What is Cloud Security?
Cloud Security protects the data, applications, and infrastructure that reside in the cloud. It includes a suite of tools and technologies designed to safeguard resources from cyber attacks, including firewalls for network protection, encryption for data in transit and at rest, and identity and access management (IAM) systems to control user permissions. IAM tools help to monitor user activity and detect potential threats by combining internal data from asset and configuration management systems, vulnerability scanners, and more with external threat intelligence feeds. These are combined with AI-based anomaly detection and forensics analysis to detect, alert, and prioritize threats.
The right mix of cloud security tools depends on the complexity of the architecture, regulatory compliance needs, and workload types. For example, multi-cloud environments require strong segmentation, unified policies, and traffic visibility. Application-centric ecosystems require WAAP, API governance, and bot mitigation capabilities. And CI/CD workflows, runtime detection, and posture management are needed for cloud-native stacks.
Attackers are relentless, and they have evolved to exploit the cloud. Breached accounts increased eightfold between 2023 and 2024, with attackers leveraging everything from ransomware and zero-day attacks to insider threats and API vulnerabilities. To stay ahead, you need a unified approach that leverages the best of breed tools, with deep capabilities for each type of attack. This requires bringing security in earlier, continuous risk reduction, and a unified architecture with built-in scalability to grow as your environment grows. You also need integrated DevSecOps workflows to reduce incident response times.