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Cloud security encompasses technologies, policies and controls used to defend data, applications and infrastructure hosted in cloud computing against cyber attacks.
Cloud Security Is A Shared Responsibility
Cloud service providers and their customers share responsibility for security in a shared responsibility model with three main categories of responsibilities being assigned: those belonging to both, including those assigned solely by the cloud provider (i.e., hosting of email), the customer (e.g. hosting email service on the cloud); and services models like Cloud Email whereby specific responsibilities might depend upon which service model has been selected, e.g., Cloud email etc.
Security duties fall squarely within the purview of providers. This responsibility includes accessing hosts, applying patches and configuring network/physical hosts where compute instances, storage or other resources reside.
Customers are responsible for administering user access rights (identity management), protecting cloud data against unauthorized access (encryption and protection), as well as upholding compliance (security posture).
Cloud Security: The 7 Most Advanced Challenges
Public clouds differ significantly from private ones due to their non-linear design and non-delineation of boundaries, becoming even more complicated with the adoption of modern cloud methods like Continuous Integration/Deployment Automation, Distributed Serverless Architectures and Ephemeral Assets such as Functions As A Service/Containers.
Cloud-native organizations face an array of complex security threats, such as:
Increased Attack Surface
Hackers increasingly leverage poorly protected cloud entry ports to gain access and destroy data and workloads in the public cloud. Many malicious threats, such as Zero-Days, Account Takeover, and Malware, are now a daily reality.
Tracking and Visibility
The IaaS cloud model gives the cloud provider full control of the infrastructure and does not allow their clients to see it. This lack of control and visibility is even more pronounced in the PaaS or SaaS models. Customers of cloud services frequently want assistance in categorizing and valuing their cloud assets or visualizing their cloud environment.
Ever-Changing Workloads
Cloud assets can be provisioned or decommissioned at scale and with velocity. Traditional security tools cannot enforce protection policies in an ever-changing, dynamic, and fluid environment.
DevOps SecurityOps Automation
DevOps culture CI/CD is highly automated, and organizations that embrace it must make sure that security controls have been identified early on and are embedded into code and template templates. After a workload has been released into production, security-related changes can compromise the organization's overall security and increase time to market.
Granular Privileges and Key Management
Cloud user roles can be configured in a very lax manner, giving privileges that are beyond the intended purpose or requirement. Untrained users, or those who do not have a business reason to add or delete database assets, are often granted database write or delete permissions. Incorrectly configured keys or privileges can expose session security to risks at the application level.
Complex Environments
Nowadays, enterprises prefer hybrid and multi-cloud environments for security management. To do this, it is necessary to use techniques and tools that are compatible with branch office edge protection for geographically dispersed organizations as well as public cloud providers, private cloud providers, and on-premise deployments.
Cloud Compliance and Governance
Customers are still responsible for ensuring that the workloads and data processing comply. Due to the lack of visibility and the dynamic nature of cloud environments, it is nearly impossible to conduct a compliance audit without tools that can perform continuous checks for compliance and send out real-time notifications about incorrect configurations.
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Zero Trust: Why you should Embrace it
Forrester Research introduced the term Zero Trust into cloud security back in 2010. Its basic principle involves not trusting anyone or anything within or external to a network but rather focusing on verifying everything (authorize, inspect and secure).
Zero Trust is an example of a governance strategy promoting the least privilege model, where users only access the resources required to complete their tasks. Zero Trust also encourages developers to secure web interface applications properly; otherwise, hackers could gain entry and modify or retrieve data from databases by exploiting application flaws such as insufficient permission implementation or inconsistent port-blocking practices by developers.
Zero Trust networks use micro-segmentation for cloud networks to increase security levels more thoroughly. Data centers or cloud deployments use this technique by creating secure zones which isolate workloads while applying policies governing all traffic crossing these zones.
Cloud Security: The Six Pillars of Robust Cloud Security
Cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform all feature built-in security features; however, third-party solutions must also be leveraged to safeguard enterprise workloads against data breaches, targeted attacks and other security-related risks in the cloud environment. An integrated cloud native/third-party security stack offers visibility as well as policy granular control needed to meet industry best practices:
Policy-Based IAM Controls And Authentication Across Complex Infrastructures
Work with roles and groups rather than individual IAM to make updating IAM easier. Only grant the minimum access rights to APIs and assets necessary for a role or group to perform its task. As privileges increase, so do authentication levels. Remember good IAM, such as enforcing password policies and permission timeouts.
Zero Trust Cloud Network Security Controls Across Logically Separate Networks And Micro-Segments
Use logically separated sections to deploy business-critical apps and resources. Examples include Virtual Private Clouds, vNETs and Virtual Private Clouds in Azure. Subnets can isolate workloads, and subnet gateways allow for granular policies. Hybrid architectures use dedicated WAN connections and static routing configurations that are user-defined to customize access to virtual devices, networks, gateways, and public IP addresses.
Implementation Of Policies And Procedures For Virtual Server Protection, Such As Software Upgrades And Change Management
Cloud security vendors offer robust Cloud Security Posture Management. They apply governance and compliance templates and rules when deploying virtual servers.
Protecting Cloud Native Distributed Applications And All Other Web-Based Apps With The Next Generation Of Web Application Firewall
It will inspect and control web traffic in a granular manner, update WAF rules automatically in response to changes to the traffic, and deploy closer to microservices running workloads.
Enhanced Data Protection
Data protection is enhanced with encryption on all layers of transport, secure file sharing and communication, and compliance risk management that continues, as well as maintaining good resource storage hygiene, such as detecting misconfigured buckets and terminating any orphan resources.
Intelligence On Threats Detects And Mitigates Known And Unknown Threats In Real-Time
Cloud security vendors from third parties can add context to logs generated by cloud native systems through intelligent cross-referencing of log data with internal information like vulnerability scanners and asset management software; external information like geolocation databases and public feeds of threat intelligence is also taken into consideration to visualize the threat landscape more quickly, promote faster incident response time using AI-based anomaly detection algorithms as well as real-time alerting on policy breaches or intrusions with auto-remediation workflows that initiate auto-remediation workflows if possible.
Infrastructure Security Is A Key Component Of Cloud Computing
Cloud security is a set of controls, technologies, and procedures that protect critical data and systems in your company from cyber threats.
Let's look at the main security concerns of cloud computing to understand its weaknesses better:
A large Attack Surface: Determining the limits of a cloud environment can be difficult. Data and systems can be attacked in many ways, such as through personal devices, unauthorized cloud services and applications, or public networks. Cloud data is vulnerable to attack both at rest and during transit.
Insufficient Visibility: Certain cloud providers control cloud IT infrastructure but keep it private from their clients. Cloud computing platforms can make it difficult for organizations to accurately identify cloud assets and take the necessary measures to protect data. It may also be difficult to monitor the activities of employees on the cloud.
Complexity in Environments: Certain organizations prefer complex hybrid and multi-cloud environments due to specific requirements. Choosing the best cybersecurity tools for both cloud-based and on-premises is difficult. Hybrid environments can be difficult to maintain, requiring an integrated security approach.
Despite these problems, most cloud providers do a good job of protecting your data against outside cyberattacks, despite these problems. Cloud providers can't cover all aspects of cloud security, including the human element. Your employees are often the ones who enable a cyberattack, even if it is an external attack.
Cloud Infrastructure Is Vulnerable To Security Risks
Consider the following cybersecurity threats to protect your sensitive data on cloud infrastructure:
Account Compromise
Cyber attackers could gain entry to your company by hijacking an employee, third party or another user with access to cloud services in your firm. Once in, an attacker could gain entry to systems and files containing sensitive data and coerce users into disclosing it or hijack email accounts for further criminal acts.
Compromised accounts may have fallen victim to brute force attacks, credential stuffing attacks or poor password management practices by their owners. According to their research, cloud account takeover accounts for 15% of security incidents reported each year.
Social Engineering
Cyberattackers may coax employees into providing access to vital systems or data through social engineering techniques like phishing. Phishing is one of the more widely-used tactics, aiming to get victims to provide their sensitive data via email.
An attacker may pose as a trustworthy source, convincing their victims to provide valuable information or perform certain actions such as changing passwords. When employees click the link and enter their login credentials, their accounts could become vulnerable. Phishing messages could contain malware-laced links and files designed to gain control over an employee's PC and access sensitive data stored therein.
Shadow IT
Shadow IT refers to when employees install and use cloud services and applications without authorization from cybersecurity teams, potentially creating security challenges and risks, including lack of IT control for unapproved apps, potential unpatched vulnerabilities that might exist without patches being applied, compliance issues with software products etc.
A compromised cloud service breached or misused could grant cybercriminals extensive rights within your cloud infrastructure and allow them to exfiltrate or delete sensitive information stored therein.
Insiders Who Are Not Aware Of Their Actions
Employees at organizations with minimal cybersecurity awareness could unwittingly cause breaches to data, compromise accounts or exploited vulnerabilities. Workers or others with cloud access could carelessly use passwords that compromise account security, use unauthorized applications to share data or disregard security procedures and protocols.
Cloud Security Report suggests that system administrators shirking their duties can be particularly harmful, with cloud misconfiguration accounting for 23% of security incidents.
Malicious Insider Activity
Insiders may have various motivations; an intentionally harmful one might pursue different aims. Malicious insiders may attempt to steal your intellectual property, disrupt systems, damage data, and install malware on their machines.
Insider threats are very difficult because their malicious activities can often go undetected among daily activities, making it hard to predict and detect an incident involving insiders. Malicious insiders frequently gain access to vital systems and data, which makes their presence impossible to ignore.
If your company needs to secure its data and systems, address the concerns outlined here for additional guidance regarding best practices in cloud computing infrastructure.
Read More: How to Develop a Secure Cloud Computing Environment
Cloud Security: 7 Best Practices For Protecting Sensitive Data
Cloud computing security is a combination of different cyber-strategies, solutions, and processes. Our seven best cloud data security practices summarize the most effective ways to protect your cloud computing environment.
1. Cloud Access Security
You are responsible for protecting your cloud users' accounts, and for accessing sensitive data. Even though most cloud providers protect their infrastructure on their behalf, it is still up to you to secure the cloud. Consider improving password management within your company to reduce the risks of credential and account theft.
Start by adding password policies into your cybersecurity program. You can start by describing the cybersecurity practices that your employees are expected to follow, such as using different passwords and more complex ones for each account. You can use a central password management system to make a real difference in the security of your accounts and passwords.
Cisin System is a platform that combines a risk management system for insider threats with PAM capabilities. It will enable you to do the following:
- Automatic password management, delivery and delivery
- Store passwords securely in an encrypted vault
- Rotate passwords manually and automatically
- Give users one-time passwords
Cisin System, in addition to ensuring efficient password management and zero-trust approach for your cloud infrastructure within your organization using two factor authentication (2FA), can also ensure that you have a secure environment. You can verify the identities of users in your organization by having them enter codes that are sent directly to their smartphones.
Do you know that requiring multi-factor verification and strong password management is part of many cybersecurity standards, laws and regulations?
2. Manage User Access Privileges
Some organizations give employees access to multiple systems and data simultaneously in order for them to perform their jobs efficiently. Cybercriminals are attracted to the accounts of these users, since they can easily access cloud infrastructure or escalate privileges by compromising their account.
Your organization can avoid this by regularly reviewing and revoking user privileges. Follow the principle of minimum privileges, where users are only allowed to access data that is necessary for them to do their jobs. Cybercriminals will have limited access to sensitive information if they compromise a cloud user account.
Your organization can also control the access rights by having clear procedures for onboarding and deboarding, which include adding or removing users and their permissions.
The PAM feature of Cisin System can be used to implement the principle "least privilege" in your cloud environment. This allows you to manage your user account access rights granularly.
- Access by Request
- One-time Access: Provide Users with One-Time Access
- Access to the Internet is limited
3. Employee Monitoring Provides Visibility
You can monitor the activity of your employees to increase visibility and protect your cloud infrastructure. You can detect insider threats or early indications of a cloud account being compromised by monitoring what employees do during working hours.
Imagine your cybersecurity experts notice that a user is logging into your cloud infrastructure using an IP address which may be unusual or at a time when it's not working hours. They will be able to react quickly to abnormal behavior, since it could indicate a security breach.
Monitoring can also help detect suspicious behavior, such as an employee using cloud services that are forbidden or taking unwelcome actions with sensitive information. This will give you time to investigate the matter.
It is important to monitor the activities of all third-parties who have access to your system, including business partners, vendors, and suppliers. They may pose a new source of cyber risks for your company.
Cisin System's employee monitoring features can be used to detect malicious insider activity, and any signs of compromise within your cloud infrastructure. Cisin system allows you to do the following:
- Video recording and monitoring of employee activities
- View live sessions and recordings of user sessions
- Find important user sessions based on various parameters, such as websites visited, apps opened, keys typed etc.
With the aid of AI technology, Cisin System will take employee monitoring to the next step. Cisin System's user and entity behavior analytics module (UEBA), which is powered by AI, creates a baseline for user behavior that can be compared to real-time behaviors in order to detect anomalies. This feature will help you detect suspicious activities without human assistance. UEBA, for example, can alert your security team if a worker tries to log into your cloud infrastructure outside of working hours.
4. Monitor Privilege Users
Keep track of your cloud users' privileges. This is one of the best private cloud security practices. System administrators and the top management usually have greater access to sensitive information than normal users. As a result, users with privileged access can do more harm to cloud environments, either maliciously or accidentally.
It's important to verify that there are no default accounts for your cloud, since they tend to be privileged. These accounts, once compromised, will allow attackers to access cloud networks and vital resources.
You can reduce cybersecurity risks and improve accountability by establishing non-stop monitoring of all users with privileged access in your cloud, such as system administrators, key managers, and other privileged personnel.
Cisin System's User Activity Monitoring (UAM), PAM, and other capabilities will help secure your cloud from the risks of privileged accounts. Cisin System allows you to do the following:
- Monitoring the activity of privileged users in your cloud environment
- Manage the access rights of user accounts with privileged privileges
- Export data monitored using customizable reports
5. Employees Should Be Educated Against Phishing
Monitoring user behavior isn't the only method to reduce the impact of human factors in your company. You can increase your employees' cybersecurity awareness to protect your cloud infrastructure. The most advanced anti-phishing system cannot guarantee the level of security required. In a recent analysis of 1800 emails that were sent to the employees of an organization in the financial industry, 50 of the emails managed to bypass the filtering system.
The malware was launched by 14 users who opened the malicious emails. One person installed the malware despite thirteen attempts being denied. Even one instance can compromise and infect the entire system. To avoid revealing sensitive data, you can educate your staff about the signs of social engineering and phishing. As phishing methods and numbers increase, regular cybersecurity seminars and training are essential.
Training without simulations is the biggest mistake made in phishing training programs. The simulation should feel as if it is a real phishing attempt, with employees unaware that they are being tested. The results of the simulation can be tracked to determine which employees require further training.
The monitoring feature of Cisin System can protect your cloud infrastructure against phishing attacks by:
- You can analyze the behavior of your staff by watching recorded sessions.
- If you suspect that an employee's account has been compromised by phishing, stop any unusual behavior and alert the employer.
6. Make Sure You Comply With IT Regulations
Compliance with cybersecurity standards, laws and regulations is aimed at protecting consumer data, as well as providing general guidelines for organizations on how to secure sensitive information. Your organization could lose millions in fines if you don't have the correct security tools and controls in place in your cloud for IT compliance.
Cloud computing service providers that are well-known adhere to the strictest compliance standards. Organizations using cloud computing services must still ensure that their data processing and security is compliant. The compliance audit is difficult to conduct in cloud environments that are constantly changing, due to the lack of visibility.
You must define the standards that apply to your business and your company in order to meet IT compliance. SWIFT Customer Security Programme requirements (CSP), for example, are mandatory for any financial institution that utilizes SWIFT's services. Any organization that uses the cloud to store customer data must also comply with SOC 2 requirements. Consider hiring a Data Protection Officer (DPO), who has extensive knowledge of cybersecurity and IT compliance, to help you identify requirements.
7. Responding To Incidents Of Security Efficiently
If you don't detect, contain and eliminate cybersecurity threats quickly, the losses from a breach will increase. As a cloud threat persists, an attacker will be able to steal or remove more information.
A quick response can actually limit the damage caused by a cyber-attack. Develop an incident response strategy to make sure your team is prepared for an emergency. The plan should have a strict set of roles and procedures for each scenario.
You can also use the Cisin System to alert you of any incidents or user activities.
Detects and responds quickly to cyber-attacks in your cloud infrastructure. You'll have the ability to:
- Our AI-powered UEBA module can automatically detect suspicious activity on your account that could indicate account compromise.
- You can receive email alerts about possible cybersecurity incidents, based on various parameters, such as the URLs visited, processes launched, or USB devices connected.
- Automatically or manually respond to an event by blocking the user in question, alerting them about unauthorized activities, or destroying a suspicious program
Cisin System will also be able to provide evidence if a cyber-attack occurs in your cloud. This is done by exporting monitoring data into a separate, protected format.
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The Conclusion
Cloud computing creates unique security issues. Cloud environments that lack visibility or are subject to multiple attacks increase the risks of insider activities, phishing attempts and account takeover.
Our seven best practices for cloud security provide a helpful checklist to protect sensitive information and your infrastructure against possible cyber-attacks. Secure perimeter access, restrict privileges access and monitor regular users as well as those with privileged access. Educating employees about phishing attacks as well as developing plans in case of security incidents is another effective method to decrease cyber risks and minimize risks to cybersecurity incidents.
