Five simple strategies to maintain complex cloud security

Chances are, you are already using the cloud in some capacity. According to the ABS, more than half (55%) of Australian businesses use paid cloud computing services.

The pandemic saw businesses of all sizes rushing to digitise — forever changing how they operate and interact with customers. But with this rush to the cloud came a lack of preparedness.

Securing cloud environments is much more complicated than securing on premise hardware and software. This is because the cloud comes with a considerably larger ‘attack surface’ — or more opportunities for hackers to find and exploit vulnerabilities.

What is cloud security?

Cloud security is essentially a group of actions and technologies that work together to remediate threats to applications and systems running on cloud environments. These cloud-based environments (IaaS) and computing models like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) have grown in popularity amongst SMEs, thanks to the flexibility, scalability and affordability they offer. This shift, however, has made infrastructure management a more complex, constantly evolving challenge. 

The decentralised nature of cloud computing makes security more complicated. As your applications and data are spread across disparate systems, you need to ensure that all aspects of your software supply chain are secure. On top of this, security threats that directly target cloud providers are growing in popularity.

Why is it so hard to keep clouds secure?

When you move your data to the cloud, you’re really placing your most valuable assets with a third-party provider and making them accessible virtually.

Even when you’re working with a diligent cloud provider, there are still additional security challenges you need to be mindful of. Some of these include:

• Reduced visibility — You’ll have less visibility over your cloud interactions, compared with those on-site. This includes knowledge of the data and applications that are being accessed, and who is accessing these; 
• Less control over IT infrastructure — You won’t have full access to the underlying IT infrastructure. For example, you’ll have limited ability to configure the servers, storage, and networking devices;
• Harder compliance — When sensitive data is stored in the cloud, it can be harder to meet data protection regulations. In Australia, the Privacy Act 1988 is the primary legislation that governs the protection of consumer data; and 
• Limiting DevOps projects — DevOps teams need broad access to cloud resources to work efficiently, however some security products may prevent this.

Five simple steps for better cloud security

1. Categorise your data

   The first thing you should do is to classify your cloud data according to its sensitivity and importance. Then through this lens, apply the relevant access controls for each.

2. Secure user devices

   With remote work now the norm — it’s important to ensure all users accessing your cloud infrastructure, resources, and data install antivirus, personal firewall, and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools on their devices.

3. Restrict access

   Use the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) to ensure that every part of your pipeline has access to only the resources they need. This can be implemented via an Identity and Access Management solution (IAM).

4. Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication

   Make Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) mandatory across your business and your broader network — partners and suppliers. This ensures that even if a hacker gets access to your cloud resources, they cannot gain access to the application itself and its data.

5. Keep staff informed

   Cloud security is a continuous and cooperative practice involving your entire team. Ensure all cloud users have adequate cybersecurity knowledge and your developer team understands all security implications related to using cloud platforms to develop software.

More advanced security tools

Given the complex nature of securing cloud environments, it’s important to be across the latest technologies that will give you the best protection. Here are four things your security providers or tools should be doing:

1. Deploy Security Controls: These include data loss prevention (DLP) solutions to prevent data leakage and encrypting all sensitive data.
2. Install advanced security solutions: Network Detection and Response (NDR) can monitor all digital interactions between your on-premise and cloud environment and detect any suspicious activity.
3. Address security early in the development process: Using automated security solutions throughout the development life cycle helps you discover security issues early on, before they become problematic.
4. Scan for Misconfigurations: Scan containers and images for misconfigurations. For example, a developer may set the permission of some files to “public” during the testing process and forget to revoke this after testing, making these files widely accessible.

No matter your size or stage of growth — cloud computing is likely of growing importance to your business. Recent research from Xero shows that small businesses readily adopting new technologies enjoy 120% increased revenue — so exploring the opportunities the cloud offers could be worth your while.

While securing these new and complex IT environments is challenging — it is very possible — given the right knowledge, tools and technology partners.