SaaS Product Security Checklist

16 items · Technical · Hard difficulty · 2 hours

Secure your SaaS product with practical, high-impact security steps.

• Map OWASP Top 10 risks to your app and implement mitigations

  Link each OWASP risk to code, controls, and tests you will apply.

• Harden authentication and session handling

  Cover MFA, throttling, secure cookies, and token lifetimes.

• Enable MFA for all user accounts

  Prefer authenticator apps or hardware keys over SMS.

• Implement login rate limiting and IP throttling

  Block or slow repeated failures and suspicious IPs.

• Use secure, short-lived session tokens with HttpOnly and Secure flags

  Rotate tokens on privilege change and set short expiry.

• Encrypt data in transit with TLS 1.2+ and strong ciphers

  Enforce HSTS and disable weak protocols and ciphers.

• Encrypt sensitive data at rest and enforce key management

  Use KMS, rotate keys, and separate key access controls.

• Use a managed secrets store and rotate credentials regularly

  Avoid hard-coded secrets; grant access via IAM roles.

• Scan repositories and CI for leaked secrets and remove them

  Run pre-commit and CI secret scanning; revoke exposed creds.

• Integrate dependency vulnerability scanning into CI (Snyk/Dependabot)

  Auto-create PRs or block merges on critical vulnerabilities.

• Run static (SAST) and dynamic (DAST) security tests in CI/CD

  Run SAST on PRs and scheduled DAST against staging.

• Enforce least-privilege IAM for services and databases

  Use role-based policies and scoped service accounts.

• Enable centralized logging, alerts, and monitor security events

  Log auth failures, privilege changes, and suspicious activity.

• Schedule regular penetration tests and retest after major changes

  Use third-party pen tests annually and after major releases.

• Maintain an incident response and recovery plan; run tabletop drills

  Document contacts, runbooks, and test responsibilities.

• Backup data securely and test restore procedures regularly

  Encrypt backups, store offsite, and validate restores monthly.

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