Building Trust Through Security: 3 Ways Propel Protects Your Business

Imagine this: you've spent years developing a groundbreaking product. It’s your company's lifeblood—your most valuable asset. But in a single, unnoticed vulnerability, a faceless actor has not only accessed your data—they’ve stolen the very essence of your business, your intellectual property (IP).

In the blink of an eye, everything that makes your company unique is at risk of being replicated, sold, or worse—rendered obsolete.

This isn't just hypothetical. It’s happening every day to companies who underestimate the security of their software applications.

Let’s explore why software security isn’t just an information technology (IT) responsibility—it’s a business-critical necessity for protecting your innovation and, ultimately, your survival in a hyper-competitive market.

Common Security Gaps That Increase Risk

The rising prevalence of cyberattacks, ransomware, and data breaches illustrates why software security should be foundational to any enterprise’s strategy. According to Forbes, 2023 saw a 72% increase in breaches since 2021, which held the previous record.

The reason for this may be that businesses still lack even the most basic security measures for software protection.

For example, despite the well-documented advantages of multi-factor authentication (MFA), many organizations still fail to implement this crucial layer of protection, leaving themselves exposed to security vulnerabilities. A recent breach involving Snowflake, a leading data warehousing company, was a cautionary tale on the danger of not using MFA, allowing attackers to exploit vulnerabilities and compromised its user credentials.

Furthermore, even people with legitimate access can pose significant risks. Some are genuinely bad actors who plan malicious attacks, while some may simply mishandle sensitive information — like forwarding confidential emails to unauthorized external parties. 

The recent high-profile case involving the theft of proprietary AI source code from Google brought to light the dangers of insider threats. The former employee exploited his unauthorized access to steal valuable IP information, revealing a damaging hole in Google’s information security. Such security incidents caused by insider actions, whether accidental or deliberate, are a frequent cause of compromised IP.

But these specific cases represent just a small slice of the bigger picture of potential cyber threats. Vulnerabilities also arise from weak infrastructure and poorly configured systems.

When businesses rely on outdated or improperly set up software systems, they leave themselves exposed to a wide range of security risks. Without sufficient firewalls, robust network security, or access configurations, companies open themselves up to malware, cyberattacks, and data breaches.

These security issues are often exploited by hackers who can easily find weak points in poorly protected systems, particularly in web applications or open-source applications where security controls may not be as stringent. Proactive risk management and security testing are essential to identify and rectify these weaknesses before they lead to significant damage.

How to Identify Better System Security

There’s no one-size-fits-all security solution. Best-in-class cloud-native providers like Propel Software recognize the critical nature of data security. Propel safeguards its users’ information through a multi-layered approach, protecting it from the moment it enters the system to the time it rests within our data centers.

Let’s explore each layer of security, from user access and application controls to the robust infrastructure that keeps user data safe.

3 Layers of Comprehensive Security

Propel engineered its platform to address the most pressing security concerns for modern businesses. In its efforts to prioritize risk mitigation so customers can focus on innovation and growth, Propel has built 3 layers of comprehensive security:

1. Organization and User Layer:

Any software product is a non-starter without a high level of trust in the security and safety of its customer’s data.

At Propel, data privacy is paramount. Propel does not store, see, or access a company's sensitive data. The platform’s architecture ensures that while data is securely managed, full ownership and control remain with the customer and their security teams.

For folks who are already in your system, including former and current employees, partners, or suppliers, Propel has several authorization safeguards in place.

That’s why Propel’s MFA methodology includes four levels to guarantee safety: Single Sign-On (SSO), two-factor authentication, strong password requirements, and user session expiration.

Verifying a user's identity (authentication) is essential, but it's only half the story. Authorization determines what that user can do once they're inside. It's like giving someone a key to your house – you still need to decide whether they can just visit the living room, or if they have access to the whole place, including the vault!

That’s why Propel enacts what’s called the Principle of Least Privilege to only allow users access to what they need to do their job, using fine-grained, modular permission sets. These act like building blocks, allowing you to craft complex access controls with groups and precise permission management. This means you can disable permissions when needed, set them to expire, and have more control overall.

2. Application and Data Layer

Even with privacy and user authorization layers in place, security protocols are essential to maintaining the integrity of your data.

Propel supports these goals with a flexible, layered sharing model to manage data access at different levels:

Organization: Controls access for the entire organization by maintaining user lists, enforcing password policies, and limiting logins to specific hours and locations.

Object: Permissions control who can perform CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations on specific objects, such as granting read-only access to contract manufacturers for Items and Documents.

Record: Users may have access to objects but only view certain records based on sharing rules. Propel’s automated Sharing Rules feature allows for efficient, secure record management without manual intervention.

Field: Restricts access to specific fields within an object, such as hiding the "Accessible By" field from supplier users to prevent disclosure of who else has access.

Lastly, Propel’s API supports secure data integration with external systems, using industry-standard protocols like SAML, OAuth, and OpenID, ensuring compliance with the same data authorization policies as the user interface.

3. Infrastructure Layer

Given the rising number of phishing attempts and cyberattacks, if you’re shopping for new enterprise software, their security practices should be top of mind in every release of the software development life cycle.

Propel’s foundation on the Salesforce platform gives it a unique advantage. Salesforce’s infrastructure is renowned for its robust security capabilities. As a single-platform solution, Propel users don’t have to worry about endpoint security, as all data is housed within the system. Plus, Propel benefits from Salesforce’s stringent data center security measures to safeguard customer data.

Salesforce’s data center security is a multi-layered strategy to protect the physical facilities, IT infrastructure, and data stored within. It ensures confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical information. 

Here are the security measures Propel takes to protect your data:

Data Encryption: Your data is encrypted at rest by default on Salesforce’s Hyperforce infrastructure. Data in transit is always encrypted between the user interface, APIs, and the backend. Propel also provides granular control over data encryption using Salesforce Shield Platform Encryption, allowing you to manage and rotate encryption keys as needed to meet stringent compliance requirements.

Threat Detection: Propel uses statistical and machine learning methods to detect threats, viewable in Event Monitoring. When threats are detected, the platform offers in-app or email notifications for your security team to respond.

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity: Propel’s Business Continuity Plan ensures the restoration of critical processes if key resources (buildings, tech, staff, vendors, records, equipment) are lost. 

Data Backup and Recovery: The Propel platform offers several native backup options, including Salesforce Backup for creating and managing backup policies with daily incremental backups, data export services for manual or scheduled exports via the UI, Data Loader for on-demand exports via API, and Report Export for exporting data through reports.

Forensics: The Propel platform supports auditing tools that provide important information for diagnosing potential security issues or dealing with real ones. Propel tracks Login History, Record creation and modification, and Field-level updates.

Get more information about all of these services in Propel’s Trust Center.

By leveraging this infrastructure, including physical, network, and its own enhanced application security, Propel ensures that your data is not only housed securely but also protected with the latest in enterprise-level security features.

Conclusion

Hackers aren’t just waiting around coffee shops to see who leaves their laptops unattended. Companies often unknowingly increase their cybersecurity risk through basic oversights. Even if you take steps like moving off an old system that no longer complied with security requirements, employing penetration testing, and implementing patches and antivirus software, many modern apps and systems are still missing the more sophisticated security tools and automation required to keep your data safe.

Cybersecurity is not just about preventing attacks but ensuring continuity and resilience in the face of emerging risks. With Propel, companies can feel confident that their intellectual property, customer data, and business continuity are protected at every step.

Propel’s comprehensive security policies protect your business from today's most sophisticated threats. Visit our Trust Center to learn more.