SaaS, PaaS and IaaS overview
Cloud computing provides several benefits to businesses and consumers around the world. By leveraging an internet connection, cloud resources such as applications, web servers, storage mediums, and services can be accessed from anywhere, anytime. Cloud computing empowers businesses to focus on what matters, which is the products and services they bring to market.
Cloud providers offer three core service models for businesses to build upon. These include infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS). The models provide different capabilities, controls and flexibility depending on business requirements. Each offering contains its own responsibility model that defines the separation of duties between the cloud provider and the cloud consumer. In most circumstances, the cloud provider is responsible for the safeguarding and availability of the underlying infrastructure, and the consumer oversees the security and management of the applications, data, users and access permissions.
SaaS security concerns
The concept of delivering software over the internet emerged in the early 2000s and continued developing into the SaaS cloud computing model that’s essential in modern-day society. SaaS offers a cost-effective and flexible method to leverage software applications without the high cost of hardware and core infrastructure components. Although SaaS models help businesses achieve their accessibility, scaling and financial needs, they have their own set of security concerns.
In the SaaS model, the customer is responsible for managing access to the environment, protecting data, maintaining compliance, integration and preventing cyber attacks. Unauthorized access, insider threats, account takeover, phishing attempts, data exfiltration, malware injection, ransomware, compliance and audit failures are security concerns that should be reviewed before deployment.
Businesses should work with a trusted, knowledgeable partner to help understand the resources best-served on-premises, in a hybrid setting or entirely in the cloud. Deploying a carefully architected security framework and best practice playbook can help defend against modern-day cyber attacks while protecting the brand and its consumers.
PaaS security concerns
In the PaaS model, developers are provided with a platform that allows them to develop, test, deploy and manage their applications without having to spend time and resources on the underlying infrastructure. The cloud provider manages the hardware and operating system(s), with DevOps focusing on building, testing, deploying, managing and patching their applications. Infrastructure components that are included in the PaaS model can include networking, servers, storage, database systems, middleware, development software, business intelligence facilities and additional services.
PaaS environments share many of the security concerns we see in the SaaS model; however, several security risks are unique to PaaS. Insecure interfaces, vulnerable code, poisoned pipeline execution, insufficient pipeline-based access controls, misconfigured system configurations, supply chain attacks and exposure of secrets all bear risks. It’s also crucial that logging, data correlation, data retention, and reporting are incorporated and reviewed on a regular basis. Low-code/no-code can also impose security risks, as code could be compromised or vulnerable prior to use.
IaaS security concerns
IaaS is commonly referred to as hardware as a service. IaaS allows customers to replicate an on-premises architecture in the cloud without the need for high upfront cost. IaaS provides a simple way for customers to scale up or down, enter the market quicker, promote business growth and connect to an onsite infrastructure.
The security concerns of IaaS are like a traditional data center. Complex passwords must be enforced, admin/root/superuser accounts protected, obsolete accounts disabled, data encryption enforced, logging enabled and reports configured. Applying least-privileged access and zero-trust principles is essential in securing the IaaS model.
There are several benefits that IaaS offers, including flexibility, cost-savings and availability. Customers should carefully design their architecture, review best practices and apply zero-trust principles before deploying their IaaS environments.
Use a trusted expert
Insufficient due diligence is a top contributor to security risks associated with SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. The risks establish the importance of working with a knowledgeable and trusted technology provider. Arrow's enterprise computing solutions business offers a comprehensive portfolio from the world’s leading technology suppliers to solve your customers' network, computing and security requirements.
Learn more about Arrow’s security capabilities or get in touch with an Arrow representative now.
This article was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated for relevance.
