Security isn’t viewed by most as a wildly fun and adventurous topic. 

 

You’re likely working in Salesforce because you enjoy building with your software skills, configuring the easy-to-use platform, learning about the latest and great products like Agentforce, all while utilizing the free training that Trailhead affords you. 

 

This probably didn’t come about because you dreamed of managing security guardrails to protect your customers, your company and your data. Do you dream about finding SOQL injections or hard-coded credentials in code? Do you awaken in a panic thinking of folders of downloaded data on an overworked admin’s computer? Did your early aptitude tests point to a career in ethical hacking? (Probably not, but it would be wild if that was the case!)

 

Chances are that at this very moment you have a slew of ignored emails in your personal inbox imploring you to change your bank password, click on links to view hot videos or seductively purchase anti-aging creams at a limited price. This is the type of email you’ve warned your grandparents about. While tempting, these offers and communications are likely attempts to steal your data, install malware, capture your commonly used passwords or otherwise cause havoc with your information.

 

Using a company laptop and working on the Salesforce platform doesn’t protect you from risks. Hopefully your company’s Information Technology (IT) department has controls in place to block spam and report phishing and scan your poor computer for viruses. Ideally, they also provide training to detect and delete the threats that are only a click away. 

​

The internet is a wild place full of bad actors, hackers, vigilantes, and other cyber-pirates. They learn quickly, adapt and evolve, making it harder and harder to secure data by identifying threats ahead of time and preparing for them. 

 

The challenge to secure an org, ensuring your data is protected following regulatory guidelines, builds follow best security principles in mind and harden an org is like shooting at a moving target. Particularly with AI now in play for security threats, threats are harder and harder to identify.  

 

This book was written with admins, developers and program managers in mind. It’s designed to guide you through security principles, teach you ways of thinking like a security expert and learn skills that will boost your Salesforce career and beyond. 

 

For those of you who are self-taught computer geniuses or simply slept through some of your courses, cybersecurity principles may be a new topic to you. Before we dive deeply into the cool, calm lakes of the Salesforce platform, a light overview of cybersecurity principles is warranted. These principles will help guide the framework you develop to secure your Salesforce org. 

 

Let’s get started on your journey towards becoming a Salesforce security subject matter expert (SME)."