SSPM finds misconfigurations by connecting to each SaaS app's admin API, reading its live settings, and comparing them against a security baseline. Any setting that doesn't match, or changes later, gets flagged as a misconfiguration or drift, then sent to your team or fixed automatically.

1. Connect. The tool links to each SaaS app through its admin API, with read access to settings, permissions, and connected apps.
2. Compare. It checks those live settings against a baseline, like the CIS Benchmarks (consensus-based security configurations for common platforms) or a vendor hardening guide.
3. Detect drift. Settings change. An admin loosens a sharing rule for one deadline and never switches it back. The tool catches configuration drift when it happens, not at the next audit.
4. Alert or remediate. The tool notifies your team with the finding or, on supported settings, reverses the change on its own.

What SSPM looks for

A misconfiguration is a setting that creates risk, usually by accident. These are the ones SSPM tools typically flag:

• External sharing without approval: Any user can share files outside the company with no review.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) disabled on admin accounts: Your most powerful accounts rely on a password alone.
• Public shared drives: A drive or folder is open to anyone who finds the link.
• Over-granted admin rights: People hold admin access they don't need. That breaks the principle of least privilege and raises insider threat risk.
• Legacy authentication enabled: Older sign-in protocols stay switched on, and attackers use them to sidestep MFA.
• Unreviewed OAuth and third-party app grants: Connected apps hold permission to read or change your data, and nobody has checked what they can reach.