SaaS Security | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Brick-and-mortar retailers and e-commerce sellers may be locked in a fierce battle for market share, but one area both can agree on is the need to secure their SaaS stack. From communications tools to order management and fulfillment systems, much of today's critical retail software lives in SaaS apps in the cloud. Securing those applications is crucial to ongoing operations, chain management, and business continuity.  Breaches in retail send out seismic shockwaves. Ten years later, many still remember one national retailer that had 40 million credit card records stolen. Those attacks have continued. According to  Verizon's  Data Breach Investigations Report, last year saw 629 cybersecurity incidents in the sector. Clearly, retailers must take concrete steps to secure their SaaS stack.  And yet, securing applications is complicated. Retailers tend to have multiple tenants of apps, which leads to confusion over which instances of the application were already secured and whic

In today's fast-paced digital landscape, the widespread adoption of AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools is transforming the way organizations operate. From chatbots to generative AI models, these SaaS-based applications offer numerous benefits, from enhanced productivity to improved decision-making. Employees using AI tools experience the advantages of quick answers and accurate results, enabling them to perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently. This popularity is reflected in the staggering numbers associated with AI tools.  OpenAI's viral chatbot, ChatGPT, has amassed approximately 100 million users worldwide, while other generative AI tools like DALL·E and Bard have also gained significant traction for their ability to generate impressive content effortlessly. The generative AI market is projected to exceed $22 billion by 2025,  indicating the growing reliance on AI technologies. However, amidst the enthusiasm surrounding AI adoption, it is imperative to address

Security and IT teams are routinely forced to adopt software before fully understanding the security risks. And AI tools are no exception. Employees and business leaders alike are flocking to generative AI software and similar programs, often unaware of the major SaaS security vulnerabilities they're introducing into the enterprise. A February 2023  generative AI survey of 1,000 executives  revealed that 49% of respondents use ChatGPT now, and 30% plan to tap into the ubiquitous generative AI tool soon. Ninety-nine percent of those using ChatGPT claimed some form of cost-savings, and 25% attested to reducing expenses by $75,000 or more. As the researchers conducted this survey a mere three months after ChatGPT's general availability, today's ChatGPT and AI tool usage is undoubtedly higher.  Security and risk teams are already overwhelmed protecting their SaaS estate (which has now become the operating system of business) from common vulnerabilities such as misconfigurati

The Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) industry is built on consistency and shared resources. National chains like McDonald's and regional ones like Cracker Barrel grow faster by reusing the same business model, decor, and menu, with little change from one location to the next.  QSR technology stacks mirror the consistency of the front end of each store. Despite each franchise being independently owned and operated, they share subscriptions to SaaS applications, or use multiple tenants of the same application. Each app is typically segmented by store. Corporate IT and Security has access to the entire database, while each franchise has visibility into its own data.  These SaaS apps cover everything from CRMs to supply chains to marketing and HR. The data within is used to understand consumer habits, improve marketing campaigns, and manage employees. Like every other industry, QSR SaaS apps contain a wealth of data that needs to be secured.  At the same time, we're seeing food cha

Over 55% of security executives report that they have experienced a SaaS security incident in the past two years — ranging from data leaks and data breaches to SaaS ransomware and malicious apps (as seen in figures 1 and 2). Figure 1. How many organizations have experienced a SaaS security incident within the past two years The  SaaS Security Survey Report: Plans and Priorities for 2024 , developed by CSA in conjunction with Adaptive Shield, dives into these SaaS security incidents and more. This report shares the perspective of over 1,000 CISOs and other security professionals and shines a light on SaaS risks, existing threats, and the way organizations are preparing for 2024.  Click here to download the full report . SaaS Security Incidents Are on the Rise Anecdotally, it was clear that SaaS security incidents increased over the last year. More headlines and stories covered SaaS breaches and data leaks than ever before. However, this report provides a stunning context to those

It's easy to think high-tech companies have a security advantage over other older, more mature industries. Most are unburdened by 40 years of legacy systems and software. They draw some of the world's youngest, brightest digital natives to their ranks, all of whom consider cybersecurity issues their entire lives. Perhaps it is due to their familiarity with technology that causes them to overlook SaaS security configurations. During the last Christmas holiday season, Slack had some private code stolen from its GitHub repository. According to Slack, the stolen code didn't impact production, and no customer data was taken. Still, the breach should serve as a warning sign to other tech companies. Stolen tokens allowed threat actors to access the GitHub instance and download the code. If this type of attack can happen to Slack on GitHub, it can happen to any high-tech company. Tech companies must take SaaS security seriously to prevent resources from leaking or being stolen. App Bre

The telecom industry has always been a tantalizing target for cybercriminals. The combination of interconnected networks, customer data, and sensitive information allows cybercriminals to inflict maximum damage through minimal effort. It's the breaches in telecom companies that tend to have a seismic impact and far-reaching implications — in addition to reputational damage, which can be difficult to measure, telecoms are often at the receiving end of government fines for their cybersecurity and privacy failures. There are few industries in the world that collect as much sensitive data as telecom companies. In recent years, telecom companies have accelerated their digital transformation, shedding legacy systems and reducing costs. These changes, coupled with the need for stronger collaboration with third-party vendors, have led them to SaaS applications to handle their CRM. Today, telecoms are using SaaS apps for billing, HR, call management, field operations management, tracking ca

A recent review by Wing Security, a SaaS security company that analyzed the data of over 500 companies,  revealed some worrisome information . According to this review, 84% of the companies had employees using an average of 3.5 SaaS applications that were breached in the previous 3 months. While this is concerning, it isn't much of a surprise. The exponential growth in SaaS usage has security and IT teams struggling to keep up with which SaaS applications are being used and how. This isn't to say that SaaS should be avoided or blocked; on the contrary, SaaS applications must be used to ensure business growth. But using them has to be done with some level of caution. Determining which SaaS applications are risky The most intuitive risk factor to determining whether an application is risky is looking it up and seeing if it has been breached. SaaS applications are clearly a target as we see more and more SaaS related attacks. A breach is a clear indication to stay away, at leas

Recent data breaches across CircleCI, LastPass, and Okta underscore a common theme: The enterprise SaaS stacks connected to these industry-leading apps can be at serious risk for compromise. CircleCI, for example, plays an integral, SaaS-to-SaaS role for SaaS app development. Similarly, tens of thousands of organizations rely on Okta and LastPass security roles for SaaS identity and access management. Enterprise and niche SaaS apps alike have effectively introduced multitudes of unmonitored endpoints into organizations of all sizes.  While  spending for SaaS security  is trending up, it lags behind categories such as cloud infrastructure protection and network security. According to Statista, the average organization employs 100+ SaaS apps, many of which are unsanctioned by IT, creating a glaring gap in SaaS security.  Why Users Flock to SaaS Apps — And Often Bypass IT in the Process As productivity tools for tasks such as marketing automation, document signature, and sales foreca

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and  SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)  are frequently confused. The similarity of the acronyms notwithstanding, both security solutions focus on securing data in the cloud. In a world where the terms cloud and SaaS are used interchangeably, this confusion is understandable. This confusion, though, is dangerous to organizations that need to secure data that exists within cloud infrastructures like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, as well as data within SaaS applications like Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Jira, Zoom, Slack and more. Assuming that either your CSPM or SSPM will secure your company resources that live off-premises is misplaced trust in a security tool that was only designed to secure either your cloud or your SaaS stack.  It's absolutely vital for decision makers to understand the difference between CSPM and SSPM, the value derived from each solution, and that both complement each other. What Do