What is SSPM?
SaaS security posture management (SSPM) is a toolset designed to secure SaaS apps by identifying misconfigurations, managing permissions, and ensuring regulatory compliance across your organization’s digital estate. SSPM tools don't just monitor; they actively help prevent issues, safeguard sensitive data, and reduce security risks in real time.
Even though SaaS apps power your business, handling everything from sales to customer data, they can also open the door to security risks—(think misconfigured permissions, compliance gaps, and unmonitored user access. According to a Statista report from 2023, 80% of companies were already using or planning to implement SaaS security posture management (SSPM) within the next 18 months to address these risks. In this post, we'll explain how SSPM works, compare it to tools like CSPM and CASB, and explain how platforms like Wiz integrate SSPM capabilities to supercharge your SaaS security.
The Secure Coding Best Practices [Cheat Sheet]
With curated insights and easy-to-follow code snippets, this 11-page cheat sheet simplifies complex security concepts, empowering every developer to build secure, reliable applications.
Download Cheat Sheet
Why SSPM? Key SaaS security challenges
A September 2022 IBM survey of 3,000 global businesses and tech executives revealed that 25% of respondents saw security concerns as the primary barrier to achieving their cloud goals. As we’ve seen, SSPM helps address potential security issues by continuously monitoring and managing vulnerabilities that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Let’s explore some of the common security challenges SSPM can mitigate:
1.Increased attack surface
Each new SaaS app added to an organization’s environment increases the potential attack surface—the number of entry points an attacker could exploit. To make things even more challenging, each SaaS app introduces unique security settings and configurations, which may clash with your established security standards.
Example: An employee connects a third-party app to a project management tool without authorization. The app doesn’t have strong security protocols, creating a weak point in the organization’s otherwise secure network. SSPM tools monitor these connections and integrations, alerting teams about unauthorized access or risky configurations that could compromise security.
2. Misconfigurations
Misconfigured security settings are a major security issue with SaaS applications. Simple configuration mistakes can expose sensitive data, such as granting broad access permissions or not enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA). SSPM tools continuously check for these misconfigurations, reducing the chance of oversights that could lead to vulnerabilities.
Example: In March 2022, the FBI and CISA issued a warning about a security breach in an NGO's cloud environment, which was caused by a misconfigured account with a default MFA setting. Attackers exploited a vulnerability in Cisco’s Duo MFA, highlighting how even large, well-established companies are not immune to breaches.
3. Compliance risks
SaaS applications must often meet regulatory compliance standards like GDPR, HIPAA, or SOC 2 to ensure the secure handling of sensitive data. But many SaaS applications lack built-in compliance features, making it challenging for organizations to meet these industry requirements. SSPM can assess SaaS applications and their data architecture against regulatory frameworks to spot any compliance gaps.
Example: A healthcare provider relies on a SaaS-based patient management system to store and access patient data. Without appropriate compliance checks, they could be storing patient records non-compliantly. SSPM tools track compliance gaps and help ensure the provider’s configuration meets HIPAA standards, reducing the risk of fines or legal action.
4.. Shadow IT
Shadow IT occurs when employees use unauthorized SaaS applications that the IT department hasn’t vetted or approved. This creates significant security risks because these tools may lack adequate security or compliance configurations and can go undetected in routine audits. Gartner found that large organizations spend as much as 30–40% of their IT budget on shadow IT.
Example: The marketing team downloads an unapproved analytics tool to measure customer engagement. Without IT’s awareness or oversight, this tool could introduce malware, lack proper security features, or expose customer data. Luckily, their SSPM solution monitors the SaaS environment to detect unauthorized applications, helping keep shadow IT in check.
How does SSPM work to improve SaaS security?
SSPM provides a multi-layered approach to securing SaaS applications, giving you the visibility, control, and flexibility you need to manage cloud-based applications. Here’s a deeper dive into SSPM’s core functions:
Continuous monitoring for real-time security
SSPM solutions are purpose-built to monitor SaaS applications and identify instances of security misconfigurations, excessive privileges, and suspicious behavior. This constant monitoring ensures that security settings stay in line with your organization’s policies and that any deviations or configuration drifts are flagged immediately, allowing teams to take quick action.
Security gap analysis
One of SSPM’s standout features is its ability to analyze and assess security gaps, such as misconfigurations, unauthorized changes, or other vulnerabilities within SaaS settings. Some SSPM tools even offer automated remediation or guided actions for resolving detected issues, helping you maintain iron-clad security without manual intervention.
Compliance posture assessment
SSPM solutions monitor SaaS settings for compliance with regulatory standards, comparing current configurations to industry requirements. This makes it easier to prepare for audits and to stay compliant with frameworks like GDPR, CCPA, or PCI DSS.
Alerts and remediation recommendations
When SSPM tools detect an issue, they notify security teams with detailed information on the problem and recommended remediation steps. Alerts are often customizable, allowing you to prioritize the most critical issues.
Dashboards and reporting for centralized management
SSPM tools offer centralized dashboards that overview security posture across all SaaS applications. Dashboards help security teams visualize trends, track remediation progress, and manage your organization’s security posture from a single pane of glass.
DevOps Security Best Practices [Cheat Sheet]
In this 12 page cheat sheet we'll cover best practices in the following areas of DevOps: secure coding practices, infrastructure security, monitoring and response.
Download Cheat Sheet
SSPM vs. CSPM vs. CASB: Key differences
To understand SSPM's role in cloud security, it’s helpful to explore the differences between SSPM vs. CSPM and CASB. Comparing these solutions shows how SSPM addresses SaaS-specific security needs, while CSPM and CASB focus on broader cloud infrastructure and access control.
SSPM: SaaS security posture management
SSPM, or SaaS security posture management, focuses exclusively on SaaS applications and their unique security requirements. It ensures that SaaS configurations align with security standards by monitoring access, permissions, and compliance across all SaaS tools.
CSPM: Cloud security posture management
CSPM, or cloud security posture management, focuses on securing cloud infrastructure and services. This includes public cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. CSPM ensures the security of cloud services such as virtual machines, storage volumes, networking protocols, and serverless functions.
CASB: Cloud access security broker
A CASB, or cloud access security broker, bridges users and cloud services, controlling access to the cloud and protecting data. Its primary focus is access management and safeguarding data as it moves between devices and cloud applications.
While SSPM, CSPM, and CASB each focus on different aspects of cloud security, they all complement each other to provide comprehensive protection. By integrating all three, you can count on a well-rounded security strategy that covers every layer of your cloud ecosystem—creating a more secure, compliant, and resilient environment across the board.
How does Wiz enhance SSPM’s capabilities?
Wiz is a cloud security solution that integrates seamlessly with SSPM tools to bring deeper visibility into the various parts of your organization’s cloud stack. Here’s how Wiz works with SSPM to improve SaaS security posture:
Seamless integration: By connecting to SSPM tools, Wiz pulls data from different applications and provides a holistic view of your organization’s security posture.
Centralized dashboards for streamlined management: Wiz’s centralized dashboard consolidates data from multiple SSPM tools, making it easy for teams to monitor security across SaaS applications in real time. This unified view enables security teams to identify and respond to security issues more efficiently.
Automated remediation actions: One of Wiz’s most valuable features is its ability to automate responses to security incidents. When integrated with SSPM, Wiz can fix security misconfigurations and vulnerabilities as soon as they are detected. The end result? Lightning-fast response times and a drastically reduced risk of human error.
Continuous compliance monitoring: With Wiz, compliance doesn’t have to be an afterthought. Organizations can become compliant from day one and stay compliant throughout an application’s lifecycle. Wiz identifies non-compliant configurations and recommends or automates necessary adjustments, making sure organizations stay audit-ready.
As organizations adopt more SaaS tools to support their teams and projects, there’s a growing need for a structured, consistent security posture. SSPM offers a way to effectively manage these tools, address security gaps, ensure compliance, and control shadow IT.
By implementing SSPM as part of a broader cloud security strategy, you can ensure that all SaaS configurations align with security best practices. Integrating SSPM with advanced tools like Wiz strengthens your approach, giving security teams the tools to monitor, manage, and automate security tasks across your entire SaaS ecosystem.
Ready to learn how Wiz can amplify your SSPM capabilities across code, cloud and runtime with centralized dashboards, continuous monitoring, and automated remediation? Schedule a no-pressure demo today.
Secure your SDLC from start to finish
See why Wiz is one of the few cloud security platforms that security and devops teams both love to use.
