Why SaaS Data Protection Matters

April 10, 2025 |

0 min read

Lionel Menchaca

Organizations have been migrating to cloud apps for years now. By some estimates, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) app spending is expected to top $300B in 2025, with several analysts predicting a more than 20% growth rate for cloud apps this year and beyond.

It’s easy to see why organizations increasingly depend on SaaS apps. They increase operational efficiency, they scale easily and they help employees work more efficiently. While SaaS apps unlock flexibility and innovation, they’ve also become a major vector for cyberattacks—with some studies suggesting up to 61% of breaches originate through cloud apps.

It’s not just growth—SaaS apps are evolving too

But increased adoption isn’t the only trend—SaaS apps are evolving too. AI is now a standard feature in many SaaS products, powering predictive analytics, intelligent automation and real-time personalization. Another trend: many organizations are turning to vertical SaaS solutions specialized to meet niche needs in industries like finance, healthcare and manufacturing.

So, what are the implications in terms of SaaS data protection and what can your organization do about it?

CASB and DLP provide data protection for SaaS apps

Forcepoint Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) uses out-of-band API connections to discover and protect sensitive data that resides in SaaS apps. It enables real-time protection of data flowing into and out of SaaS applications. And our CASB solution protects data in managed devices via forward proxy functionality and even unmanaged devices via reverse proxy.

Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention (DLP) stops data loss from SaaS apps. Our industry-leading DLP streamlines policy configuration and management with 1,700+ classifiers and policy templates to secure data that resides in whatever cloud apps your organization uses. Forcepoint CASB customers can apply these DLP data policies to all trusted SaaS apps. When used together, Forcepoint CASB and DLP provide clear visibility and control of data in SaaS apps across your organization.

If you’re interested in learning more about how Forcepoint can help protect data in SaaS apps, talk to an expert today.

Lionel Menchaca
Lionel Menchaca has covered data security at Forcepoint since 2020, writing about DLP, DSPM, insider risk and AI security for security and IT leaders. He works with Forcepoint X-Labs threat researchers to turn their findings on emerging threats, from AI-targeted supply chain attacks to prompt injection, into practical guidance, and he leads the company's editorial strategy across the blog and the X-Labs newsletter. Before Forcepoint, Lionel founded and ran Dell's corporate blog for seven years and spent two decades helping enterprise tech companies explain security, cloud and AI.
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