient, incomplete, and ineffective to secure SaaS access.
Increasingly, enterprises are using SaaS applications to handle many tasks, such as marketing and sales. As this trend grows, so do the numerous risks for security and compliance that it poses. SSPM offers a solution for supervising the use of SaaS apps. What is SSPM? The term refers to the products businesses use to detect, analyze, and reduce these risks. Threats that may occur with SaaS apps include:
SSPM security provides companies the control they need to protect sensitive corporate (and sometimes personal) information that dwells across multiple apps. It gives insights into potential problems your teams may face with SaaS, enabling you to seek tools for preventing issues.
Without SaaS application security posture management, businesses could face significant security and compliance consequences. The following advantages indicate why SSPM is a necessity for many organizations:
Misconfigurations are a leading threat to cloud security and contribute to many data breaches. A business may configure an app properly at the start, but gradual drifts may cause compliance problems later. SSPM makes it easier to ensure an organization maintains secure configurations — even as apps evolve and the users who access them change.
Even within a single app, not all employees will have access to the same information. SSPM examines resources to detect if users have more than their approved permission in an app. This feature better protects data, confirming only those who are allowed can access and manipulate it.
SaaS applications have made compliance management more complex. SSPM solves these challenges by consistently comparing security posture with internal structures and industry frameworks.
While the benefits of SSPM are substantial, posture management can be a highly complicated process for small and large enterprises alike. As a result, there are some challenges with SSPM security, including:
As valuable as SSPM may be for organizations, it is an insufficient security measure because it fails to recognize the dynamic nature of SaaS apps. SSPM only allows administrators to discover problems that arise according to specific configurations. It does not help them understand who uses these apps and how they use them.
Additionally, SSPM products tend only to support a select amount of applications — namely, Salesforce, Slack, and Microsoft Office 365. This makes it difficult for companies to rely on SSPM for all SaaS resources. Similarly, any new SaaS app incorporated into the operations will likely not be covered under SSPM security. Depending on SSPM alone can leave holes in your security strategy, opening the door for more risk and possibly leading to compliance issues.
Companies that have only implemented SSPM security may benefit from combining this solution with a SaaS Security Control Plane (SSCP). The SSCP is crucial for any business that wants to protect itself against the security threats of the modern world. It searches for risks across the entire SaaS framework, employing security controls for users and processes.
Furthermore, SSCP encompasses a wider pool of SaaS resources, from sanctioned and unsanctioned apps to managed or unmanaged devices. A fast deployment time also makes SCCP highly efficient.
As mentioned, the SSCP involves arranging security across the entire infrastructure. This includes technologies, such as SSPM, in addition to apps, people, and processes. It goes beyond the standard protection for frequently used apps like Office 365 to monitor all resources a business uses for daily operations.
Due to its enhanced capabilities, an SSCP can allow your business to utilize apps freely while experiencing peace of mind that each is secure. It may also mitigate the risks SSPM creates in overseeing divergent configurations across multiple apps, such as drift and any resultant compliance problems. In this way, employing SSCP not only benefits your security strategy but also helps you adhere to industry standards.
Advance your approach to SaaS security posture management by leveraging the SSCP from Grip. Our dedication to innovation led us to create the SSCP and empower organizations to experience more effective modern security. With our product, your company receives a safer business-led IT strategy and can save money on more expensive security measures like single sign-on (SSO).
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