CIS Benchmarking

Ensure your SaaS and cloud platforms are configured securely from the start, giving you peace of mind and real-world protection.

What are CIS benchmarks?

CIS benchmarks are a set of industry-leading standards by The Centre for Internet Security (CIS) to assist businesses in securely configuring their IT systems.

These globally recognised best practices offer organisations clear, step-by-step guidance to defend their digital infrastructure against cyber threats.

The benefits of CIS-aligned cloud configurations

When your systems adhere to CIS standards, you unlock several advantages:

Fewer hidden vulnerabilities
Misconfigurations and setup errors are an obvious and major entry point for cyber attackers.

Improved regulatory posture
Many frameworks (including ISO 27001, NIST and GDPR) recognise CIS-based configuration as part of good practice.

Greater confidence
Demonstrate to clients and partners that you’ve taken the necessary technical steps to secure services and data.

Operational efficiency
When your environment is tightened, you reduce downtime, simplify audits and minimise ‘noise’ from alert floods.

Who needs CIS benchmarking?

Our CIS benchmarking service is useful for companies that handle sensitive data or operate in regulated industries.

Organisations in sectors such as healthcare, finance, and IT can significantly strengthen their security by aligning their SaaS environments with CIS requirements. Given the sensitive nature of data in these industries, following these benchmarks helps minimise the risk of breaches while ensuring compliance with industry regulations.

However, implementing CIS benchmarking is strongly recommended for any business that relies on cloud-based services, regardless of the sector.

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How we work

We make CIS benchmarking simple, clear, and actionable, ensuring your business can strengthen security without disruption.

Our process includes:

  • A security posture assessment
    Our team will perform a thorough evaluation on your SaaS environment, comparing your current security settings. This assessment will cover access management, data encryption, network security, and vulnerability management to ensure that the system meets CIS benchmarks.
  • Detailed CIS benchmarking report
    Following the assessment, we will create a detailed report outlining how your systems comply with CIS standards. This report provides a detailed breakdown of security gaps, categorising them by risk level to assist in prioritising remediation efforts.
  • Implementation support
    Our cyber security specialists collaborate with your team to help implement the necessary changes. We ensure that your security enhancements are deployed efficiently and effectively by providing hands-on support, documentation, and guidance.

By completing this process, you gain a clear path to strengthening your SaaS security. You move beyond generic risk reduction, gaining a prioritised roadmap of security controls that demonstrate a serious, proactive commitment to data protection. Contact our team to get started.

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Key questions answered

Our CIS benchmarking service offers comprehensive security coverage across a wide range of essential SaaS platforms, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Slack. Cloud infrastructure receives deep scrutiny, including Amazon Web Services and Azure, alongside Oracle Cloud and SAP Cloud. We also safeguard specialised business platforms such as Salesforce, ServiceNow, Dropbox, Zoom and Adobe Creative Cloud.

These standards have gained global acceptance for three powerful reasons. They are created by cyber security specialists, ensuring the recommendations are both practical and effective for implementation. They provide comprehensive guidance across a vast range of SaaS technologies and software applications, meaning businesses of all sizes find specific, tailored security configurations.

Critically, the guidelines offer flexibility; they are regularly updated to reflect and defend against emerging threats like ransomware and new attack vectors, ensuring you always have access to the most current security advice to stay ahead of potential risks.

Our service immediately solves the most common security failures: misconfigurations and weak authentication settings (like missing MFA), which are the primary causes of breaches. We secure external exposure from insecure APIs and third-party integrations, protecting your data flow.

Critically, we address the common lack of visibility by giving you clear insight into security settings, enabling proactive risk management and rapid threat response across your SaaS environment.

Secure your SaaS environment with Net-Defence

At Net-Defence, we can help you protect your business with security solutions tailored to your SaaS system. Our cyber security specialists will work closely with you to ensure your SaaS configurations align with industry best practices.

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