What Is SSPM (SaaS Security Posture Management)?
SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) is a category of tools that continuously monitor SaaS applications — such as Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Slack, or Google Workspace — for misconfigurations, risky settings, and excessive access. SSPM platforms scan a SaaS tenant's admin settings, sharing permissions, and integrated third-party applications, flagging issues like publicly shared files, weak authentication policies, or unused-but-still-authorized app integrations. A significant part of SSPM's job is inventorying the OAuth applications and API integrations connected to a SaaS platform, since these connected apps often hold broad, standing access that isn't visible through normal user-account reviews.
Why It Matters
Every SaaS integration a user approves — a Slack bot, a Google Workspace add-on, a Salesforce connected app — creates a non-human identity in the form of an OAuth token, often with far-reaching scopes granted with a single click and rarely revisited. These integrations proliferate through shadow IT: employees connecting tools to get work done, unaware that the resulting token becomes a standing, largely invisible credential. 80% of identity breaches involve a non-human identity (OWASP NHI Top 10, 2025), and OAuth tokens are a common vector precisely because they bypass password-based controls like MFA entirely — once granted, they keep working until explicitly revoked. In a typical 100-person company, non-human identities can outnumber employees 45 to 1, and a meaningful share of that sprawl lives inside SaaS platforms as connected apps nobody remembers approving.
How Cydenti Helps
Cydenti extends visibility into the non-human identities that SaaS platforms generate — OAuth-connected apps, integration tokens, and automation bots — correlating them with the broader identity graph across cloud and on-premises systems. Where SSPM tools typically stop at a single SaaS tenant, Cydenti tracks how a connected app's access compares to its actual usage and flags over-permissioned or abandoned integrations regardless of which platform they touch. See how Cydenti brings non-human identity risk scoring to your SaaS integrations.
Explore →Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between SSPM and CASB?
SSPM focuses on the internal configuration and posture of SaaS applications you already use — settings, permissions, and connected integrations. A CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) sits between users and cloud services to enforce policy on traffic in real time, including discovering unsanctioned SaaS use. They're complementary, not interchangeable.
Does SSPM catch risky OAuth app integrations?
Most SSPM tools do inventory OAuth-connected apps within a given SaaS tenant, but coverage is often limited to that platform and to scopes the vendor exposes via API. Broader non-human identity tools correlate those tokens across multiple SaaS platforms and cloud environments for a fuller risk picture.
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