How to Secure Data in the Cloud
As cloud-based services continue to increase in popularity, organizations must take steps to ensure the security of their data and applications. This includes protecting against malicious insiders. While most people assume that outside hackers pose the greatest threat to cloud security, the truth is that internal employees also pose a major risk. Even if they do not intentionally access sensitive data, they can still compromise the system and cause harm to its users.
One way to protect data in the cloud is to segment services and data. By doing so, organizations can control data access and security and stay in compliance with data regulation requirements. Another way to secure data is by implementing a hybrid cloud environment, which combines local data servers and public cloud servers. This allows for greater data privacy while reducing risk of data theft.
A comprehensive cloud security program must account for ownership, accountability, and risk management. It should also define the controls required to achieve a high level of security and compliance. Ultimately, it should also identify the end-state the company would like to achieve. For example, in a multi-tenant environment, the organization must assess how it should segment resources within the environment. In some cases, a zone approach may be used to isolate instances, containers, applications, and full systems.
Another important element of cloud security is encryption of data. Encrypting data before it is transferred should be a priority. When a company uses a cloud-based solution, it should ensure that the encryption keys used are not stored on the cloud server. Furthermore, it should ensure that cloud vendors have policies and break-glass strategies to protect sensitive data. In addition, it should implement continuous security monitoring and user activity monitoring across all environments and instances.