In today’s digital world computing power goes a long way in deciding a business’s success. In order to be profitable, a company must be dynamic, malleable and light on their feet. The type of software you choose will decide many of those characteristics. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or cloud computing offers companies fast, reliable and affordable software infrastructure that more and more companies are utilizing. However, with great power comes great responsibility. Without proper SaaS data protection, your company runs the risk of encountering extremely damaging security breaches. What is your content level security in cloud computing and do you need SaaS data protection? Read on to find out.
What Is SaaS & What Are The Other Options?
SaaS’s web-based model provides software applications and data off-site. The other option is housing your data hardware and servers on-premise. Companies of all size are frequently opting for SaaS and outsourcing their IT responsibilities. Choosing cloud computing over on-premise technology offers a few benefits. First, you save money by not purchasing all the software required to run your own on-premise installation. You further save by letting your SaaS vendor handle all the maintenance and troubleshooting associated with the software. Frankly, convenience and cost-effectiveness are the significant upsides to SaaS over on-premise installations.
What Is SaaS Data Protection And Why Do You Need It?
So, like many businesses you have chosen SaaS for its flexibility, speed, and affordability. Why do you need SaaS data protection? While SaaS is empowering companies to move faster and smarter at a more affordable price, it can leave you vulnerable to data leaks or cybersecurity attacks. That is where SaaS Data protection comes in to play. SaaS data protection implements content level security in cloud computing. That way your business can enjoy the nimble maneuverability of SaaS while feeling confident that your information security system won’t let you down. Here are a few of the threats that SaaS protection covers.
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1. Protecting Yourself Personally
At first glance this may not make a lot of sense: why would I need protection from myself? Well, chances are you have deleted or lost a valuable document at one time or another. According to Dell EMC, 64% of data loss is caused by human error. Your SaaS provider is compelled to carry out your requests, which sometimes can be a mistake. None of us are perfect, right? Without SaaS data protection that accidental deletion can cause a major disruption for your business. With SaaS data protection, you can refer to your back-up and redownload that crucial file. No panicked calls to your cloud provider, hoping they offer data recovery. Most SaaS vendors don’t provide data recovery and if they do, it can take weeks for them to sift through thousands of gigs of data to find your vital file.
Most businesses don’t have the luxury to wait for weeks: they need their information not now but right now. SaaS data protection offers you peace of mind that no matter what happens, hackers, mistakes or natural disasters, you have the information you need on hand.
2. Ever Present Danger of Hackers
Software as a Service is already a massive market and growing rapidly. According to a Forrester report, “The SaaS market will grow to $157 billion in 2020; some providers have more than $1 billion in revenue and are growing strongly.” While competition is typically a great thing for consumers, the rapidly growing SaaS market is music to another group’s ears: hackers. Hackers are similar to fishermen. They follow the fish. In the case of hackers, they aren’t following fish but people.
Contrary to the belief that hackers are slackers living in their mother’s basements, hacking is actually hard work. That is why hackers don’t usually go after Mac users. The user base is too small. If you are going spend hours and hours in front of a computer creating the digital means to steal money, you want the pay off to be worth it. That is why the number $157 billion SaaS market by 2020 perks up the ears of hackers everywhere.
For instance, ransomware is a type of malware designed to take advantage of sensitive information without a backup. Essentially, hackers infiltrate your system, steal vital information that you can’t survive without and then blackmail you into paying for its return. Proper SaaS data protection gives you the means to tell hackers to go fly a kite because you can’t be held hostage. Your SaaS data store allows you to simply redownload the stolen data from your back-up and go about your day.
3. Preventing Insider Breaches
Hackers are undoubtedly a central focus for cybersecurity in all organizations. However, there is another insidious threat that lurks much closer to home: insider threats. Naturally, employees have access to secure storage and many aspects of a business. Not providing access to information systems would severely hamper the efficiency of a company But what happens when a worker goes rogue? Unfortunately, it happens far more often than people think and creates a problematic scenario for cybersecurity professionals.
The 2017 Netwrix risks report found that “100% of government workers surveyed saw their own employees as the most likely culprits during a security breach.” That is especially concerning since the government holds sensitive information on all of us. It should be noted that not all insider threats are malicious; many are accidental. Regrettably, whether a security leak is intentional or malicious, the damage can be considerable.
SaaS data protection is worth its weight in gold if a company ever faces a malicious attack from a previous employee. That’s because, more often than not, cases involving resentful ex-employees end up in court. For example, Anthony Levandowski who previously worked in Google’s autonomous car division before he quit abruptly. He left Google to start his own company, which was quickly snapped up by Uber.
Shortly after Levandowski arrived at Uber, all of Google’s proprietary technology just so happen to be developed at Uber as well. Google sued and a protracted lawsuit ensued. Eventually, Uber settled for a .34% stake in their business worth roughly $245 million.
So what does that have to do with SaaS data protection? Without all the original files and data backups, it would have been much harder for Google to prove that Levandowski stole them. They may not have been able to reach a settlement and Google would have lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars.
This example isn’t perfect since a giant company like Google has a plethora of data stores. However, not every company can afford that luxury. SaaS data protection gives you a trump card during the times you absolutely need it most. Without it, you leave your company exposed to some of the most damaging types of security breaches.
4. Maintaining Data Sync & Compliance Records
We briefly touched on the potential losses that can be attributed to human error. Unfortunately, as much as we’d like computers and machines to be perfect, they are not. Anyone who has worked with computers has had at least one instance where they would love to throw it out the window. It’s those glitches and problems that can drive us all mad. If those technical issues lead to data loss, it can lead to much worse than just some frustration.
According to Consolidated Technologies, “70% of small firms that experience a significant data loss go out of business within the year following.” Data loss can pose a host of problems that lead to the demise of a business. Every minute you are forced to dig through your hard copies or digital files for deleted files is productivity lost toward your bottom line. If important client information is lost, you can lose contacts and become unable to meet deadlines.
Many people think of security breaches as dramatic heists of valuable information and, sometimes, they are. However, more often than not they are the mundane sparking of a computer hard drive or a secretary accidentally deleting a crucial file. These may not sound like business shuttering events but succeeding in the dog eat dog world of business is challenging enough. Unfortunately, when it comes to data, it doesn’t take much to throw a company off the rails.
5. Data is your “Crown Jewels”
SaaS vendors provide a wide array of useful tools for businesses to compete on the highest level. Customization, flexibility, and convenience are three big reasons so many companies turn to cloud services as opposed to housing their own server’s on site. Unfortunately, many people think the cloud is all knowing and all powerful, it can provide just about anything they need. That’s just not realistic. SaaS vendors are providing service to hundreds if not thousands of businesses. There are only so many functions they can perform on demand.
Therefore, if your business loses data, for any reason, going to your SaaS vendor, hoping they will have all your backups on hand is highly unrealistic. Even if they are one of the few SaaS vendors that do provide data backup, it could be weeks before you actually see that data. Famously, the world of business changes in minutes if not seconds. Waiting weeks for files many times will be as useful as receiving them in Sanskrit.
SaaS data protection eliminates the fear of data losses, which as we mentioned earlier, can be crippling to smaller businesses. As an organization, you not only need to watch over the data of your clients but also your own. Taxes, federal and state compliance records, work orders, and much more are all documentation that every company may need at a moment’s notice. SaaS data protection gives you the ‘pull-in-case-of-emergency cord that could end up saving your entire way of life.
Data losses aren’t just nefarious hackers looking to steal from you, although that is a real concern. Natural disasters, employee errors, hard drive malfunctions, and vengeful employees are just a handful of the potential data dangerous out there.
Lacking a SaaS data protection service is like writing a college paper without saving. It’s a high wire act that leaves you exposed every minute that something could go wrong. Although unlike a college paper, there are far more damaging consequences at play and more potential for disaster. Granted, instead of one night of fear, it’s the entire duration of your company’s existence. Don’t let a data loss be the ultimate demise of your business. It’s hard enough running a business in 2019. So give yourself a safety net in case of an emergency.
As we mentioned in our opening SaaS data protection isn’t your only option. Many businesses store their data on-premise and regulate their own data backups. Unfortunately, for many companies that is an extravagance, their business can’t afford. Thankfully, Software-as-a-Service or cloud computing has dramatically improved over the past three years. More and more business, even mammoth corporations, are switching to SaaS because of price, flexibility, and convenience.
Closing Thoughts
Unfortunately, SaaS is not a foolproof service. Companies utilizing SaaS but not utilizing SaaS protection are leaving themselves vulnerable to all types of data hazards. Technology offers so many amazing tools and services, however, there are some serious pitfalls to avoid. Data losses are one of the most damaging threats to a business and they can come in so many forms.
Whether it is a careless employee, a malicious hacker or a once in a generation storm, data loss can strike at the most inopportune time. SaaS data protection gives an organization much-needed cover when everything goes pear-shaped. Combining SaaS and SaaS data protection gives you the speed, service and most importantly, safety that on-premise servers provide but at a fraction of the cost. You don’t have to worry about buying software, employing an entire IT department and costly maintenance fees.
You can work hard knowing that your organization can compete with the big boys and not meet an unfortunate end at the hands of a massive data loss. RSI Security has been helping businesses with SaaS data protection for over 10 years. Check out our website for more information about how we can keep you safe.