AIOPS
The move to SaaS Gaining visibility over applications to close the security gap BY VINCENT BERK, CHIEF SECURITY ARCHITECT, RIVERBED TECHNOLOGY THE RISE in remote working has greatly accelerated digital transformation. Businesses worldwide are migrating to cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications to maintain efficiency, smooth operations, and optimise team productivity. In fact, Gartner predicts that SaaS revenue will grow to $140.6 billion by 2022, up from $102.1 billion in 2019. It’s easy to understand this uptick given the cost-effectiveness, low maintenance, and ease of access for users any time, anywhere. However, it’s been said that “nobody ever washes a rental car”, and enterprises frequently take the same stance toward upkeep of SaaS applications. This approach leaves businesses open to serious security gaps, unexplainable performance issues, and a lack of cost control for a sprawling SaaS fog, all of which are detrimental to business growth.
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ISSUE II 2021
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COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
When operating SaaS applications, businesses are left struggling to detect external threats such as phishing attacks. This is because there can be the perception from enterprises that SaaS applications are inherently secure, and the enterprise is therefore no longer responsible for effectively securing the data they store within them. With a mindset of ‘out of sight, out of mind’, businesses are failing to put the correct measures in place to ensure they have the right level of visibility over their employees and applications. Without full-fidelity visibility, organisations are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks that could result in serious implications if left undetected. For example, loss of sensitive customer data causing long term reputation damage. As such, it is crucial
