What is Cloud Security?
Cloud Security is a set of policies, controls, processes and technologies that work together to protect cloud-based systems, data and infrastructure. It includes strong authentication methods, multi-factor authentication and cloud encryption for protecting sensitive data in transit and at rest. It also includes security monitoring, vulnerability assessment and response capabilities to quickly detect and respond to threats.
Misconfigurations are the number one vulnerability in a cloud environment. This is due to the dynamic nature of cloud environments and the fact that different stakeholders have varying access requirements. Unless correctly managed, this can lead to overly-permissive privileges, unauthorised access and other security gaps that can lead to data breaches, internal or external attacks, and compliance issues.
Data leakage and exposure is another major threat to cloud security. Organizations need to be able to identify and control where data is stored, how it moves between the different cloud services and where it is sent. This is where data governance, identity and access management (IAM) and a strong policy are key.
Having the right level of encryption for your cloud data is important. It can help to ensure that hackers are unable to read the data they steal. It is also recommended that you only store the data you need in the cloud and never store it for more than a day. Having more data in the cloud can increase the cost of using that service and also increases your risk of a cyber attack.