WithSecure™ Cloud Protection for Salesforce vs CASB

Choosing the right tools

As companies have adopted cloud products over the past decade this has created additional challenges for security professionals to address. Choosing the right tools for this task is the essential first step that organizations must take to secure their operations in the cloud.

Salesforce Cloud customers will be aware of the issues around the shared responsibility model they have signed up to with Salesforce. But may be considering the best solution to implement to ensure they uphold their side of this agreement.

WithSecure™’s Cloud Protection for Salesforce has been created and designed together with Salesforce for this purpose and we often get questions from prospective customers about how it compares to a cloud access security broker (CASB) solution.

The simple answer is that WithSecure™’s Cloud Protection for Salesforce solution, (as the name implies) is made specifically for Salesforce. Other CASB solutions are made with a more general purpose in mind and will need a great amount of time and resources to install and implement.

WithSecure™’s Principal Architect for Cloud Solutions Dmitriy Viktorov illustrates this with the metaphor of buying a printer, “CASB is like a multi-purpose, complex, bulky and noisy device that can print, scan, copy and fax documents. It comes with a thick manual that you need to read before using. You will rarely use all features and they won’t produce high quality results anyway,” he says.

If you want to buy cloud protection for Salesforce you should look at the product which is specifically designed for that purpose. Or to continue the printer metaphor, “Unlike CASBs, WithSecure™ solution is more like a slim and shiny printer designed for one purpose–print high quality documents and images, which always guarantees the best result possible. It is also simple to install and use,” says Viktorov.

Here are seven ways that WithSecure™’s Cloud Protection for Salesforce differentiates itself from generic CASB solutions:

1

Simple installation – WithSecure™’s solution is available from the Salesforce AppExchange as an add-on and can be installed in minutes. CASB implementation requires the company to have the technical skills and resources available to install, implement and maintain it. Go to AppExchange

2

No issues with privacy and confidentiality. Many CASB solutions provide integration based on a forward or reverse proxy mechanism, which essentially acts as a man-in-the-middle between the client and cloud app. Therefore, a CASB solution may break encryption in order to inspect all the data exchanged during communication. This kind of proxy may hinder performance or cause compatibility issues. WithSecure™’s solution runs as a native app in the Salesforce platform and doesn’t require network level interception. Go to AppExchange

3

No complex cloud strategy required – With the WithSecure™ solution, you pay for the Salesforce cloud protection you need now. The CASB route requires that you understand what cloud applications you need both now and in the future to choose the right solution and provider.Go to AppExchange

4

Device freedom – Employees automatically have freedom to use their own devices with WithSecure™’s solution because the application provides security regardless of the device. A CASB solution requires the company to decide how to treat users and configure the solution for this policy.Go to AppExchange

5

Simplified protection – With the WithSecure™ solution you get protection at the point you actually need it. Most CASBs will require you to implement many different policies for different scenarios, another time-consuming exercise.Go to AppExchange

6

Real-time protection – CASB solutions implementing API-based integration don’t provide real-time protection for file uploads and downloads. On the other hand, the WithSecure™ solution provides click-time URL protection, which is the most efficient way to prevent phishing attacks.Go to AppExchange

7

Simple licensing – WithSecure™’s solution is a pay-as-you-go, usage-based model. Many CASB providers have complex agreements, and you may end up needing more than one solution to cover all use cases.Go to AppExchange

Conclusion

As mentioned above, WithSecure™ Cloud Protection is a native application installed from Salesforce AppExchange and operating entirely within the Salesforce platform. This also means it is fully compatible with Salesforce Shield encryption and is recommended in the Salesforce Platform Security FAQs.