Cloud Security

Cloud computing security or, more simply, cloud security, refers to a broad set of policies, technologies, applications, and controls utilized to protect virtualized IP, data, applications, services, and the associated infrastructure of cloud computing. Cloud security is a collection of procedures and technology designed to address external and internal threats to business security. Organizations need cloud security as they move toward their digital transformation strategy and incorporate cloud-based tools and services as part of their infrastructure.

Why is cloud security important?

In modern-day enterprises, there has been a growing transition to cloud-based environments and IaaS, Paas or SaaS computing models. The dynamic nature of infrastructure management, especially in scaling applications and services, can bring a number of challenges to enterprises when adequately resourcing their departments. These as-a-service models give organizations the ability to offload many of the time-consuming, IT-related tasks. Cloud security should be an important topic of discussion regardless of the size of your enterprise. Cloud infrastructure supports nearly all aspects of modern computing in all industries and across multiple verticals.

What are some cloud security challenges?

Lack of visibility It's easy to lose track of how your data is accessed and by whom, since many cloud services are accessed outside of corporate networks and through third parties.

Multitenancy Public cloud environments house multiple client infrastructures under the same umbrella. As a result, it's possible that your hosted services can get compromised by malicious attackers as collateral damage when targeting other businesses.

Access management and shadow IT While enterprises may be able to successfully manage and restrict access points across on-premises systems, administering these same levels of restrictions can be challenging in cloud environments. This can be dangerous for organizations that don't deploy bring-your-own device (BYOD) policies and allow unfiltered access to cloud services from any device or geolocation.

Compliance Regulatory compliance management is oftentimes a source of confusion for enterprises that use public or hybrid cloud deployments. Overall accountability for data privacy and security still rests with the enterprise, and heavy reliance on third-party solutions to manage this component can lead to costly compliance issues.

Misconfigurations A substantial portion of breached records can be attributed to misconfigured assets, making the inadvertent insider a key issue for cloud computing environments. Misconfigurations can include leaving default administrative passwords in place, or not creating appropriate privacy settings.

What types of cloud security solutions are available?

Identity and access management (IAM) IAM tools and services allow enterprises to deploy policy-driven enforcement protocols for all users attempting to access both on-premises and cloud-based services. The core functionality of IAM is to create digital identities for all users so they can be actively monitored and restricted when necessary, during all data interactions.

Data loss prevention (DLP) Data loss prevention (DLP) services offer a set of tools and services designed to ensure the security of regulated cloud data. DLP solutions use a combination of remediation alerts, data encryption and other preventive measures to protect all stored data, whether at rest or in motion.

Security information and event management (SIEM) IT?provides a comprehensive security orchestration solution that automates threat monitoring, detection and response in cloud-based environments. SIEM technology uses artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technologies to correlate log data across multiple platforms and digital assets. This gives IT teams the ability to successfully apply their network security protocols, enabling them to quickly react to any potential threats.

Business continuity and disaster recovery Regardless of the preventative measures organizations have in place for their on-premises and cloud-based infrastructures, data breaches and disruptive outages can still occur. Enterprises must be able to quickly react to newly discovered vulnerabilities or significant system outages as soon as possible. Disaster recovery solutions?are a staple in cloud security and provide organizations with the tools, services and protocols necessary to expedite the recovery of lost data and resume normal business operations.

Pros and Cons of Cloud Security

When you move your resources off your network, perimeter-style defenses don’t work anymore, forcing you to re-evaluate how to most effectively support user productivity, identify security issues, mitigate vulnerabilities, block malware, and prevent data loss.

This is where cloud security comes in, bringing a whole slate of benefits, but not without some potential risks. Let’s look briefly at some of the most notable points.

Pros

• Scalability to meet security needs as an organization grows and evolves
• Increase visibility and security for cloud resources and unique endpoint devices
• Cost savings through reduced on-premises infrastructure and associated upkeep costs
• Centralized management to simplify monitoring, control, and enforcement of security policies
• Redundancy through multiple points of presence to support disaster recovery efforts
• Automatic updates to ensure rapid protection against the latest vulnerabilities

Cons

• Risk of misconfigurations that leave data vulnerable to unauthorized access and hackers
• Compliance concerns with regard to government or industry data handling regulations
• Latency and data privacy/sovereignty issues if the provider lacks global points of presence

At a glance, these cons might seem alarming—but with due diligence and the right partner, you can eliminate them.