In August, Palo Alto Networks got breached.
They’re a cybersecurity company. They had firewalls, antivirus, and email filters.
None of it mattered.
The breach came through a Salesforce integration. Over 700 organizations were affected.
Your Security Tools Have a Blind Spot
Your firewall protects your network. That’s good.
Your antivirus scans for malware. Also good.
Your email filters catch phishing. Great.
But none of these tools can see your SaaS integrations.
And that’s the problem.
What Are SaaS Integrations?
Your marketing platform connects to your CRM. Your HR system links to payroll. Your project management tool accesses client files.
Each connection is an integration. Each integration creates a pathway to your data.
Most companies have hundreds of these pathways. And they’re not monitoring them.
How Attackers Exploit Integrations
The Palo Alto Networks breach is a perfect example.
Attackers compromised a Salesforce integration. The access looked completely legitimate.
It had authorized credentials. It used valid tokens. Traditional security tools saw nothing wrong.
Attackers didn’t break through the walls. They walked through the front door.
The Numbers
Here’s what most organizations don’t realize:
- Average organization: 130+ SaaS applications
- Each application: 3-5 integrations
- Total pathways to your data: 400+
- Pathways monitored: Less than 10%
That means 90% of your data pathways are invisible to your security team.
Three Questions to Ask
Question 1: How many applications access your sensitive systems?
Question 2: Are you monitoring those integrations?
Question 3: If one was compromised, how quickly would you know?
If you can’t answer these questions, you have a blind spot.
Why This Matters
Regulatory Compliance
Auditors ask about integration monitoring. If you can’t answer, you get findings.
Cyber Insurance
Insurers require integration visibility. Without it, you pay higher premiums or get denied coverage.
Client Trust
Integration breaches are hard to explain. You can’t tell clients what accessed their data.
Operational Risk
Integration incidents spread fast. One compromised integration can cascade across multiple systems.
What to Do About It
Organizations that avoid integration breaches do three things.
First: Complete an integration inventory. You can’t secure what you can’t see.
Second: Monitor integration activity continuously. Annual reviews aren’t enough.
Third: Respond quickly when something looks wrong. Identify, disconnect, assess, restore.
The question isn’t whether integration attacks will continue. They will.
The question is whether attackers find your gaps before you do.