How do I secure application access?

Secure SaaS and private application access

Organizations have users across the world accessing private and SaaS applications in private and public clouds. To ensure business productivity, organizations need to deliver safe, reliable, and consistent access to applications.

Today, most organizations utilize over 1,000 applications and the number is increasing year over year. These applications which used to reside in a private data center are now spread around the globe in private and public clouds. Both SaaS and private applications serve a wide variety of purposes for enterprises – from developing products to project management to promoting collaboration and so much more. As these applications are predominantly web based, the browser is the application of choice for accessing the new world of corporate tools.

These applications have become integral to business productivity, but the data that is collected and stored within these applications must be protected.

It’s critical that organizations keep their apps and their data safe for 3 key reasons:

Protect the data

Organizations utilize a wide range of applications in their day to day, which leads to a wide variety of data being transmitted across and stored in these applications. This includes but is not limited to:

Customer data
Intellectual property
Personal employee data
Product plans

This data can be used by competitors and cyber criminals to gain an advantage over an organization.

Keeping Compliant

Businesses are legally obligated to keep their customer and employee data safe. Violations of data protection laws and regulations, such as HIPAA, can result in not only large penalties but reputational damage and customer churn as well.

Business Continuity

Beyond the risk of a data breach, application security is vital for business continuity. If a threat actor gains access to a critical application and takes control, how long will it take for operations to stop? Even if you manage to regain access without paying a ransom, the downtime and reputational damage are guaranteed to be costly.

How to secure SaaS and Private applications

Application Visibility

IT and security teams need to know all applications that are being utilized by users. This needs to stand true even in a work environment where remote workers are accessing remote applications which require a cloud based solution to monitor and control connections being made. Both compliance and security teams need access to real time reporting around application usage.

Inline data protection

As data flows between end users and applications, data security needs to be enforced. Maintaining real-time visibility into all connections, and control over the data being exchanged is vital for every organization.

Enforce access controls

End users should be authorized to use a subset of the overall population of applications that an organization utilizes – those which they have a business need to access. Organizations should use a solution that ensures there is no ability for an end user to access an unauthorized private application, or a risky unsanctioned SaaS application.

Native end user experience

End users are used to accessing many applications directly in their personal lives. This expectation needs to be met in the corporate world as well, or users could look to circumvent control. Utilize a solution that offers a high performance connection, with an end user experience that has no learning curve such as a dashboard of application tiles which is consistent with many multi-factor authentication offerings.

Bi-directional enforcement of security

While protecting against data loss is vital, it is just as critical to prevent malware and other evasive threats entering the network from applications. Even trusted applications must be treated with suspicion and a control point which analyzes all content within a communication should look for malicious intent as well as sensitive data.

Why Menlo?

Menlo Security is able to deliver safe, reliable, and consistent access to applications, wherever employees log in from around the world.

Control access to applications

Make certain that unsanctioned SaaS applications are controlled and that users can only access the private applications that they are authorized to use. Ensure your team has comprehensive visibility into application usage.

Deliver the optimal user experience

Remote employees are assured of the same seamless user experience and security policies no matter where they’re working in the world.

Outsmart threats, don’t react to them

Menlo Security isolates all SaaS application traffic in the cloud, stripping out suspicious content, resulting in a 100 percent malware-free experience.