5 Principles of Secure Salesforce Cloud Architecture

Salesforce attacks spiked 305% in 2023, leaving data security the most pressing concern for any organization using the platform. And with an increased reliance on working in the cloud, taking a strategic approach to securing sensitive data has never been more important.

Instances like the Salesforce Community website leaks illustrate the necessity of paying strict attention to the establishment and continued upkeep of data security measures – especially in a cloud-based environment. The infrastructure that supports your data security strategy has a significant impact on your ability to protect your data while remaining compliant with data security regulations. 

The best way to ensure you are providing the proper levels of security is to understand these five core principles that must be addressed for complete cloud security.

1. Identity and Access Management

There are two basic considerations that need to be managed to protect data in the cloud: ensuring only authorized people can access system data and preventing former employees from continuing to enter your system. This can be done in a few different ways.

Role-Based Access Control

Your employees are assigned roles within your Salesforce environment, and these roles define that individual’s authority level. Permissions for system data are authorized for specific roles by administrators.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Even users who adhere to secure password best practices can have their login information compromised. Integrating a second layer of authentication drastically increases the security of your environment. In fact, a study by Google found that adding a second layer of authentication “can block up to 100% of automated bots, 99% of bulk phishing attacks, and 66% of targeted attacks.”

Principle of Least Privilege

Overexposed data has a greater chance of being infiltrated or corrupted. This could occur through malicious activities or simply by error. This is why it’s recommended to only grant users access to the systems and applications they need to accomplish their tasks.

2. Zero Trust Architecture

An extensive list of checks and barriers should be put in place around your IT network. The goal is to only provide access to trusted individuals.

This can be accomplished by using processes like the Sigv4 Protocol, which is a short-lived credential that can be used to authenticate and authorize every transaction.

Other approaches include restricting network movement, combining network and IAM controls, uniformly authorizing interactions, and maintaining a comprehensive view of your security posture.

3. Data Encryption

Data stored for any length of time should be encrypted – including data at rest as well as in transit. This additional layer of security ensures that even if an unauthorized individual gains access to the system in which data is stored, the data itself is still protected.

Encryption keys are increasingly being used to protect items like S3 buckets, EBS volumes, and more. Customers can even use their own encryption keys, which completely eliminates the chance of an unauthorized user gaining access to protected data.

Plus, these processes can be automated to adhere to security best practices and ensure your cloud environment has consistent coverage.

4. Network Security and Virtual Private Clouds

Instituting the proper safeguards can help prevent a compromised server from leaking data while also preventing other applications in the same cloud environment from accessing PII and application code.

• Subnet Segregation: Place applications in a private subnet so they can’t be accessed from the outside.
• Restrictive Security Groups: Design your security groups to only allow connections from your own application.
• DNS Firewalls: Implement firewalls in your cloud applications to block information from flowing out.

5. Modern Observability

You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know it exists. Unseen security issues can lead to untenable disruptions in service, data compliance failures, and massive financial losses.

Observing your DevOps updates throughout the entire product journey gives you the insights you need to ensure secure releases. This includes utilizing tools like version control, environment configuration, and CI/CD.

Constant oversight will help you ensure your systems are healthy, verify the stability of your applications, and alert you to any suspicious behavior.

Automated Tooling Is Critical to Remaining Secure

Visibility into your Salesforce DevOps processes becomes much more reliable when you automate the functions that contribute to system stability. The AutoRABIT platform offers everything you need to secure your cloud environment – from CI/CD tooling and static code analysis to data backups and recovery.

Summary

Data security should be the most pressing concern of anyone using the Salesforce platform. While working in the cloud, think about these five areas and take a strategic approach to securing your sensitive data.To learn more, check out this eBook exploring the importance of visibility in your Salesforce environment and how you can achieve it. And when you’re ready to see exactly what AutoRABIT can do for you, schedule a demo with one of our in-house experts.