Software as a Service
Access providers’ applications over the internet using Software as a Service (SaaS).
Definition — SaaS
SaaS allows government organisations to access providers’ services through either a:
- thin-client interface — such as a web browser
- program interface.
A thin-client interface is a light-weight application that performs minimal processing. It relies on a server component to process information.
People can use different types of devices to run the interfaces needed to access providers’ services.
Software as a Service (SaaS) — National Institute of Standards and Technology
Marketplace contracts available for SaaS
SaaS providers on Marketplace offer contracts in areas such as:
- data analytics
- shared working
- digital publishing
- project management
- online marketing.
Public cloud services channel for Software as a Service (SaaS) — Marketplace
Shared responsibility for security in SaaS
In SaaS, government organisations and service providers share responsibility for security. Each is responsible for managing different areas of SaaS.
Government organisations
Government organisations have very limited control over security controls in SaaS. Generally, government organisations:
- are responsible for managing their user accounts to make sure each is only assigned the permissions required for the user to get their work done
- can make limited configuration changes to the application.
Service providers
Service providers are responsible for the implementation, management and maintenance of the security controls for the:
- data centre
- hardware
- virtualisation hypervisor
- platform — that is, the guest operating system
- application services
- data — including the applications they deploy in the SaaS.
A hypervisor is a specialised operating system that allows server hardware to run multiple guest operating systems at the same time.
Ownership of the information’s risk
Government organisations always own the risk of their information in a public cloud service, even though the management of certain security responsibilities are shared.
How to manage security ownership
Find out how government organisations handle their security ownership — making sure that risks are within their risk tolerance.
Security ownership in all service models
More information
New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) lists and explains how each service model operates and the differing levels of responsibility for managing security.
Cloud computing: shared responsibility security models — NCSC
Utility links and page information
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