Why Zero Trust Data Protection is Non-Negotiable for SaaS Applications

An estimated 85 percent of all enterprise apps are expected to be hosted in the cloud this year, according to a State of SaaSOPs report. That amounts to terabytes – even petabytes – of sensitive information being stored in locations where security is a shared responsibility and not a given.

Because of the staggering market share of SaaS apps, securing data within them is mission-critical for any company. It’s why many are turning to zero trust data protection to get an upper hand.

Data Security is Top of Mind with SaaS Apps

Any security professional understands that despite the fanfare surrounding it, not everything is better in the cloud.  

While the technology enables better performance, broader access to applications and reduced operating expenses, it also opens organizations – and more specifically, their data – up to risk.

In broad strokes, these dangers boil down to data leaks and data breaches. 

Data leaks are most often traced to an unintended consequence moving to the cloud. Because businesses don’t own the underlying infrastructure, they lack true visibility into how users share and interact with data on SaaS. Missing guardrails like encryption and classification, over-permissioned users and externally shareable links create the perfect storm for a security incident. And now new GenAI technologies are taking over-shared data and potentially training on it, adding a new layer of complexity. 

Data breaches, while being malicious in nature, also largely stem from preventable but overlooked controls. Unmanaged permissions make accounts vulnerable to compromise and insider threat activity difficult to track, and a lack of security safeguards could make the organization susceptible to a malware attack through a simple file download.

Zero trust data protection assesses these concerns by giving organizations the visibility they need over SaaS apps, data and users, well as control over the data housed in those cloud applications. 

Why Zero Trust Data Protection Excels with SaaS

Zero trust data protection enables organizations to overcome the lack of visibility and control inherent within SaaS applications. At Forcepoint, we deliver zero trust data protection through a combination of Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) software. 

Forcepoint CASB enables organizations to manage access and protect data in corporate-sanctioned SaaS applications to effectively reduce the security risks as the data travels beyond the corporate perimeters to the cloud. With Forcepoint Web Security, SaaS application coverage soars to over 800,000 – the most in the market.

Wider coverage results in more reliable management of permissions beyond “the big ones” like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. With dozens of new and potentially risky GenAI tools hitting the internet every day, this breadth of functionality has taken on renewed significance.

When paired with Forcepoint DLP, organizations can apply industry-leading controls to their cloud data security. Exact Data Matching (EDM), fingerprinting, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) via API, encryption and Digital Rights Management (DRM) combine with out-of-the-box compliance policies for over 150 regions to greatly reduce risk of exfiltration and improve compliance enforcement.

Together, the two go beyond simple access management to apply zero trust principles to a number of common functionalities within SaaS apps: 

• Ensuring only authorized users can download data to approved devices.
• Limiting read/write access to data based on individual user permissions.
• Automatically enforcing risk management actions on sensitive files as they are discovered within SaaS applications, such as classifying, encrypting or creating copies.
• Controlling real-time user activities and data movement.

Implement Zero Trust Data Protection Today

Forcepoint helps companies around the world implement zero trust data protection within their SaaS security strategy. Talk to an expert to learn how we can help yours.