A Step-by-Step Guide to Salesforce Data Security
Having an intentional and frequently updated approach to Salesforce data security provides continuous protection in the face of evolving threats and vulnerabilities.
Why It Matters: Utilizing tools like a security code scan can prevent costly misfires that impact functionality and the overall security of your Salesforce environment.
- A recent study found that coding flaws were responsible for 72% of security vulnerabilities.
- 93% of all company networks are vulnerable to attack by cybercriminals.
Here are 8 steps to improve the security of your Salesforce DevOps pipeline:
- Understand Salesforce’s Shared Responsibility Model
- Implement a Zero-Trust Strategy
- Configure Profiles and Permission Sets
- Establish Access Controls
- Leverage Field-Level Security
- Schedule Repeated Audits of Permission Settings
- Stress the Importance of Best Practices
- Monitor Access Logs and Security Reports
1. Understand Salesforce’s Shared Responsibility Model
The first step is to understand the scope of your responsibility when it comes to data security on the Salesforce platform. Many believe that since Salesforce itself is secure, whatever they put on Salesforce will also be secure. However, this is wrong.
Salesforce is responsible for securing the infrastructure of the platform. Users are responsible for everything on top of that.
This includes the data, customizations, third-party integrations, and applications developed on the platform. Understanding your responsibility will help guide your decisions moving forward.
2. Implement a Zero-Trust Strategy
Simple mistakes can lead to huge data security issues. That’s why it’s important to implement a Zero-Trust data security strategy.
Zero Trust is an approach to data security that recognizes threats can come from both inside and outside an organization.
Permissions should be assigned to team members based on their immediate needs. If someone doesn’t require access to data to perform their duties, they shouldn’t be granted permission to it. Check out our blog for a deeper explanation of this strategy and how to implement it.
3. Configure Profiles and Permission Sets
A major aspect of a Zero-Trust strategy is to take the time to customize the information each team member can access through personalized profiles and permission sets. Analyze the responsibilities for each role and adjust the settings to reflect their needs.
Customize profiles and permission sets to control which objects and fields users can access, as well as what actions they can perform on those objects.
Automated scanners are available to verify proper settings. These settings need to be consistently revisited to ensure they provide appropriate levels of access.
4. Establish Access Controls
Login screens are still the most popular place for cybercriminals to access your data. Compromised credentials allow bad actors to access sensitive information. Additional layers of verification are critical to protect system data.
Two-factor authentication must be utilized to add another layer of protection to your user accounts.
This additional layer guards data even when a password becomes exposed by requiring an additional code sent either to the individual’s phone or email address.
5. Leverage Field-Level Security
There are numerous ways you can ensure the right people have access to specific records. Profiles and permission sets approach this from the individual’s perspective, but management can also go about this from the records themselves.
Field-level security restricts access to sensitive data fields within records and ensures that only authorized users can view or edit specific fields.
This helps organizations comply with regulatory requirements and internal data governance policies by limiting access to confidential or personally identifiable information (PII) to only those users who need it to perform their job functions.
6. Schedule Repeated Audits of Permission Settings
All of these settings will need to be continuously revisited and updated as team members assume new roles, new team members are hired, and the wealth of data grows larger.
Regular audits of these settings ensure your configurations are up-to-date and are providing the coverage you need to maintain security and achieve compliance with regulatory guidelines.
Leveraging an automated policy scanner will keep these settings in line with organizational policies and requirements.
7. Stress the Importance of Best Practices
The way your team interacts with your data will have a direct impact on the success of your data security strategy. Utilizing automated tools to perform a security code scan, for instance, will guarantee clean code in every DevOps project.
Clearly communicate best practices and encourage your team to ask questions to eliminate confusion and give them everything they need to properly handle data.
A team with a uniform approach to data security will have the best chance at maintaining a stable environment.
8. Monitor Access Logs and Security Reports
Automated DevOps tools like CodeScan produce reports that contain critical information regarding the health of your DevOps approach and Salesforce environment altogether. These reports should be analyzed for any activity that is out of the ordinary.
Review access logs to verify each user within your Salesforce environment is a sanctioned employee.
Total oversight is crucial to avoid a data breach. A security code scan will verify stable applications and a policy scanner can ensure everyone is interacting with your platform appropriately.
Next Step…
Unless you’re a brand-new organization, chances are you’re not starting from scratch when it comes to your Salesforce data security strategy. So how do you know when it’s time to update your approach?
Read our blog, How Effective Are Your Salesforce Security Best Practices?, to learn more about updating your approach and the benefits you stand to gain.
FAQs
How do I define roles and permissions for users in Salesforce?
Start by creating a role hierarchy that mirrors your organization’s structure. Assign different levels of access based on this hierarchy, with higher-level roles inheriting access from those below them. Next, customize profiles or permission sets to specify the objects, fields, and actions each user can perform. Profiles are typically assigned based on job function, while permission sets allow for additional permissions to be granted on an as-needed basis. These settings should regularly be reviewed and adjusted as roles and responsibilities evolve to ensure that data remains secure and accessible to authorized users within your organization.
What are sharing rules, and when should I use them?
Sharing rules are used to assign access to records beyond what is granted by the organization’s default settings. They are typically employed when you need to selectively grant access to certain records based on specific criteria. Sharing rules are particularly useful when you want to automate the sharing of records without manually adjusting individual record-level permissions.
What tools should I use to ensure security requirements are being met in Salesforce DevOps?
A comprehensive approach provides the best protection from evolving data security threats in your Salesforce DevOps pipeline. This includes a version control system to prevent overwrites and track changes to code. Automated testing tools like static code analysis ensure strong code while integration testing tools prepare the update for deployment. These tools create strong updates and applications and prevent potentially dangerous misfires and bugs in live environments.
