Before You Scan That SaaS App: Remember That “Helpful Scanning” Is Still Hacking

Every year, a well-meaning security or IT team decides it’s prudent to “run a quick scan” of the SaaS platform they use - just to be safe. And every year, someone has to explain that this is not due diligence; it is a serious legal and contractual violation.  Unauthorized scanning is treated as unauthorized access, and it exposes both the individual and their employer to significant consequences.

1. Unauthorized Scanning Is Not “Security Hygiene.”-  It’s Illegal.

Modern computer-misuse laws are clear: the act of scanning a system you do not own is itself a form of unauthorized access. Under the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), running a vulnerability scan without permission qualifies as  “obtaining information” from a protected computer “without authorization” -even if no data is extracted.If  the scan degrades performance – and poorly configured scans often do – it can meet the threshold for knowingly, recklessly, or negligently causing damage. Court have even treated scans involving spoofing or bypassing controls, as unauthorized access in furtherance of fraud.

The United Kingdom’s Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the EU Directive 2013/40/EU  on Attacks Against Information Systems, treat unauthorized scanning as a criminal offense - as do more than 150 countries worldwide.

Penalties typically include fines, potential imprisonment, compensation to impacted parties, and civil liability for incident response costs, downtime, revenue losses, and customer service credits. Organizations operating in regulated sectors face additional exposure: regulatory investigations, loss of operating licenses, disqualification from contracts, and denial of insurance coverage.

2. Your SaaS Agreement Almost Certainly Prohibits It

Every reputable SaaS provider includes explicit terms prohibiting customer-initiated penetration testing, vulnerability scanning or security assessment without prior written approval. Running scans anyway breaches the agreement your organization signed. Providers are well within their rights to suspend service, impose financial penalties, pursue legal remedies, or report unlawful behavior to authorities.

3. You’re Not Just Testing Their System — You Are Testing Everyone’s

SaaS platforms are almost always multi-tenant. A single unauthorized scan can trigger alarms in the provider’s security operations center, activate DDoS protection mechanisms, and slow or disrupt the service for thousands of other customers. What may feel like a harmless test from your perspective looks, to the provider, indistinguishable from an active attack. The reputational and professional consequences for the individual responsible can be sever.

A Better Approach

If you require assurance about the security of a SaaS platform, use the proper channels. Reputable provider will supply audit and penetration testing attestations, ISO certifications, SOC 2 report summaries, and remediation status statements.  When further clarification is needed, a brief call with the provider’s cybersecurity team is are more effective – and infinitely safer and more legal – than attempting to test the environment yourself.

Final Thoughts

Good intentions do not confer legal authority. If you don’t own the system and you don’t have explicit written authorization, scanning a SaaS platform is not diligence. It is unauthorized access, and it carries serious professional, legal, and financial risk.