Change control and configuration managementData security and privacy lifecycle managementIdentity and access managementInteroperability and portabilityLogging and monitoringSecurity incident management, e-discovery, and cloud forensicsThese domains are designed to map high-level business requirements into tangible SaaS security features that customers can actually configure and rely on, such as log delivery, SSO enforcement, secure configuration guidelines, and incident notification.The approach is designed to complement rather than replace business-focused security frameworks such as ISO 27001.”The SaaS Security Capability Framework represents a significant step forward for the industry,” said Brian Soby, co-founder & CTO of SaaS security posture vendor AppOmni, and SSCF lead author. “It provides a clear, consistent, and much-needed standard that will help organizations move past outdated risk assessments and truly build zero trust principles into their SaaS environments.” The industry has long struggled with a lack of consistent SaaS security controls. Without an industry standard, enterprises, SaaS vendors, and security teams have ended up duplicating efforts or carrying unnecessary risks.The SSCF tackles this long-standing challenge by offering a practical framework of security capabilities that can be adopted by SaaS vendors, providing more consistency across the industry while reducing potential security risks.”CSA’s SSCF is a meaningful step forward for SaaS governance, setting clearer expectations for both vendors and buyers,” said David Brown, SVP of international business at firewall policy management firm FireMon. “But a framework only reduces risk when translated into operational controls, specifically continuous network-policy visibility, tight egress controls, and automated compliance checks.”Brown continued: “Organizations that pair SSCF requirements with real-time network posture verification can prove controls work and materially reduce SaaS-related risk.”
Continuous validation: A growing share of internet traffic is generated by non-human actors; bots, agents, automated systems that interact with SaaS apps in ways traditional monitoring often misses.”The SSCF provides a much-needed benchmark for what ‘secure by default’ should look like in SaaS environments,” said Mayur Upadhyaya, CEO at APIContext. “Its focus on technical controls within the customer’s scope is timely, especially as the boundaries between internal users, third-party integrations, and machine-driven traffic continue to blur.”Upadhyaya added: “A framework like SSCF can only be effective if it reflects this expanded surface area and encourages continuous validation, not just static configurations.”
Next steps: If widely adopted, SSCF will offer enterprises more consistent security features across their SaaS portfolio. Vendors will gain the knowledge of what security controls will be expected by customers.The next phase of the project will focus turning the framework into something more practical by developing implementation and auditing guidelines and an assessment and certification scheme. Rather than offering checklists that vendors are encouraged to follow, SSCF aims to offer measurable security improvements.
First seen on csoonline.com
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