How SSPM simplifies the complexities of SaaS compliance management

Organizations today use a substantial number of SaaS applications to handle data, processes, and workloads. The numerous benefits of SaaS apps make them a worthwhile investment. However, this means that they are highly susceptible to breaches and attacks, and have their business-critical SaaS data exposed.

Data sharing controls in SaaS environments are not fully understood and many SaaS deployments happen without security policies to prevent accidental or deliberate data leaks. Another important aspect of SaaS usage is to monitor and maintain regulations and compliance policies. How can organizations strengthen their SaaS security while facing such challenges? This is where SSPM or SaaS security posture management comes in.

SaaS security management is an essential part of modern security and SaaS compliance management. It provides automated, continuous, real-time monitoring of SaaS apps such as Microsoft 365, Slack, ServiceNow, Salesforce, etc. It helps minimize misconfigurations, avert configuration drifts, manage compliance gaps, and enables security teams to detect, prevent and respond to threats.

What is compliance management and why is it important?

SaaS apps are developed and made available to end users over the internet. While this has become the standard delivery model, these models access and store sensitive customer data on the cloud. With an increasing focus on data security, governments, federal agencies, and industry regulatory bodies have issued guidance, policies, and regulations to safeguard private data.

Compliance management is the continuous process of assessing and monitoring systems to ensure that organizations meet the above policies and regulations. SSPM solutions are designed to make certain that organizations are compliant, as failure to do so would result in heavy fines, potential lawsuits, and reputational damage. It could also lead to reduced revenue or a ban on the product.

How does SSPM help with compliance management?

SSPM provides organizations with the tools and insights they need to meet these requirements, such as continuous monitoring and reporting, policy enforcement, and risk management. A clear and concise picture of the organization’s security posture can assist in making informed decisions about security and compliance strategies. The automated process also saves organizations time and resources by reducing the manual effort required to maintain compliance.

Organizations must adhere to various regulations, standards, and laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). There are also other standards and practices such as NIST, CIS, etc. to ensure the protection of sensitive data and avoid penalties and reputational damage. SaaS security posture management plays a vital role in helping organizations meet these compliance requirements.

Automated SSPM tools provide a centralized dashboard to manage security posture across multiple SaaS environments. Organizations have easy access to real-time monitoring and reporting, policy enforcement, and risk management, all of which are critical components of compliance management. Actionable insights, recommendations, and remediation workflows from these tools can then be used to address any deviations.

SSPM solutions simplify compliance complexities with customizable dashboards. They monitor for misconfigurations across all user settings and privileges and alert the security team on violations. This demonstrates compliance to the regulators, auditors, and other stakeholders. It helps organizations build trust with their customers and partners, while also proving their commitment to protecting sensitive data.

Wrapping up

SaaS security management is an essential aspect of compliance management. It provides organizations with the tools and insights they need to monitor and manage their cloud security posture. By enabling cooperation between internal stakeholders and educating them on the importance of SaaS security management and the various regulatory standards, they can reduce the risk of a security breach and protect themselves from reduced revenue and reputational damage.

CheckRed’s unified SSPM and CSPM platform simplifies SaaS compliance management. Speak to an expert to learn more about how we can help you with your compliance challenges.