Where Are Threat Actors Hiding Malicious AI Scripts in Popular SaaS Platforms?

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Malware on the Endpoint vs. Malware in the Cloud
• The SaaS Explosion: A New Shadow IT for Attackers
• The SaaS-Based Intrusion: A Step-by-Step
• Where Malicious AI Scripts Are Hiding in SaaS Platforms (2025)
• The Visibility Blind Spot: When Trusted Platforms Go Rogue
• The Defense: The Rise of SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)
• A CISO's Guide to Securing the SaaS Ecosystem
• Conclusion
• FAQ

Introduction

Threat actors are hiding malicious AI scripts in popular SaaS platforms by abusing their native customization features, automation workflows, and integrated development environments. Key hiding spots in 2025 include custom scripts in CRM and ERP systems, macros and add-ins in cloud-based office productivity suites, and automated rules and app integrations in collaboration tools. This represents a dangerous evolution of the "Living-off-the-Land" attack, where attackers move their malicious logic off of user endpoints and into the trusted, cloud-based platforms we use every day. This makes the threats incredibly difficult to detect, as they execute within an environment that firewalls and traditional security tools are programmed to trust.

Malware on the Endpoint vs. Malware in the Cloud

The traditional model of a malware attack involved an attacker tricking a user into running a malicious executable (.exe) file on their laptop. This would be detected by a modern Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agent, which is designed to monitor processes and files on the endpoint. The new paradigm of attack is fundamentally different. An attacker with stolen credentials doesn't need to drop a file on the user's machine. Instead, they can log in to the company's trusted Salesforce, Microsoft 365, or Slack environment and embed their malicious script directly into the platform's native automation features. The attack is now fileless, serverless (from the victim's perspective), and executes under the legitimate authority of the SaaS application itself, making it invisible to endpoint-focused security controls.

The SaaS Explosion: A New Shadow IT for Attackers

This shift in attacker methodology is a direct response to how modern businesses operate:

Universal Reliance on SaaS: Core business functions—from sales and marketing to finance and HR—now run on a constellation of interconnected SaaS platforms. These platforms are the new "crown jewels."

Powerful Native Capabilities: Modern SaaS platforms are no longer simple applications; they are powerful development platforms. They offer rich scripting languages (like Salesforce's Apex or Google Apps Script), complex automation engines, and marketplaces for third-party app integrations.

The Cloak of Implicit Trust: Security tools are configured to trust traffic going to and from major SaaS providers like Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce. This encrypted HTTPS traffic provides a perfect, uninspected channel for attackers to execute commands and exfiltrate data.

Decentralized Customization: Business users and "citizen developers" are constantly creating their own scripts, automations, and workflows within these platforms to improve productivity. Security teams often lack the visibility or resources to audit this "shadow code" for malicious logic.

The SaaS-Based Intrusion: A Step-by-Step

From a defensive standpoint, understanding this new kill chain is essential:

1. Credential Compromise: The attack almost always begins with the attacker stealing the credentials of a legitimate user, often an administrator or another user with significant permissions within the target SaaS application.

2. Malicious Script Implantation: The attacker logs in as the legitimate user. They then embed a stealthy, AI-driven script into a legitimate-looking feature. For example, they might create a new workflow rule in a CRM that "triggers on new customer creation to sync data," but which secretly contains their malicious logic.

3. Dormancy and Trigger Conditions: The script is designed to be dormant and evasive. The AI component of the script might be programmed to only activate under very specific conditions—for example, when a new customer record is created with a revenue value of over $1 million, or on the last day of the financial quarter.

4. Malicious Execution and Pivot: Once triggered, the script executes entirely within the SaaS platform's own infrastructure. It could be used to exfiltrate all customer data to an external location, use the SaaS platform's APIs to pivot to other connected applications, or send highly believable phishing emails to the company's customers from the trusted platform.

Where Malicious AI Scripts Are Hiding in SaaS Platforms (2025)

Attackers are abusing the legitimate features of the tools your business uses every day:

The Visibility Blind Spot: When Trusted Platforms Go Rogue

This attack vector is incredibly effective because it bypasses the two primary pillars of modern security. **Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)** tools are blind to it because the malicious activity is not happening on the user's laptop; it's happening on Salesforce's or Microsoft's servers. **Network Detection and Response (NDR)** tools are blind to it because all the network traffic is legitimate, encrypted HTTPS traffic between your corporate network and a highly trusted SaaS provider. Traditional security is focused on monitoring the endpoint and the network path, but the attack is happening at the destination.

The Defense: The Rise of SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)

To gain visibility into this blind spot, a new category of security tools has emerged: SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM). These platforms operate on a simple but powerful principle: if the threat is inside the SaaS application, the defense must be there too. An SSPM tool connects directly to your organization's SaaS platforms (like Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Slack, etc.) via APIs. It then uses its own AI to:

Continuously Audit Configurations: It scans for and alerts on risky configurations, such as a new, suspicious workflow automation rule being created.

Analyze Permissions: It maps the complex web of user and application permissions within the SaaS app to identify overly permissive roles that could be abused.

Detect Threats: It can baseline normal activity within the SaaS application and detect anomalous behavior, such as a user suddenly accessing unusual data or a script making a high volume of API calls to an external service.

A CISO's Guide to Securing the SaaS Ecosystem

For CISOs, protecting the organization from this threat requires a new focus on the security of your SaaS applications, not just the access to them.

1. Implement a Robust SSPM Program: You cannot defend what you cannot see. The first and most critical step is to deploy an SSPM tool to gain visibility into the configurations, permissions, and third-party apps across your critical SaaS ecosystem.

2. Enforce Least Privilege within Your SaaS Apps: Your IAM program must extend into your SaaS platforms. Work with business application owners to ensure that users only have the minimum level of permissions required to do their jobs.

3. Establish Governance for Customizations: Create a formal process for the review and approval of any new custom scripts, third-party app integrations, or complex automation workflows within your major SaaS platforms. Treat your SaaS environment like a development platform.

4. Integrate SSPM into Your SOC: Ensure that high-priority alerts from your SSPM tool are fed into your central SIEM or XDR platform, so that your SOC analysts have a single, unified view of threats, whether they originate on an endpoint or within a SaaS application.

Conclusion

As enterprises have migrated their most critical operations to SaaS platforms, it was inevitable that threat actors would follow. The powerful and open customization features of these platforms have created a new, fertile, and often unmonitored attack surface for hiding sophisticated, AI-driven malicious scripts. For CISOs in 2025, the definition of the enterprise environment has expanded. Securing the organization now requires looking beyond the traditional boundaries of the endpoint and the network and gaining deep, continuous visibility into the security posture of the critical SaaS applications that run the business. The "Living-off-the-Land" attack has moved to the cloud, and our defensive visibility must follow.

FAQ

What is SaaS Security?

SaaS security is the practice of securing the data and configurations within the Software-as-a-Service applications your organization uses, such as Microsoft 365, Salesforce, or Slack.

What is SSPM?

SSPM stands for SaaS Security Posture Management. It is a category of security tools that connect to your SaaS applications via API to continuously monitor for misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and signs of compromise.

What is a "Living-off-the-Trusted-Platform" attack?

This is a modern evolution of the "Living-off-the-Land" technique. Instead of using legitimate tools on a local computer, the attacker uses the legitimate, trusted features of a SaaS platform (like its automation or scripting engine) to carry out their attack.

How is this different from a normal malware attack?

A normal malware attack typically involves a malicious file running on a user's endpoint. This type of attack involves a malicious script running inside the cloud infrastructure of the SaaS provider itself, making it invisible to endpoint security tools like EDR.

Can my firewall block this?

No. Your firewall is configured to trust traffic going to and from well-known providers like Microsoft and Salesforce. The malicious activity is hidden within this legitimate, encrypted HTTPS traffic.

What is a "malicious AI script"?

In this context, it's a piece of malicious code hidden within a SaaS platform that uses AI or machine learning logic to be more stealthy and effective. For example, it might use an AI model to only trigger its malicious action when it detects a very specific type of data.

What is a "citizen developer"?

A citizen developer is an employee outside of the IT department who creates business applications and automations, often using the low-code/no-code features of SaaS platforms. This can create "shadow code" that security teams are unaware of.

What is a malicious OAuth application?

This is a common attack vector where a user is tricked into granting a malicious third-party application access to their SaaS account (e.g., "This app wants to access your Microsoft 365 data"). The app then has persistent API access to the user's files and emails.

How do I know if my Salesforce or M365 is compromised?

It is very difficult to know without a dedicated SSPM tool. You would need to manually audit all user permissions, third-party app integrations, and custom automation rules, which is an enormous and impractical task for most organizations.

What is a CRM or ERP system?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management (e.g., Salesforce). ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning (e.g., SAP, Oracle). These are critical business applications that store an organization's most sensitive customer and financial data.

Is this related to a supply chain attack?

Yes, it can be. An attacker could create a malicious third-party app and get it listed on a major SaaS marketplace. When users install the trusted-looking app, they are unknowingly creating a security vulnerability.

What is a "trigger" in an automation workflow?

A trigger is the specific event that causes an automated workflow to run. For example, the trigger could be "when a new email arrives" or "when a new file is uploaded to this folder."

How can I secure my collaboration tools like Slack or Teams?

Implement an SSPM to monitor for risky configurations. Be extremely strict about which third-party apps are allowed to be integrated, and enforce the principle of least privilege for all users and bots.

What is the Principle of Least Privilege?

It's a security concept where a user or system is only granted the absolute minimum permissions necessary to perform its specific, authorized functions. This limits the "blast radius" if the account is compromised.

Is this the same as a CASB?

SSPM is the evolution of a CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker). While CASBs traditionally focused on governing access to cloud apps, SSPMs focus on securing the configuration within the cloud apps themselves.

What's the first step to improving our SaaS security?

The first step is to gain visibility. You need to get a complete inventory of all the SaaS applications being used in your organization (both official and "shadow IT") and then deploy an SSPM to understand their security posture.

Why is a compromised SaaS account so dangerous?

A compromised SaaS account is a trusted insider account. An attacker can use it to access sensitive data, pivot to other connected applications, and send highly believable phishing emails to your employees, partners, and customers.

How do I vet a third-party SaaS application?

Review its security certifications (like SOC 2), understand what data it will access, and what permissions it requires. An SSPM can help automate this by scanning the permissions requested by an app and flagging them as risky.

Can an AI script exfiltrate data?

Yes. A common attack is to write a script inside a CRM that, when a new customer is added, makes an API call to an external, attacker-controlled server and sends a copy of that new customer's data.

What's the most important takeaway for a CISO?

The most important takeaway is that your security boundary has expanded to include your critical SaaS applications. You must have a dedicated strategy and tools (like SSPM) to manage the security posture of these platforms with the same rigor you apply to your own infrastructure.