Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Salesforce have transformed the way organizations work. It is estimated that organizations today use an average of 80 SaaS applications in their daily operations and 70% of the business applications they use are SaaS-based. According to Gartner’s 2020 I&O Leaders Survey, 70% of organizations are currently investing in SaaS and will continue to do so.
There’s no doubt that SaaS platforms provide impressive benefits to organizations. However, the question is, do they protect your data?
Although SaaS platforms offer flexibility and reliability, it doesn’t equate to data security. Assuming that your data is safe simply by being on SaaS platforms is a risk you won’t want to take. Despite their many advantages, SaaS platforms are not immune to data loss.
While there are several factors responsible for data loss, listed below are the top five.
As per research conducted by IDC, nearly 80% of the companies surveyed experienced at least one cloud data breach in the past 18 months.
Human error is one of the leading causes of data loss and is, unfortunately, inescapable. Simple errors, such as inadvertently deleting an account or an important email, or mistakenly downloading a malicious attachment, can turn into a disaster if it goes undetected.
SaaS applications, such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, have a limited retention period. Google Workspace automatically deletes the Trash folder after 30 days. Once the trash has been deleted, the data can’t be recovered or restored.
These types of errors are also known as sync errors and are a common scenario when integrating multiple SaaS applications. Such errors can potentially corrupt your critical data and can lead to permanent data loss. As per research conducted by global intelligence firm IDC, which surveyed around 300 CISOs, 67% indicated that security misconfiguration was among the top concerns associated with cloud production environments.
Eight in 10 companies across the United States have experienced a data breach due to cloud misconfigurations.
Your employees are arguably the greatest threat to your data, especially when their intentions are malicious. Since disgruntled or malicious employees have access to your data, they can easily bypass security controls to overwrite or delete critical business information.
According to McAfee’s Grand Theft Data report, insider threats are responsible for an astounding 43% of all breaches.
Cyberthreats, such as phishing, malware and ransomware attacks, aren’t showing any sign of slowing down. Cybercriminals are getting smarter and cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report indicates that over 80% of breaches that result from hacking involve brute force attacks (password cracking) or the use of lost or stolen credentials while nearly 90% exploit SaaS apps.
More than 80% of data breaches are due to phishing attacks and nearly 95% of malware is delivered via email.
Having a robust backup solution will not only help you enjoy the benefits of SaaS platforms, but will also ensure business continuity in the event of a breach.
Spanning and S&E Cloud Experts offer an automatable solution to protect your Google Workspace data. Automated daily backups with unlimited storage and granular point-in-time recovery capabilities ensure data security and hassle-free recovery. With a quick search and an intuitive interface designed for recovery, you can recover a lost email in seconds instead of hours.
Contact us to find out how we can help you secure your SaaS environment, minimize downtime and maximize productivity.
