9 Best Practices to Secure Your SaaS-Based Applications

Security is essential for every business, regardless of whether it’s a traditional business, a SaaS-based startup, or an enterprise.

But that’s not always how it’s made out. In pursuit of balancing costs and productivity, security is sometimes overlooked. SaaS companies, in particular, have all their data and applications in the cloud which makes it even more critical to invest in security. Failure to implement such security measures can lead to data breaches, which ultimately hurt the integrity of the business itself.

To give you a run-down of why security is important now more than ever, let us present to you some Cybersecurity facts:

• Due to the coronavirus pandemic, cyber crime rose to 600%. 
• By 2025, the average cybersecurity spending costs were predicted to be over $1 trillion.
• The average cost incurred by a company during a malware attack is expected to be $2.4 million.
• Even with the latest security specifications, there is still a need to develop a proper security
• With the Spotify breach, an undisclosed number of users had to reset their accounts.

Even with the latest security standards, it pays off to be vigilant. These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg and showcases how, when companies lag in their cybersecurity, suffer the consequences.

Best SaaS Security Practices for Your SaaS Applications

We’ve already mentioned “being proactive” when you approach cybersecurity. Now we’re going to show you how to do that.

There are several essential SaaS security guidelines that you need to look at. They’re highly effective in reducing threats to your cybersecurity infrastructure.

These will help you identify where you lag in terms of security. This way, you can improvise where you need to improve your security.

User-level SaaS Security Monitoring

Every organization follows a hierarchical approach with roles and permissions being limited as we go further down the line. With SaaS application access, you must ensure that not everyone can come in and make changes to the backend of the application.

To create hierarchical control with your SaaS application, you need to add a role-based access control system. This ensures that the right level of access for the SaaS application is provided to the right person in the hierarchy. It divides the users and manages how they can access the architecture of the application.

Integration Of Real-Time Protection

Because of their cloud computing factors, SaaS applications offer tons of integration benefits. At the same time, they also give value to end-users.

Through real-time monitoring, you can find out the security status of your applications at any given time. They provide more visible accountability and better control.

Treating security breaches as an inevitability, and implementing these real-time monitoring systems can help you track down the smallest security problems. As a result, you can secure your website through SQL injections, XSS attacks, account takeovers, and more – all security issues that can potentially become dangerous down the road.

With the right measures, you will be able to organize your apps in a secure manner.

Also Read: SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS: What You Need to Know with Examples

Securing End-To-End Data Transmission

One way to ensure that your data is protected from external threats is to introduce a system of end-to-end encryption. You see this in messaging platforms. They protect conversations over there and in general, they help prevent unauthorized access from users. They are integral to the data security process since, at their core, they offer data security, authentication, and confidentiality.

The ideal way to do that is to include transport layer security and field-level encryption. At the same time, you can also choose fields that you want to encrypt so that your data is transmitted and sent securely throughout the architecture of the application.

Certifications And Audits

The most crucial aspect of a firm’s security is securing its payment platforms. To ensure that there are no security problems within your payment gateways, having a PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a must-have. The SaaS provider ensures that the data is transmitted, processed, and secured in an effective manner.

For a company to acquire that certification, the data holder must ensure that the data transmitted, processed, and stored is correct. They should include detailed reports of security standards, policies, and more protective measures to ensure that the policies comply with the PCI.

Another such certification is the SOC Type II. Data confidentiality and organized is ensured with this certification.

These are all essential requirements for maintaining data security and integrity.

Integrate a Governance Solution

To ensure that an organization is secure from cyber threats, they need to meet regulatory compliance requirements of industry-leading identity governance and its administration solutions. With this, your organizations can have a merged view of the processes that are happening within a single company.

Implement A Data Retention Policy

For SaaS applications that are using account management subscription functionalities, data retention is a must-have. These are policies that govern how your data is stored and managed for later use. In general, they are helpful for:

• Creating backups for the database
• Freeing up space for more application data
• Used for compliance and accountability purposes

The main benefit you can gain from these is data segregation. Knowing which data points are important and which points need to be removed helps develop a data standard that only stores the data that is important and removes unnecessary data that may cause problems in the future.

Conclusion:

For companies looking to adapt to the best SaaS security practices, they must take into account what their company processes are all about. When they have a set idea of what their processes are, they can get more awareness for which data points they need to secure within the application.

For every organization, SaaS security is essential. By implementing the right security practices in your company, you can help maintain a high level of integrity for your business processes.

There are plenty of SaaS development companies that guide you on how you can develop your SaaS company in compliance with the latest security standards.

Connect with experts at CODUP for top-notch Web development services.

Read Also:

• SaaS vs Open SaaS E-Commerce: A Shopify and BigCommerce Comparison
• 7 Technology Trends That Are Revolutionizing The Hospitality Industry
• Simple Customer Retention Strategies To Drive Up