These 6 Vulnerabilities Exist in Your Salesforce Environment Right Now
Leveraging a Salesforce security scanner will find existing vulnerabilities, so you can address them before they lead to a catastrophic data loss event.
Why It Matters: Data security needs to be a major concern for every organization. Failing to account for common vulnerabilities makes it more likely a company will experience a data loss event.
- The average cost of a data breach in 2024 is $4.88 million.
- In the first half of 2024, there were 1,571 reported data breaches that impacted more than one billion people—a 409% increase compared to the same time period the previous year.
- Data loss doesn’t have to come as a result of cybercrime. An innocent mistake can lead to costly damage of system data.
Here are six vulnerabilities that are likely threatening your Salesforce data right now:
- Cross-Site Scripting Attacks
- Cross-Site Request Forgery
- Overly Permissive Settings
- SOQL Injection
- Potential Security Leakage
- Improper Coding Structures
1. Cross-Site Scripting Attacks
Salesforce—as a platform—is very secure. However, the way we customize our environments has the potential to introduce vulnerabilities.
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) occurs when an attacker injects browser-executable code within a single HTTP response.
XSS attacks can infiltrate a Salesforce environment in many ways—one frequent method is through insecure third-party integrations, along with custom Visualforce pages and custom Lightning Components.
2. Cross-Site Request Forgery
HMisconfigurations can also lead to data security vulnerabilities. A Salesforce security scanner should be leveraged to ensure proper settings and avoid problematic mistakes.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) occurs when an attacker tricks a user into making an unintentional request to the web server, which is then treated as an authentic request because the system doesn’t have a mechanism to verify intentionality.
These attacks can have serious consequences, especially in environments like Salesforce, where users have access to sensitive data and powerful functionalities.re.
3. Overly Permissive Settings
Another dangerous type of misconfiguration that exists in many Salesforce environments relates to the permissions granted to individual team members.
Data becomes overexposed when too many team members can access it, drastically increasing the chances of a damaging mistake occurring that exposes or corrupts sensitive Salesforce data.
A Salesforce security posture management scanner can be leveraged to enforce proper settings and avoid these dangerous misconfigurations.
4. SOQL Injection
A Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) query is used to search, retrieve, and manipulate data stored in Salesforce objects. And when it is constructed with input that doesn’t have proper validation, vulnerabilities can occur.
An SOQL injection occurs when user inputs are not properly validated before being used in an SOQL query, which exploits Salesforce vulnerabilities.
Scanning for validations and settings provides the support your team needs to properly use these queries and keep your data safe from nefarious injections.
5. Potential Security Leakage
Where is your data stored? Failing to put data in its proper place and behind sufficient security barriers can lead to unnecessary exposure.
Usernames, passwords, contact information, PII, and other sensitive data are stored in unsecured locations or are otherwise accessible by unauthorized individuals.
This is a simple housekeeping issue that can be cleared up with some time and attention. A proper data governance strategy ensures your data is stored and protected as it should be. Check out this blog for eight Salesforce data governance best practices.
6. Improper Coding Structures
Bad code creates faulty applications and updates. This leads to a negative user experience, but it can also have damaging impacts on your data itself.
Faulty code likely exists in your Salesforce environment, often referred to as technical debt.
Leverage a Salesforce security scanner to find and flag existing errors, so your team can fix them to avoid future data security vulnerabilities.
Next Step…
Data security requires a comprehensive approach to guard against all the potential threats to your Salesforce environment. Creating a culture of security within your organization is crucial to accomplishing this.
Read our ebook, Staying Safe From the Inside Out: Creating a Secure Culture in Salesforce DevOps, to learn how to effectively communicate the importance of secure practices.
FAQs
Which DevOps tools offer the quickest help for Salesforce data security?
Reducing errors and finding legacy issues should be your first priority when addressing the security of your Salesforce environment. These issues can open back doors to cybercriminals that aren’t noticed for a while, allowing them free reign over your data. Static code analysis will ensure new updates won’t introduce errors, while a Salesforce security scanner will find and flag technical debt, so it can be addressed. These tools should be implemented alongside a data backup and recovery tool to provide a safety net should an outage or data loss event occur. This 360-degree approach will provide an infrastructure of stability that can be expanded with other DevOps tools like CI/CD automation.
Why is data security a consideration in the DevOps pipeline? Shouldn’t I focus on securing my Salesforce instance instead?
The security of the applications and updates produced through your DevOps pipeline directly relates to the security of your Salesforce environment as a whole. Buggy and error-filled updates will create misfires in live environments that result in security vulnerabilities. A frequent method of addressing faulty aspects of a Salesforce instance is to introduce security updates. A streamlined and error-free DevOps pipeline makes it easier for an organization to quickly introduce reliable updates that support a stronger data security strategy.
What are three easy wins I can have today to support a stronger data security strategy in Salesforce?
The first thing you can do is protect your entry points. Login screens are often the first place a cybercriminal will try to gain access to your platform. Strong passwords and multifactor authentication drastically increase the stability of these portals. Next, assess and adjust your permissions settings. Overexposed data is much more likely to experience an accidental exposure or deletion, which can have broad impacts. And finally, encrypt sensitive data. Not only will this help achieve compliance with data security regulations, but it will also protect data, even if all other methods of protection fail.is to speak with your team members. With firsthand experience, they’ll be able to point toward inefficient processes and areas where projects tend to slow down.
