This SaaS Security Research Brief is intended for security and risk leaders concerned with keeping their organization’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) estate and associated data safe and secure.

The research brief calls for a risk-based prioritization of SaaS security alongside other cloud security use cases – typically focused on public cloud infrastructure, platforms and workloads. The case for prioritizing SaaS security risk is underscored by the extent of current and expected SaaS adoption – with SaaS services being the leading driver of public cloud adoption since 2016. Not only is SaaS being adopted at an unprecedented pace, but it is fast becoming the de facto operating system for the modern enterprise.

Due to recent innovation in cybersecurity with the development of SaaS Security and Posture Management platforms, the extent of risk that SaaS represents is, for the first time, observable, and quantifiable. These solutions enable unparalleled observability, continuous monitoring and control over the entire SaaS estate, and are quickly becoming an essential component to addressing SaaS security risk, comprehensively, and at scale.