How is SaaS supply chain risk affected by user decisions?

This is the fourth article in a five-part series from TAG Cyber focused on how positive influences on employee behavior can improve cyber risk posture. Read the other articles here.

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Software as a Service (SaaS) applications have become increasingly popular in the corporate world, providing organizations with easy access to tools and capabilities essential to their business. However, as with any third-party software, SaaS introduces new elements of risk into an organization. When employees or third-party suppliers and partners make poor cybersecurity decisions, the negative impact on the enterprise supply chain can cause significant damage. 

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Bad decisions cause bad outcomes.

One key area where poor decision-making increases SaaS supply chain risk is the selection and implementation of SaaS. When organizations choose SaaS from sources that haven’t been vetted by cybersecurity experts, they open themselves to potential security vulnerabilities, and too much reliance on these providers can increase the risk of system downtime or data breaches. Further, not properly integrating SaaS applications and processes creates new entry points for cyber-attacks.  

To mitigate supply chain risks, it is essential for organizations to carefully vet and select SaaS providers to ensure that the SaaS solution is properly integrated and maintained, including conducting thorough due diligence on the SaaS provider, understanding the provider’s security protocols, and implementing strict protocols for testing and deploying new software. 

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In addition, the related processes of third-party risk management and SaaS vendor security assessment are now so much more difficult as IT and SaaS procurement has become more decentralized across business departments and individual users. 

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Reducing SaaS supply chain vulnerabilities is imperative. 

One tool that organizations can use to reduce the risk of SaaS supply chain vulnerabilities and bolster third-party risk management is Nudge Security. Foremost, the product helps organizations manage and improve their cybersecurity practices related to SaaS applications by providing a comprehensive view of an organization’s cybersecurity posture, including the security practices of its SaaS providers. Nudge enables organizations to identify potential vulnerabilities, vastly simplifying the process for vendor security assessments. Additionally, Nudge Security helps employees to make secure choices with timely “security nudges” that offer helpful guidance as they adopt and use SaaS: updating passwords when necessary, suggesting approved alternative applications, turning on MFA when disabled.

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Organizations use Nudge Security for several use cases, for example: 

Supply Chain Visibility: A manufacturing company using Nudge’s platform can monitor their SaaS providers and analyze their security posture, which helps them identify and mitigate the risk of supply chain vulnerabilities. This company will have a comprehensive view of the overall security posture of their SaaS providers, which can help them make informed decisions about the security of their overall digital supply chain. 

SOC 2 Compliance: A software company using Nudge Security can inventory every cloud and SaaS asset created in the organization in order to seamlessly track and categorize assets within scope of SOC 2 certification. The company can then run a playbook to automate the SOC 2 access review process, and ensure that SaaS accounts are deprovisioned quickly and completely for offboarded employees.

Compliance Monitoring: A financial service company using Nudge Security can monitor the compliance of their SaaS providers, especially with the regulations such as PII, HIPAA, CMMC, or GDPR, supporting their efforts to protect customer data and meet the industry standards. 

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How Nudge Security helps organizations protect their SaaS supply chain 

By using a tool like Nudge Security and taking the above steps, organizations can proactively manage SaaS supply chain risk and ensure that they take all necessary precautions to protect themselves and their customers from cyber threats. Nudge Security can not only help organizations avoid costly disruptions and data breaches, but it can also improve customer trust and confidence in the organization’s security practices. Organizations can maintain the trust of their customers and stakeholders and ensure their business’s continued smooth operation while complying with industry regulations and standards.

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