SaaS Attack Surface Management
SaaS Attack Surface Management (SaaS ASM) is a specific security discipline focused on managing the attack surface associated with an organization's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications.
Here's a breakdown of the key terms:
SaaS (Software-as-a-Service): Cloud-based software applications accessed over the internet.
Attack Surface: the total of all possible points of entry that hackers might use to access a system or data without authorization. It covers the application itself, user accounts, APIs, data storage, and configurations in the context of SaaS.
Management: The ongoing process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating security risks associated with the attack surface.
Why is SaaS ASM Important?
The growing reliance on SaaS applications introduces new security challenges:
Shared Responsibility Model: Cloud providers secure the underlying infrastructure, but organizations are responsible for ensuring the data and configurations within their SaaS applications.
Misconfigurations: Improper configurations within SaaS applications can create security vulnerabilities and expose sensitive data.
Shadow IT: Unauthorized use of unsanctioned SaaS applications can introduce security risks beyond an organization's visibility.
Limited Visibility: Traditional security solutions often need more deep visibility into the security posture of SaaS applications.
What Does SaaS ASM Do?
SaaS ASM solutions address these challenges by providing functionalities like:
Inventory and Discovery: Creates a comprehensive list of all the SaaS applications used within the organization, including sanctioned and shadow IT.
Continuous Monitoring: This involves regularly analyzing the security posture of identified SaaS applications, looking for misconfigurations, outdated software, and suspicious activities.
Compliance Management: Helps ensure that SaaS application configurations adhere to internal security policies and external compliance regulations.
Threat Detection and Remediation: Identifies potential security threats within SaaS applications and provides recommendations for remediation.
Integration with other security solutions: SaaS ASM can integrate SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) and SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) solutions to improve overall security posture management.
How Does SaaS ASM Fit with Other Security Solutions?
SaaS ASM works alongside other security solutions to provide a layered defense:
SSPM (SaaS Security Posture Management): SSPM offers a more comprehensive view of SaaS security posture, including functionalities like user behavior analytics and risk scoring. SaaS ASM complements SSPM by focusing on the initial discovery of external and shadow IT SaaS applications.
CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker): CASB acts as a gateway between users and cloud applications, enforcing access controls, data loss prevention (DLP), and malware protection. SaaS ASM focuses on the security posture of the SaaS application itself, while CASB focuses on securing access to the application.
EASM (External Attack Surface Management): EASM has a broader scope encompassing SaaS applications and other external attack surfaces like exposed databases or misconfigured cloud storage buckets. SaaS ASM provides a more granular focus, specifically on SaaS applications.
SaaS Attack Surface Management (ASM) is a critical security discipline for organizations relying on SaaS applications. By providing visibility, control, and ongoing security posture management, ASM helps organizations reduce risks, ensure compliance, and safeguard sensitive data in the cloud.
ThreatNG, combined with EASM, DRP, and security rating capabilities, offers valuable functionalities for SaaS Attack Surface Management (SaaS ASM) and goes beyond incorporating external risk identification. Here's how it works:
SaaS ASM Capabilities:
External SaaS Discovery: ThreatNG acts as the initial line of defense, scanning the public internet to identify all externally facing SaaS applications connected to the organization, its subsidiaries, and its known vendors (third-party connections). This includes uncovering shadow IT situations where suppliers or employees might use unauthorized personal SaaS instances.
SaaS Inventory and Risk Assessment: ThreatNG builds a comprehensive inventory of discovered SaaS applications. It then analyzes their security posture by looking for:
Misconfigurations: Publicly accessible instances, outdated software, and improper access controls.
Security Ratings: ThreatNG leverages its security rating capabilities to assess the inherent vulnerabilities of the identified SaaS applications.
Digital Risk Protection (DRP): ThreatNG monitors the internet for mentions of the organization or its connected entities concerning SaaS applications. This helps identify potential data leaks or breaches involving exposed SaaS data.
Beyond SaaS ASM: Additional ThreatNG Advantages
Third-Party Security Visibility: ThreatNG provides visibility into the SaaS applications used by your suppliers and partners, helping you understand the overall security posture of your supply chain.
Continuous Monitoring: ThreatNG continuously monitors the external attack surface for changes, including new SaaS instances or newly discovered vulnerabilities in existing ones.
Working with Complementary Solutions:
ThreatNG integrates with various security solutions to create a holistic security ecosystem that strengthens SaaS ASM:
GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance): Identified SaaS-related risks are fed into the GRC platform, triggering pre-defined workflows for third-party risk management and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations.
Risk Management Platforms: ThreatNG shares risk data (e.g., security rating, misconfiguration details) to help risk management platforms prioritize remediation efforts based on the potential impact and criticality of data stored within the SaaS application.
Example Workflow:
ThreatNG Discovers External SaaS Instance: ThreatNG identifies a publicly accessible Dropbox instance used by a marketing agency that stores confidential sales presentations containing customer data.
SaaS Inventory and Risk Assessment: ThreatNG adds the Dropbox instance to the SaaS inventory and analyzes its security posture. The analysis reveals an outdated software version and publicly accessible folders.
GRC Integration and Risk Prioritization: The risk information is fed into the GRC platform, triggering a high-priority workflow for third-party risk management.
Communication and Remediation: The security team contacts the marketing agency, notifying them of the critical security risks and requesting immediate action to secure the Dropbox instance and update the software.
Risk Management Platform Integration: ThreatNG shares the security rating and misconfiguration details with the risk management platform. It helps the platform prioritize remediation efforts, considering the sensitivity of the data stored in Dropbox and the potential impact of a breach.
ThreatNG is a powerful SaaS ASM solution that provides external visibility, comprehensive inventory, and risk assessment of SaaS applications. It goes beyond traditional SaaS ASM by offering additional functionalities like DRP and third-party security posture insights. By integrating with GRC and risk management solutions, ThreatNG facilitates a comprehensive and efficient approach to managing the SaaS attack surface.
