Part 2: Salesforce Security Best Practices
Welcome to the second half of our security in Salesforce discussion!
In this post, we’ll cover three more essential Salesforce security practices: IP ranges and session security, monitoring and auditing, and data backup!
1. Login IP Ranges and Session Security: Restricting Access
You can control where and when your users access Salesforce by setting login IP ranges and session security controls. These features help prevent unauthorized access by restricting logins to specific locations or times.
Best Practice: Define Login IP Ranges and Session Settings By specifying trusted IP ranges and session security settings, you can limit where and how users access Salesforce, adding another layer of security to your org.
How to Implement It:
Login IP Ranges: Set IP ranges within your users’ profiles to restrict access to Salesforce only from trusted networks, such as your office’s internal network or VPN. This prevents unauthorized users from logging in from unknown locations.
Session Security: Configure session settings to determine how long a user’s session remains active before being logged out. Shorter session times reduce the window for unauthorized access if a session is left unattended. You can also require reauthentication for specific actions, such as accessing sensitive data or using custom apps.
Tip: Regularly review your IP range settings to ensure they reflect your current security needs, especially if your workforce is remote or distributed.
2. Monitoring and Auditing: Keeping an Eye on Activity
A critical aspect of maintaining Salesforce security is continuously monitoring and auditing activity in your organization. By doing so, you can detect suspicious behavior and take action before a security incident occurs.
Best Practice: Use Salesforce Shield’s Event Monitoring Event Monitoring, part of Salesforce Shield, allows you to track detailed user activity within your Salesforce org, including logins, record access, and data exports. This level of visibility can help you identify potential security risks early.
AI-generated image of a brown tabby cat attempting to hack into a terminal.
How to Implement It:
Event Monitoring: Enable Event Monitoring to track critical activities such as user logins, API calls, data exports, and changes to records. This allows you to identify abnormal behavior, such as repeated failed login attempts or large data exports, which could indicate a potential security breach.
Field History Tracking: Enable field history tracking for key objects to keep a record of changes to important data, such as account details, opportunity stages, or contact information. This gives you an audit trail to refer to in case of data integrity issues or security concerns.
Tip: Regularly review audit logs and reports to catch potential security incidents before they escalate.
3. Data Backup and Recovery: Planning for the Worst
Despite your best efforts, security incidents can still happen. Having a robust data backup and recovery plan is essential for minimizing downtime and ensuring that your data is not lost.
Best Practice: Implement a Reliable Data Backup Strategy Salesforce provides some native backup options, but for more comprehensive protection, consider using third-party backup solutions to ensure that your data is recoverable in the event of data loss, corruption, or a breach.
How to Implement It:
Data Export Service: Salesforce offers a Data Export service that allows you to schedule regular backups of your data. Make sure these backups are stored securely and that you have a process in place for restoring data if needed.
Third-Party Backup Solutions: For more advanced backup and recovery needs, consider using third-party solutions that provide automated backups, enhanced data restoration options, and encryption for your backup files.
Tip: Test your backup and recovery processes regularly to ensure they work as expected in a real-world scenario.
Conclusion
Again, data security is a critical responsibility for any business using Salesforce. We hope that you found this two-part series insightful! You’re invited to schedule a free consultation with Saasy Cat for any follow-up questions on these topics.
Published Monday, September 23, 2024 by Sam.
