Cybersecurity needs to be a major concern in 2021. Companies and consumers have drastically increased their use of technology to account for the changing landscape of the pandemic. Cybercriminals are taking this opportunity to exploit every weakness they can find.
In fact, it’s estimated that a cyberattack will occur every 11 seconds in 2021.
Many major corporations are seeing the ramifications of this. Kroger recently had the sensitive information of their pharmacy customers compromised when hackers gained access to their system through a third-party vendor.
Cybercriminals tend to gravitate toward bigger companies. And as far as cloud-based platforms go, there is no bigger company than Salesforce. They are currently the #1 ranking customer relationship management (CRM) software hold an almost 20% share of the market.
Salesforce is popular with consumers because of its powerful capabilities. And it is popular with hackers because of its popularity with consumers.
And while Salesforce itself remains secure, there are a series of user habits that can create vulnerabilities within your system. And as we’ve seen with the Kroger hack, cybercriminals will exploit any weakness they find.
Here are 8 steps you can take to fortify your Salesforce platform against cyberattacks:
1. Schedule Frequent Backups
The first step to preparing for the worst-case scenario is to make sure it doesn’t take long to get back online in the event of an outage.
A data loss event can cripple a company. Losing system or customer information either through corruption, theft, or even user error can create redundant work. You’ll need to get back to baseline before you can move forward.
Consistent and complete backups are the only way to avoid this possibility.
AutoRABIT Vault Data Backup & Recovery provides everything you need to give yourself a functional safety net for your Salesforce system data.
2. Work Off-Platform
Distancing yourself from a target is an effective way to separate yourself from risk. And if Salesforce is a target for cybercriminals, this will affect anybody working on their platform.
Salesforce developers are seeing great benefits from utilizing the platform’s capabilities off-platform.
This allows you to make use to the intuitive interface and great functionality of Salesforce while shielding yourself from internal issues or outages.
Working off-platform gives you stricter control over security measures. There aren’t going to be as many unknown factors influencing your susceptibility to cyberattacks or other threats to your system.
3. Protect Against Third-Party Hacks
Set barriers between various sets of information through varied permission sets and separate platforms.
Take the Kroger pharmacy breech, for example. Hackers accessed sensitive information of Kroger customers by first gaining entry through a file-transfer product. They used this as a backdoor to Kroger’s information.
However, these hackers weren’t able to gain access to the entire Kroger system and were only able to access the information of a small number of customers. This breech could have been a lot worse if the hackers had been able to move freely through Kroger’s system once inside.
Protect yourself in a similar fashion by segregating sets of data and various systems.
4. Automate Quality Checks
The quality of your code is going to have a wide range of effects once it is released. Ideally, your updates, programs, and software will operate smoothly through the integration of quality code. However, failure to find errors early in the process can create broken deployments or unsafe development products.
The popularity of Salesforce puts a focus on the platform. Faulty deployments will be put under a microscope and scanned for potential security vulnerabilities.
Utilize an Automated Release Management system to run quality checks on each integration. This ensures that the code sent for deployment is cohesive and secure.
5. Communicate Best Practices to Your Teammates
Total data security is a 360-degree effort. This means you need to guard against threats from all angles—both outside your company and within.
“Over 70% of executives believe their organization has experienced an accidental internal breach within the past five years.”
This could come as a result of unsecure passwords, phishing attempts, or accidental deletions.
Communicating proper behavior and tactics to your team members can go a long way to securing your Salesforce platform. Salesforce is already an attractant to cybercriminals—don’t help make their jobs easier.
6. Protect Your Metadata
Metadata mostly operates behind the scenes, but it is incredibly important to the functionality of your Salesforce instance. It can be used to set permissions, personalize your platform, and arrange subset of data.
Hackers know the importance of metadata.
They target this important information to use it against you.
Metadata must be protected with the same enthusiasm as other system data. A compromised Salesforce system will put this information at risk so segregating metadata subsets provides necessary security.
Your schedule of backups should also be set to include metadata. Your ability to restore proper functionality will depend on contemporary metadata.
7. Focus on Data Access Control
The whole idea for a data breech is that a cybercriminal accesses information they shouldn’t be able to access. Proper barriers between your information and these bad actors are incredibly important to keeping your Salesforce instance secure.
Here are a few quick ways you can improve your access control measures:
- Strong passwords
- Up-to-date systems
- Permission sets
- Use company-issued devices only
- Run frequent system audits
Focusing on these access control best practices ensures there is a strong barrier between your Salesforce instance and cybercriminals. A solid wall is an essential aspect of a successful security strategy.
8. Host Your System On-Premises
Salesforce is a top cloud computing platform. There are many benefits to working in the cloud. However, there are also some drawbacks.
Working in the cloud means you are connected the internet at all times. Hosting your platform in the cloud creates access points to anybody that is also connected to the internet.
The only way to shore up this vulnerability is to host your system on-premises.
This allows you to have complete control over security measures. It also makes it much more difficult for cybercriminals to gain access to your system.
Salesforce is a great tool. And as a platform, they provide a secure system. However, the customizability and ubiquity of Salesforce have made it a target for cybercriminals. Following these safety precautions will give your company a better chance of avoiding the negative consequences of a data breech or hack.
