TL;DR
TL;DR
SaaS products handle user data and payments, making security critical. Before launch, verify authentication and authorization, secure customer data with proper access controls, protect payment processing, set up monitoring, and have an incident response plan ready.
Authentication and Access 5
Data Protection 5
Payments and Billing 4
Infrastructure 3
Operations 3
What security do I need for a SaaS MVP?
At minimum: proper authentication, data isolation between customers (multi-tenant), HTTPS, secure payment processing, and a way to respond to security issues. These are non-negotiable before accepting paying customers.
Do I need SOC 2 compliance before launching a SaaS?
No. SOC 2 becomes relevant when selling to enterprises that require vendor security reviews. Focus on the fundamentals first. Most early-stage SaaS products can launch without any compliance certification.
How do I test multi-tenant data isolation before launch?
Create two test accounts and try to access account A's data while logged into account B. Test every API endpoint, not just the UI. If your database uses row-level security (like Supabase RLS), verify the policies with a direct database query using account B's credentials. Many leaks show up only at the API layer.
What happens if I launch with a security issue?
Depends on the issue. A broken login flow is recoverable. Leaking one customer's data to another customer is not. You'll face immediate churn and potential GDPR/CCPA liability. Multi-tenant isolation and exposed API keys are the two issues most likely to cause real damage at launch, so start there.
Find security issues in your SaaS before your customers do.