With the workplace becoming more digital, more remote, it’s never been a better time than to launch a great software as a service (SaaS) program to business customers — especially cloud software. Businesses are looking for dynamic cloud software that can help their team remain cohesive even while in remote or hybrid work models.
However, with so much of the business world now digitized and “on the cloud,” many businesses have concerns about security. Today, a cyberattack on a business’s software is an attack on the whole business. Let’s discuss why cybersecurity is such an important factor when developing SaaS programs, especially on the cloud.
Risk To Client’s Sensitive Documents
Businesses tend to store highly sensitive and confidential information within their software. This could be client documents, financial records, confidential communications, court filings, and more. If cybercriminals can hack your cloud software, they can steal those documents or use malware to delete or corrupt them. This could throw your B2B client into chaos, and ruin your relationship with them going forward.
Risk To Your Reputation
That brings us to the next point: a cyberattack on your software could cause a risk to your reputation. If the software your client uses is hacked and information is released to the world, their customers and clients might feel less safe with them. Likewise, the client who was hacked as well as other clients might feel less safe using your software. Clients trust their SaaS developers to have a strong sense of cybersecurity. When they don’t, it can be a dangerous letdown and may even feel like a betrayal.
Risk To Intellectual Property
Besides sensitive, confidential information, cyberattacks could also pose a huge risk to intellectual property. Some cyber criminals might hack into your clients’ systems not to find financial records or confidential information but to copy their plans for a new patent or any creative projects they might be working on. The clients then have to deal with the hassle of legal fees in order to protect their IP. But this can be avoided if the software they use has a high enough level of cybersecurity to keep most cyber criminals out.
Concerns About the Cloud
Some clients have concerns about the cybersecurity of cloud software to begin with. When information is stored on a local server, the computer itself or the server itself must be hacked. When stored on the cloud, it can be hacked from any device if the hackers have a path past the cybersecurity. The fact that it is accessible from any device makes some clients fear that it’s easier for cyber criminals to access.
The good news is this isn’t necessarily true. It depends on the cybersecurity built into the software. There are many cloud software programs that use bank level encryption in order to account for the added risk of the program being in the cloud. However, it does make it that much more important to have that high level of cybersecurity.
Regulation Compliance
In recent years, there have been tighter restrictions when it comes to data privacy for consumers. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies not just to Europe but to any business that might have clients within the EU. America has similar regulations in different regions such as the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA). These regulations include terms that state how consumer data may be used and when the consumer’s permission must be given. They also often have clauses about the bare minimum amount of cybersecurity needed in order to be compliant.
If businesses who have a digital platform are not compliant with these regulations, they stand to face massive fines. Thus, these businesses are often looking for software that will allow them to remain compliant. If your cybersecurity doesn’t meet the standard, they will look elsewhere.
Staying Competitive
We live in an increasingly digital age, and the SaaS industry is utterly saturated. It’s important to have a competitive edge and to be able to offer something that not every software offers. In some cases, that could be a high level of cybersecurity. Clients want to feel that their information is safe, especially when their business depends on it. If you can show that you’ve really taken cybersecurity to the next level with your SaaS product, that could be a big selling point for you.
As SaaS grows, so does cybersecurity — and so do cyberattacks. This is one area of your software that you don’t want to cut corners with; one cyberattack could be a loss not only for your clients, but for you.
