The stage, size, and state of a company’s lifecycle have a significant impact on its security needs, policies, and priorities. This is especially true for modern middle market companies that are experiencing or have experienced rapid growth. As requirements and tasks continue to pile up and malicious actors remain active around the clock, budgets are often stagnant at best. However, it is crucial to keep track of the tools and solutions introduced by employees, the data and know-how shared through these tools, and ensure that these processes are secure.
This need is even more pronounced in today’s dynamic, interconnected world, where third-party applications and solutions can be easily accessed and integrated. The potential harm of losing control over the many applications with access and permissions to your data requires no explanation. Security leaders in midsize organizations face a unique set of challenges that require a distinct approach to overcome.
To begin mitigating the risks associated with third-party applications, you must first understand the fundamental premise behind these risks.
SaaS Security 101
Ensuring that employees onboard, connect to, and use applications securely—without whitelisting them, spending valuable resources, or going on a goose chase—may seem like a daunting task. To address this challenge you need to understand two important characteristics of modern SaaS security:
- Today’s third-party applications = SaaS applications: As mid-market businesses experience rapid growth, the integration and use of SaaS applications has become increasingly popular. This surge in SaaS usage brings significant benefits in terms of operational efficiency and flexibility. However, it also introduces complex challenges in maintaining robust security measures. Long gone are the days when employees had to go through IT (and subsequently security) to integrate an application they needed. Diligent employees who want to efficiently solve a business problem or need will likely search for and find an online SaaS solution. These solutions often require nothing more than a username and password, offer free trials or free versions, and in exchange “only” ask for permissions to access your company’s data. A classic example is almost any GenAI or AI-based SaaS.
- SaaS usage management cannot be done manually: Recent research shows that the average employee uses 29 SaaS applications, and one in five uses applications that no one else in the organization uses. This causes a modern shadow IT problem and a complete lack of oversight and control over the SaaS layer in an organization. The complexity in securing the use of SaaS is further compounded by the evolving nature of these applications, particularly with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). Modern businesses leveraging broad SaaS and AI applications face an intricate application supply chain that adds layers of complexity in security control. This scenario requires careful oversight of user access and data sharing practices to avoid creating inadvertent supply chain backdoors within the organization, potentially leading to loss of control over critical intellectual property. Tracking, monitoring, evaluating and managing SaaS can be VERY overwhelming. Above all, as mentioned above, when employees are used to working in a certain way, changing it is not an easy task for them either.
The Solution: Let Them Use SaaS (They Will Anyway)
Unlike very small companies that have yet to define their security needs or large companies that have vast security resources, mid-sized companies find themselves with a unique set of needs. Traditionally, SaaS security solutions have been designed with large enterprises in mind, offering a level of complexity and resource demand unachievable for mid-market companies. This misalignment leaves a sizable portion of the market vulnerable as these companies struggle to find security solutions that are both effective and scalable for their specific operating models. So what can you do with limited resources and high expectations? There are many SaaS security solutions on the market today, and choosing the right one for your organization can be a very confusing task. Here are some things to consider:
- The extent of the problem in question: While finding an organization that doesn’t use SaaS applications extensively is a real challenge, understanding the extent of usage, and more importantly, the extent of potential shadow usage, are critical. With SaaS usage skyrocketing and many employees negligently bypassing organizations’ identity access management systems and often multi-factor authentications, security teams need to be able to assess the extent of risk introduced from unauthorized SaaS applications. Doing so is often easier than you might think, with the help of free, easy-to-integrate solutions like Wing Security’s free SaaS detection tool.
- Team Size and Skills: It is essential to match the SaaS security solution to the team’s capabilities. Enterprises with large, experienced teams can benefit from Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) solutions, while mid-range systems should look for offerings that provide significant automation to reduce management overhead. While most solutions highlight various risks and vulnerabilities, with a smaller team it is advisable to look for solutions that offer remediation capabilities within the product.
- Bond maturity status: While the need for SaaS security is increasingly clear and prevalent in most boardroom meetings, especially with the relatively recent and highly concerning introduction of GenAI in SaaS, many mid-sized companies are looking to start with a more smaller and more personalized. One that doesn’t burden the budget, that addresses their basic needs, and offers the ability to grow with them as they mature their overall security posture.
Face challenges head on
Within mid-market businesses, implementing SaaS applications poses significant security challenges. Recognizing this, Wing Security has developed a multi-layered product approach designed to address these challenges head-on. Leveraging automation, their solutions aim to reduce labor costs and align with mid-market budgets, effectively managing the decentralized problem of negligent insider SaaS usage with minimal management time required, less than 8 hours a month. This strategy means that CISOs can efficiently mitigate critical SaaS security risks without the need to allocate additional resources, thus saving considerable man-hours.
As mid-market businesses continue to evolve and integrate SaaS applications more deeply into their operational frameworks, the imperative for scalable and effective security solutions becomes more pronounced. Wing Security’s introduction of solutions tailored to the specific needs of these companies represents a critical advance in closing the gap between the growing demand for SaaS security and the availability of affordable and effective solutions for the mid-market. Emphasizing automation and comprehensive coverage, Wing Security addresses the diverse challenges presented by today’s digital landscape, enabling midsize businesses to protect their SaaS applications without sacrificing efficiency, scalability, or valuable resources.