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SaaS Product Security Checklist

Hard 16 items · 2 hours
testuser's avatar
testuser Published 1 month ago

A concise, actionable security checklist for SaaS product teams to reduce common web application risks. Ideal for engineers, product managers, and security owners preparing releases, audits, or penetration tests.

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  1. Map OWASP Top 10 risks to your app and implement mitigations — Link each OWASP risk to code, controls, and tests you will apply.
  2. Harden authentication and session handling — Cover MFA, throttling, secure cookies, and token lifetimes.
  3. Enable MFA for all user accounts — Prefer authenticator apps or hardware keys over SMS.
  4. Implement login rate limiting and IP throttling — Block or slow repeated failures and suspicious IPs.
  5. Use secure, short-lived session tokens with HttpOnly and Secure flags — Rotate tokens on privilege change and set short expiry.
  6. Encrypt data in transit with TLS 1.2+ and strong ciphers — Enforce HSTS and disable weak protocols and ciphers.
  7. Encrypt sensitive data at rest and enforce key management — Use KMS, rotate keys, and separate key access controls.
  8. Use a managed secrets store and rotate credentials regularly — Avoid hard-coded secrets; grant access via IAM roles.
  9. Scan repositories and CI for leaked secrets and remove them — Run pre-commit and CI secret scanning; revoke exposed creds.
  10. Integrate dependency vulnerability scanning into CI (Snyk/Dependabot) — Auto-create PRs or block merges on critical vulnerabilities.
  11. Run static (SAST) and dynamic (DAST) security tests in CI/CD — Run SAST on PRs and scheduled DAST against staging.
  12. Enforce least-privilege IAM for services and databases — Use role-based policies and scoped service accounts.
  13. Enable centralized logging, alerts, and monitor security events — Log auth failures, privilege changes, and suspicious activity.
  14. Schedule regular penetration tests and retest after major changes — Use third-party pen tests annually and after major releases.
  15. Maintain an incident response and recovery plan; run tabletop drills — Document contacts, runbooks, and test responsibilities.
  16. Backup data securely and test restore procedures regularly — Encrypt backups, store offsite, and validate restores monthly.
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