The Risk of SaaS Defaults

As Riley pointed out, most cloud security questions fall into one of three main categories: cloud risk management, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) security, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) control. IaaS usually falls under the control of developers, who can choose from a small number of providers. Lines of business typically control SaaS and can choose from many more providers.

"Unfortunately, many IT professionals would prefer to ignore the burgeoning SaaS market, even though in most cases it represents a more significant area of computing than do IaaS in private clouds," he said. The sheer size of the SaaS market should be of concern to security teams, who often lack control over which software is downloaded and how it's used.

All services can externally share objects, but the default configuration is to not share. Open buckets, a common security risk, is a customer mistake. SaaS applications are different.

A "surprising number" of SaaS applications not only allow external shares but open them by default, Riley pointed out. There are arguments over whether this is a design flaw or weakness on the part of the user. Default configuration can be modified, he added, but the organization must have the will to do so.

"There's no point in arguing about what the provider's initial default should be," he continued. Your organization will obtain cloud services that may put them at risk, and security teams must be aware of this and do something about it. Closing open file shares is the most effective first step in cloud security a business can take, Riley said.

(Image: Guy Sagi -- stock.adobe.com)