An overview of cloud security
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. The terms digital transformation and cloud migration have been used regularly in enterprise settings over recent years. While both phrases can mean different things to different organizations, each is driven by a common denominator: the need for change. As enterprises embrace these concepts and move toward optimizing their operational approach, new challenges arise when balancing productivity levels and security. While more modern technologies help organizations advance capabilities outside the confines of on-premise infrastructure, transitioning primarily to cloud-based environments can have several implications if not done securely. Striking the right balance requires an understanding of how modern-day enterprises can benefit from the use of interconnected cloud technologies while deploying the best cloud security practices.
The "cloud" or, more specifically, "cloud computing" refers to the process of accessing resources, software, and databases over the Internet and outside the confines of local hardware restrictions. This technology gives organizations flexibility when scaling their operations by offloading a portion, or majority, of their infrastructure management to third-party hosting providers. The most common and widely adopted cloud computing services are:
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. As companies continue to migrate to the cloud, understanding the security requirements for keeping data safe has become critical. While third-party cloud computing providers may take on the management of this infrastructure, the responsibility of data asset security and accountability doesn't necessarily shift along with it. By default, most cloud providers follow best security practices and take active steps to protect the integrity of their servers. However, organizations need to make their own considerations when protecting data, applications, and workloads running on the cloud. Security threats have become more advanced as the digital landscape continues to evolve. These threats explicitly target cloud computing providers due to an organization's overall lack of visibility in data access and movement. Without taking active steps to improve their cloud security, organizations can face significant governance and compliance risks when managing client information, regardless of where it is stored. 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. However, successful cloud adoption is dependent on putting in place adequate countermeasures to defend against modern-day cyberattacks. Regardless of whether your organization operates in a public, private, or hybrid cloud environment, cloud security solutions and best practices are a necessity when ensuring business continuity.
What are some cloud security challenges?
Lack of visibility Multitenancy Access management and shadow IT Compliance Misconfigurations Misconfigured assets accounted for 86% of breached records in 2019, 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) Data loss prevention (DLP) Security information and event management (SIEM) Business continuity and disaster recovery
How should you approach cloud security?
The way to approach cloud security is different for every organization and can be dependent on several variables. However, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has made a list of best practices that can be followed to establish a secure and sustainable cloud computing framework. The NIST has created necessary steps for every organization to self-assess their security preparedness and apply adequate preventative and recovery security measures to their systems. These principles are built on the NIST's five pillars of a cybersecurity framework: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. Another emerging technology in cloud security that supports the execution of NIST's cybersecurity framework is cloud security posture management (CSPM). CSPM solutions are designed to address a common flaw in many cloud environments - misconfigurations. Cloud infrastructures that remain misconfigured by enterprises or even cloud providers can lead to several vulnerabilities that significantly increase an organization's attack surface. CSPM addresses these issues by helping to organize and deploy the core components of cloud security. These include identity and access management (IAM), regulatory compliance management, traffic monitoring, threat response, risk mitigation, and digital asset management.
Related topics Cybersecurity defined What is SIEM? Identity and access management What is zero trust? What is threat management? What is data security? |