Cloud Security Benefits Keep your Data Safe in the Cloud

On-premises security and cloud security are not the same things. When illustrating the differences, we may use the analogy of an automobile. On-site security is analogous to parking your automobile in your garage. The primary security control is a garage door, which you use to safeguard the automobile. You don’t have to be concerned about whether the car door is secured, the window is closed, or whether anyone can see what’s inside. Anyone within the garage is a privileged authorized user who has access to the garage door. As long as that individual meets the security requirements, such as holding the approved key or a garage door opener, he is granted entrance. He may move around freely once inside the garage.

The garage door strategy does not work for securing a cloud environment. If you drive your car out of the garage and park it in a common parking lot, which is analogous to the cloud in terms of being a shared resource, you should reassess the security controls:

• Car access control (privileged access management)

• Encryption

• The ability to look inside the automobile Verification of the person using the car’s identity (multifactor authentication)

Controlling cloud access is one of the most important security measures a corporation can use. You must not only safeguard cloud application authentication but also ensure continuous validation and verification of privileged user behaviours once they have been authenticated.

Benefits of cloud security

There are several advantages of using cloud solutions:

• High availability and geo-redundancy: The assurance that access will always be available despite service interruptions or outages cannot be overstated.

• Pay as you go, avoiding upfront investments: Avoid the demands and hassles of obtaining capital cost approval with restricted IT budgets.

• Reduced time spent on maintenance: Many IT teams are understaffed these days. Avoid wasting money and time on server maintenance and software upgrades.

• Starting from scratch: Your cloud solution is simple to set up, and the most recent version is always available without the need for expensive hardware. Cloud solutions provide additional security tools, integrations, and alternatives for security professionals to use.

Cloud security is unique and presents several new difficulties. Most businesses confront the following risks and challenges:

• Accountability and risk

• Identity unification

• Regulation and compliance

• Business resilience and continuity

• Data privacy and third-party data use

• Integration of services and data

• Physical security and multi-tenancy

• Security and incident investigation

• Infrastructure protection

The following is a list of the most common causes of cloud security incidents and breaches:

• Inadequate access management - Default passwords, credential stuffing, phishing, and the misuse of stolen credentials are all too prevalent causes of security breaches.

• Insecure APIs and applications - Automation without authentication, hardcoded passwords and tokens, and even clear text authentication are all common causes of security issues. DevOps has also exacerbated these security threats.

• Misconfigured cloud storage - Misconfigured security policies’ use of default settings can result in public-facing database breaches, which sometimes means granting public access to everyone. Security is not usually enabled by default settings.

• DDoS attacks - When a cloud service is the target of a DDoS attack, you become a secondary victim. If you rely entirely on the cloud service, your service will suffer as well.

• Overprivileged users - When an attacker compromises an overprivileged account, he may carry out the attack in fewer stages.

• Shared credentials - result in easy-to-guess passwords or bad practices due to lost visibility, inadequate audit trails, and lack of control.

• Password-only security controls - For many businesses, a single password is the sole security measure in place to prevent unwanted thieves from misusing their cloud solutions.

• Securing remote employees and third-party access - When you provide access, you lose control and visibility. The new perimeter is identity access management (IAM), which is the process of combining policy and technology to enable authorized access.

• Shadow IT - the practice of employees getting their own IT solutions and cloud services without the authority of IT.

See also

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