The Ultimate Guide to Securing Business-Critical Applications

Published on

September 11, 2024

The move to hybrid and remote work in recent years has resulted in a fundamental shift towards the utilization of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications. These cloud-based applications offer unparalleled flexibility, allowing your team to collaborate and access essential tools from any location, on any device. The top SaaS applications that your business may use everyday include:

Microsoft 365
Google Workspace
Salesforce
QuickBooks
Slack
Dropbox

SaaS apps are critical to running an efficient business in today’s work from anywhere environment. But they’ve also become a prime target for cyber-attacks. Given that the average cost of a security breach for a small business can range from $120,000 to $1.24 million, it’s important to have effective safeguards in place to protect the sensitive corporate data stored in these apps. We can help.

Since the beginning of March 2023, the incidence of cyber-attacks targeting SaaS platforms has surged by an alarming 300%. The absence of robust security measures creates a vulnerability within your IT infrastructure – a blind spot that can be exploited by malicious entities.

Your Business is Being Targeted Everyday

Your SaaS applications have sensitive business data that employees use everyday to be productive. Bad actors are actively attempting to gain access to your SaaS applications via business email compromise, token hijacking, and through the gaps in your Microsoft 365 platform.

Shielding your Business Email

Phishing and brute-force attacks are the two most common techniques used by cybercriminals to exploit business email vulnerabilities, leading to potential compromises in online software applications. Phishing involves deceptive emails that trick users into providing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links, which can then be used to gain unauthorized access to systems. Brute-force attacks involve repeated attempts to guess a user's login credentials, often automated, to breach accounts and steal or manipulate data.

To combat these threats effectively, a monitoring solution like Cloud Protect is crucial. Cloud Protect offers comprehensive monitoring that constantly scans and analyzes email traffic for signs of phishing and brute-force attacks. By deploying advanced detection algorithms and threat intelligence, Cloud Protect can identify and block malicious activities in real-time, thus preventing unauthorized access to your business's email and associated online software applications.

Token Hijacking: The #1 Cyber Threat to Businesses Right Now

Token or Session Hijacking is an attack where an unauthorized user takes over a legitimate user's web session by acquiring their session token, allowing the attacker to impersonate the user and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information and services within the application. This new method of attack raises concern because it allows hackers to bypass Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Conditional Access. Once they have the token, attackers can access the user's account without needing to know the password. This makes it a particularly stealthy and effective method for accessing protected information.

Cloud Protect provides alerts and detailed reports on potential security incidents, enabling IT teams to respond swiftly to mitigate any damage. This proactive monitoring ensures that your business is always one step ahead of cybercriminals, maintaining the security and integrity of your crucial business communication channels and protecting your online software applications from being compromised.

Close the Gaps in Your Microsoft 365 Security Tool

Microsoft has also recognized the importance of better protecting SaaS applications and changed its Terms of Use, which now holds you responsible for any end-user compromises within Microsoft 365. View the Microsoft Terms of Use here.

With Cloud Protect, you gain access to the following features that Microsoft does not provide:

Get Microsoft security vulnerability assessments and recommendations to keep you in line with industry benchmarks.
Apply Microsoft security recommendations with a single click
User login tracking, so you know if someone in a foreign country gains access to your account
Get real-time monitoring and remediation of security events as they occur
Fully automated remediation of compromised accounts (or accounts that show evidence of compromise)
Log data maintained for 365 days to help diagnose issues and conduct forensics. This is important since Microsoft’s default is only 7 days and 90 days maximum.

Protect the Applications that Drive Your Business

In alignment with industry best practices and government recommendations, we strongly recommended partnering with StoredTech to implement Cloud Protect Monitoring and Alerting Software — with priority placed on protecting your most-utilized productivity applications. Your SaaS applications are monitored to detect and respond to unusual activities that may indicate token hijacking and any suspicious activity.

User Identity Validation

Ensure only authorized users on authorized devices can gain access to your critical company SaaS applications.

Monitoring & Detection

Get real-time alerts detecting unusual user activity or behavior including:

Logins from unauthorized countries
Outdated file shares from cloud storage apps
Data exfiltration
Confidential files viewed, and by whom
Newly added devices
Security group changes and security policy changes

Remediation

Threats are automatically blocked to protect against data theft, data-at-risk, and bad actors. Admins are immediately informed of any suspicious activity within your network.

StoredTech Covers Your Saas!

Our cloud protect solution allows you to easily create managed security protocols to help ensure your business stays safe and secure online and will let you know whenever flags are raised. You’ll get custom reports and updates on the security of your workplace so you can stop threats before they become a problem.

Worried About Cyber Threats? We've Got Your SaaS Covered! Our team employs Cloud Protect solutions to oversee, assess, and address SaaS security threats, allowing you to rest easy. Imagine having round-the-clock monitoring, receiving monthly updates, and benefiting from proactive security measures. Sounds appealing, right? We agree!