Red Flags & Best Practices: SaaS Security Checklist

Threats as seemingly trivial as data breaches, leaks, and unauthorized access continue to rank among the top security incidents affecting a quarter of SaaS providers in 2025. The cost? Lost customer trust, regulatory penalties, and severe financial damage.

Yet, many of these incidents stem from the same avoidable vulnerabilities—misconfigured settings, weak authentication, unpatched software, and overlooked access controls.

To help SaaS vendors stay ahead of evolving threats, our security experts have compiled a battle-tested SaaS security checklist. We’ll walk you through the 5 most common security gaps and give you a strategy to fortify your defenses with industry best practices.

Major SaaS security concerns putting your solution at stake

Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, SaaS security is only as strong as its most vulnerable point. A single misconfiguration, weak API, or compliance oversight can expose an entire platform to cyber threats. Here are the five most common SaaS security risks that can jeopardize your application’s integrity—and how to mitigate them.

1. Misconfiguration: The #1 Cause of Data Breaches

Improper SaaS security settings and excessive access permissions can expose, leak, or compromise customer data. Enforce role-based access controls (RBAC) and conduct regular audits to prevent misconfigurations.

2. Insecure APIs: A Hacker’s Gateway

Weak authentication and exposed endpoints make APIs a top target. Insecure APIs rank as the second-largest OWASP API risk, enabling attackers to steal data and gain unauthorized access. Secure APIs with strong authentication, encryption, and access controls.

3. Unauthorized Access: A Costly Mistake

Weak encryption and poor key management can expose sensitive customer data. Use strong encryption, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and strict key policies to keep attackers out.

4. Cloud Infrastructure Weaknesses

Unsecured cloud components—like misconfigured virtual machines, weak network perimeters, and exposed storage—make SaaS platforms easy targets. Adopt cloud security posture management (CSPM) and conduct frequent vulnerability scans. At Dedicatted, we offer Security On-Demand on AWS, helping you secure your cloud environment with proactive management and continuous monitoring.

5. Compliance Gaps: A Risky Oversight

Regulatory requirements (ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR) are complex but non-negotiable. Delayed compliance efforts can lead to fines, legal issues, and reputational damage. Stay ahead with automated compliance monitoring and proactive planning and Dedicatted is a perfect partner for that.

5 SaaS security best practices to fortify your software

1. Adopt a Security-First Mindset

Security must be baked into every stage of your software’s development, not added as an afterthought. By adopting a security-first mindset, you shift security considerations early in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), reducing risks from the outset.

• DevSecOps Integration: Integrate DevSecOps into your development pipeline to seamlessly incorporate security practices with agile workflows: automated security testing during the CI/CD pipeline, along with static, dynamic, and interactive analysis.
• Threat Modeling: Implement threat modeling techniques early in the design phase to identify weak points and critical vulnerabilities before they become significant issues.
• Phishing Simulations & Security Awareness: Educate your entire team—beyond the security experts—on identifying phishing attempts, malware, and other social engineering attacks. With 71% of companies falling victim to phishing in 2024, running regular phishing simulations can be an effective way to strengthen awareness and make employees better defenders of sensitive data.
• Remote Work Security: With 67% of companies now allowing remote work, it’s crucial to monitor employee devices and enforce a strong Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. Implement SSL certificates for secure remote connections and enforce automatic data wiping after multiple failed login attempts to safeguard sensitive information.

For a deeper dive into why security compliance is a necessity rather than a bureaucratic hassle, check out our full article: Why Security Compliance is Not Bullsh*t.

2. Stay Compliant with Regulations

For SaaS vendors, legal compliance is more than a recommendation—it’s a vital component of business. Ensuring that your software complies with global regulations not only protects your organization from legal repercussions but also builds trust with customers who expect their data to be handled securely.

• Global Regulatory Adherence: If your software is used across multiple regions, stay up-to-date with local and international regulations. For instance, if your SaaS targets customers in the EU, ensure compliance with GDPR, but don’t overlook other regional laws like the Data Governance Act or ePrivacy Directive.
• Sector-Specific Compliance: Regulations can vary based on industry. If your SaaS serves healthcare clients, compliance with standards like HIPAA (in the US) or PIPEDA (in Canada) is essential. These rules govern how you store and protect customer data, and non-compliance can result in hefty fines.

3. Ensure Secure APIs & Authentication

APIs are often the backbone of modern SaaS platforms, but without proper security, they become an easy target for attackers. Vulnerabilities in APIs and authentication systems can open the door to unauthorized access, leading to potential data breaches and significant financial losses.

• API Security: Limit the number of API keys you use and rotate them at least annually to reduce the risk of leaks. Vulnerable API endpoints can expose critical data, so securing them should be a top priority. Implement API gateways to monitor and control access, reducing attack vectors.
• MFA and SSO Integration: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) should be a standard for both internal and external users. Consider implementing Single Sign-On (SSO) for smoother authentication 

4. Enforce Robust Identity & Access Management (IAM)

Your organization’s ability to control who has access to what data is critical for ensuring the security of your SaaS platform. Effective Identity and Access Management (IAM) not only protects sensitive data but also ensures that users only have the minimum level of access necessary for their roles.

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Implement RBAC to assign access rights based on the user’s role within the organization. This minimizes the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data 
• Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC): Take IAM a step further with ABAC, which assigns access based on attributes such as department or project affiliation. This adds another layer of security.
• Continuous Monitoring: Log and monitor all access attempts within your platform to catch malicious activities early. Utilize Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems to centralize logs and generate real-time alerts for suspicious access patterns.

5. Implement Data Encryption Across All States

Encryption is one of the most reliable ways to safeguard customer data, whether it’s in use, at rest, or in motion. SaaS vendors must ensure that they are using the latest encryption standards to protect their users’ privacy and meet regulatory requirements.

• Data Encryption at Rest: Use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for data at rest, such as stored databases and cloud storage. This protects your data from unauthorized access, ensuring it remains safe even if a physical breach occurs.
• Data Encryption in Motion: Protect sensitive information as it’s transmitted across networks by using TLS/SSL encryption protocols. Make sure your web application only uses HTTPS to prevent eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks.
• Data Encryption in Use: Protect sensitive data while it is being processed by using Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) techniques. This ensures that data is protected even when it’s being accessed or worked on within your systems.

6. Provide a comprehensive disaster recovery plan

SaaS risk assessment during a security audit leads to developing incident response and disaster recovery plans as security measures to tackle outages and other issues if they happen. You should ensure data backups are in place and easily accessible to minimize operational disruption when disaster strikes and enable business continuity even in the case of major security blunders. 

As a SaaS vendor, you have to provide your clients with a disaster recovery plan that meets two performance goals agreed upon with the customer:

• Recovery Point Objective (RPO). This measure determines the amount of data that could be lost in an incident. For example, it can be data for the last 15 minutes.
• Recovery Time Objective (RTO). This standard describes how much time you’ll need to recover the lost data. For example, you can set one week for the task.

Whether it’s a cyberattack, natural disaster, or system failure, organizations must have a plan in place to minimize downtime and recover critical data. Want to be fully armored for disaster recovery? Read our article