Cloud Security Best Practices
When companies move data, applications and processes into the cloud, they are taking on many new security responsibilities. Various security processes and best practices must be implemented, tested, and maintained in the cloud to ensure that systems are secure and safe from attacks.
While many people think that outside hackers are the biggest threat to cloud security, insiders pose an equally large risk. Malicious insiders often use work-from-home policies and personal devices to access sensitive company data. Employees may also unwittingly breach security protocols by moving restricted data into a cloud service without authorization. This could cause a violation of contractual agreements such as non-disclosure or data confidentiality and lead to legal action.
The most common security measure to protect against these threats is encryption. Encryption scrambles data so that it can only be read if the decryption key is available. This prevents attackers from leaked or sold information, using the data to carry out further attacks, and potentially compromising the company’s reputation.
Other security measures include identity and access management (IAM). This technology tracks who is logging into a cloud environment and what they are doing with that data. It can then authorize or deny them access depending on their privileges. Another way to improve cloud security is through micro-segmentation. This is the practice of dividing a cloud deployment into distinct security segments, down to the workload level. This allows you to apply flexible security policies that can minimize the damage an attacker might cause if they do gain access.