The average number of SaaS applications used by an organization stood at 80 last year.
- SaaS applications comprise 70% of software usage by a company and this figure is projected to be 85% by 2025. We can imagine the importance held by Software as a Service in terms of functionality and success for businesses – no wonder the SaaS industry has grown by 500% over the last seven years.
- However, in a 2019 survey conducted with SaaS users, 93% of the respondents expressed concerns about the security of their data that lies with SaaS providers. As a SaaS provider, you can address this issue and build trust by focusing on SaaS security.
This post will address the concern regarding SaaS security and help you understand how SaaS security companies can help both the SaaS providers and the SaaS users to cleanse their systems of security threats and build healthy security practices.
What is SaaS security and why is it important?
SaaS Security consists of practices and policies aimed at securing the data privacy of users in subscription-based cloud applications or SaaS applications.
The data stored in SaaS applications may include customer information, financial details, employee records, and other confidential business information. The SaaS security practices help ensure that only authorized users have access to this data and that it remains confidential.
In spite of being in constant contact with sensitive information, SaaS providers often do not have suitable security measures in place to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the data. At the same time, the sheer number of SaaS applications used on a daily basis combined with the general lack of cyber-security knowledge makes it almost impossible for SaaS users to follow stringent practices for reviewing and approving SaaS applications.
At the end of the day, the weak security posture of a SaaS application exposes the users to information security threats and the SaaS providers to potential legal prosecution.
The Cyber-Insecurity caused by SaaS applications
55% of all SaaS users have some sensitive data inadvertently exposed on the internet owing to the mismanagement of SaaS usage, and security misconfiguration.
SaaS applications often give businesses a competitive edge. But with the scalability and agility of SaaS, businesses must also accept the security-related downsides and take steps to mitigate the risk they pose to the business.
- Lack of definition of SaaS ownership
- Too many privileged users
- Scarcity security acumen
- Unchecked updates from SaaS providers
All things add to create an insecure SaaS environment for businesses. While internal security teams are a rare thing, especially among SMBs, SaaS security companies can really make a difference in this bleak cyber-security scenario.
We are going to look at some of the best SaaS security companies in the market. We will learn how those platforms work and how they can make a difference. We’ll have a comparative study of the different SaaS security companies and share some useful tips regarding SaaS security management.
Comparison of Top SaaS Security Companies Around the Globe
| SaaS Security Companies | Product/Service Offerings | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Astra Security | Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing, Compliance Monitoring, Remediation Support | Continuous Testing, CI/CD Integration, Authenticated Scans, Manual Pentest with 0 False Positives, Vulnerability Management Dashboard |
| Cipher | Managed Detection and Response, Red Teaming, Compliance | Holistic risk management platform, highly certified, global presence |
| Intruder | Internal and External Vulnerability Scanning, Penetration Testing, Cloud Vulnerability Scanning | Attack surface monitoring, Slack and Jira integration, continuous penetration testing |
| Fidelis | Incident Response, Network Security, Data Loss Prevention, Vulnerability Management | Cloud security compliance, integrated cloud security platform |
| Tenable | Application Security, Cloud Security, Compliance, Vulnerability Management | Reduced remediation time, DevSecOps enablement |
| Symantec | Endpoint Security, Information Security, Network Security | Integrated cyber defense index, coordinated security across cloud and on-premise assets |
| Acunetix | Vulnerability Scanning, Remediation Support. | Scans for more than 7000 vulnerabilities including zero-day. |
| HackerOne | Continuous Security Testing, Triage, Attack Resistance Management | Keen use of hacker insights, cloud protection against multiple attack vectors |
| Indusface | Web App Scanning, Mobile App Scanning | Business logic checks, malware monitoring, and blacklisting detection, zero false positives. |
| 4Armed | Application Pentesting, PCI-DSS Compliance, Security Migration | Team of qualified hackers, continuous security improvement cycle for users. |
Let’s learn more about these SaaS security vendors
1. Astra Security
Astra Security offers a pentest suite that combines an automated vulnerability scanner and manual penetration testing solutions for SaaS applications. It comes with an intuitive vulnerability management dashboard that allows you to monitor and assign vulnerabilities.
You can integrate the pentest tool with your CI/CD pipeline to ensure automatic scanning of all application updates. The vulnerability scans take place in the cloud thus putting zero pressure on your servers. It is a wholesome cloud security solution.
Features at a glance
- 8000+ tests to root out all vulnerabilities
- Detect business logic errors
- Zero false positives ensured by manual pentesters
- Compliance-specific scans for SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001, etc.
- In-call remediation assistance from security experts.
2. Cipher
Cipher, a cloud security company, is currently a part of Prosegur, a publicly traded private security company spread across 26 countries. Cipher brings experienced security consultants to help you strengthen your company’s security posture. They offer a managed incident response, risk assessments, data governance, and compliance services. Cipher is a well-trusted name as far as SaaS security services and cloud security companies go.
Cipher has a red teaming service which includes penetration testing, ethical hacking, and vulnerability assessment.
3. Intruder
Intruder is an online vulnerability scanner designed specifically to test digital infrastructures for security vulnerabilities. It allows you to assess and monitor security risks across endpoint devices, cloud, web servers, etc.
Intruder offers solutions like
- Internal vulnerability scanning
- External vulnerability scanning
- Continuous penetration testing
They also help you attain compliance with SOC2, and ISO 27001.
4. Fidelis
Fidelis has acquired CloudPassage, one of the leading cloud security service providers and integrated their offerings. Fidelis has a strong application security platform, especially suitable for cloud-hosted applications.
The cloud security platform by Fidelis is called Cloudsecure and it is focused on
- Fast detection and inventory of assets
- Detection of security compliance risks and malicious activity
- Quick remediation for reduced exposure
Fidelis puts a lot of stress on quick and accurate remediation of security vulnerabilities, a quality that puts them among the top five SaaS security companies.
5. Tenable
Tenable is one of the largest players in the cybersecurity space and although they are not completely focused on SaaS security, they have a fair contribution to offer.
The vulnerability assessment tool by Tenable is called Nessus and it is quite widely used for scanning applications for security loopholes. Nessus conducts vulnerability scans whenever an update is released or a new plugin is added.
6. Symantec
Symantec focuses on battling emerging threats, helping companies stay compliant, and mitigating the risk involved in digital transformation. They use artificial intelligence to contextualize threat data to bring about better security insights for their users.
Symantec’s offerings include
- Endpoint Security
- Identity Security
- Information Security
- Network Security
It integrates easily with other third-party products and helps you coordinate security for different asset types. It is definitely one of the top cloud security companies.
7. Acunetix
Acunetix brings a powerful vulnerability scanner for web applications. It is a well-suited SaaS security solution considering how it’s fast and scalable.
The vulnerability scanner by Acunetix scans for 7000+ vulnerabilities and categorizes them according to their severity. It helps you prioritize the remediation efforts.
- It covers the OWASP top 10
- Scans for SQL injection and XSS
- Detects Out of Band vulnerabilities
- Detects exposed databases and security misconfigurations
8. HackerOne
This cybersecurity platform is based on the philosophy that security solutions must tap into the knowledge of top-notch hackers to stop malicious hackers from ruining your business.
- They provide a platform for perpetual testing of your product
- They uncover critical vulnerabilities that other tools miss
- HackerOne offers vulnerability assessment and remediation of your cloud assets.
9. Indusface
Indusface offers a web application firewall for both SaaS providers and users. The WAF by Indusface is called AppTrana and it is designed for cloud security.
- AppTrana is easy to setup
- It helps you control bot activity
- Creates a multilayered defense strategy for your app.
- Identifies a wide range of threats
- Quick response to zero-day vulnerabilities.
10. 4Armed
4Armed is focused on creating cloud-based security solutions for cloud-native applications. Their offerings include
- Application penetration testing
- Secure migration to the cloud
- Deployment of code using DevSecOps
- PCI-DSS compliance
On top of these, they also offer vulnerability scanning and SaaS penetration testing services.
Now, that you know about the top SaaS security companies, let us quickly go over a few practices that you can adopt to minimize the risk of using SaaS.
Practices to Secure SaaS usage
63% of cloud security incidents are caused by SaaS security misconfigurations and a large part of these issues can be prevented by adopting some simple practices. (Source)
People concerned with information security and the owners of a SaaS app must have a common language to effectively interact and share the responsibility of maintaining secure SaaS usage. A SaaS security provider can help you with laying down the blueprints of this platform of communication, but it’s upon the app users to maintain that.
Continuous monitoring
A penetration testing of your SaaS applications gives you a point-in-time snapshot of the security posture. The moment the SaaS vendor releases an update, the pentest loses credence. That is why you need a more continuous approach to monitoring security on top of periodic penetration testing.
Be proactive with security
You cannot wait for an issue to emerge before you bolster your SaaS security efforts. While it takes a little time, some effort, and some help from SaaS security companies to set up apt measures for SaaS security, their absence can wreak havoc.
Conclusion
It is always better to work with a SaaS security company that has a tap on the emerging SaaS security issues, and new vulnerabilities. You want a tool designed by competent security engineers to defend your own application and to defend your business from threats invited by third-party applications that you use. This list of SaaS security companies should be a good starting point for you in your search for the perfect SaaS security service for your company.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much time does it take to complete a SaaS security audit?
The initial security scans and pentest take 7-10 days. After you have fixed the issues, the rescan may take half as much time.
2. What is the cost of a SaaS security assessment?
Depending on the scope of the assessment and the frequency of testing the cost can be anywhere between $200 and $500 per month.
3.What should we look for in a SaaS security company?
Apart from the track record of the company you should look for features that can help you build a sustainable security assessment workflow – CI/CD integration, vulnerability management dashboard, collaborative potential, etc.