What is Cloud Security?
Cloud Security is the set of tools, systems, and protocols that protect data in a cloud environment. A strong strategy for cloud security includes preventing data loss, reducing the risk of ransomware, and monitoring and responding to threats in real time. Some types of data require special consideration, such as customer information or financial records. Similarly, operating within a heavily regulated industry may necessitate advanced tools for compliance management.
Whether you’re using public or private clouds, a robust security plan must address the unique challenges of each. For example, cyber criminals target cloud accounts to impersonate employees and steal sensitive information or money. Unsafe practices like password reuse or phishing attacks also put your cloud infrastructure at risk.
To mitigate these threats, your cloud security plan must include multiple layers of defense, including firewalls, IdPs, SIEM systems, and mobile device management solutions. Detective controls, such as intrusion detection software, are key to securing cloud infrastructure against attacks from inside and outside the organization.
A Zero Trust Network Architecture provides a solid foundation for your cloud security strategy, ensuring that all devices, users, and applications are verified before being granted access to data. It enables you to apply security policies at the subnet level and deploy granular access control to virtual devices, cloud apps, and OT/IoT. Other useful tools include CASBs to identify and minimize excessive privilege access in public cloud environments, and infrastructure entitlement management to manage visibility of your entire deployment.