What is Cloud Security?

Cloud Security Explained

Cloud security relates to keeping cloud computing safe. Cloud computing is the provision of computing resources like networking, server, data storage, databases and software, referred to collectively as ‘cloud data’, over the internet.

Cloud computing services allow businesses to bypass the upfront costs and complexity of purchasing and maintaining their own IT infrastructure. Instead, they pay only for the services they use, making this arrangement a more cost-effective and efficient way of operating.

Cloud computing is essential for many companies since it can accelerate innovation and digital transformation. Just as vital is the application of cloud computing security to prevent unauthorised access and data breaches and ensure data protection.

Cloud security services refers to the technology, policies, procedures and services that shield cloud resources, data, applications and infrastructure against various threats, such as cybercrime.

The following categories make up some of the foundations of cloud security:

Data protection

Identification and access control (IAM)

Governance policies and legislative compliance

Planning for Incident Response (IR) data recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC)

7 Reasons Why Cloud Server Security Is Important

Addressing cloud network security is critical for many reasons, from complying with legislation to preventing threats that impact your business’s survival. Here are some of the main reasons you need to implement cloud security measures:

1. Cloud Security Protects Against Security Breaches​

A recent study found that businesses store about two-thirds of their sensitive data in their private cloud. Any organisation’s data and information are its most valuable asset and must be protected. However, cloud-based data breaches happen in 40% of businesses.

With increasing compliance demands from standards like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme, this illustrates the absolute necessity of implementing and maintaining robust cloud data security. Some preventable data breaches in Australia now carry penalties of up to $50 million.

2. Cloud Security Helps Meet Compliance and Legislative Requirements​

Adherence to data privacy and protection requirements is essential to complying with current and emerging legal requirements for data security. Two important data protection standards are NDP and GDRP. These and other Australian data privacy requirements must be followed, especially by businesses that keep consumer and employee data in a cloud service. Cloud security posture management makes the compliance process more efficient.

3. Cloud Security Enables Disaster Recovery (DR)​

Disasters are unpredictable, occurring anywhere, anytime and with the power to destroy your company. Comprehensive cloud security enables an effective disaster recovery strategy that can preserve your data and applications and protect your business.

4. Cloud Security Is Cost-Effective​

According to IBM’s 2023 Cost of Data Breach Report, data breaches in the cloud can cost around US$3.98 million. Integrated cloud security solutions and partnerships with cybersecurity consultancies require little or no maintenance from the customer’s perspective and provide cost-effective protection from cyber threats.

5. Cloud Security Mitigates the Risk of Remote Working​

One of the best benefits of cloud computing is that it enables remote working, making a company’s digital resources accessible anytime from any place. However, remote working or work-from-home is a significant security risk, as employees may not follow established security controls using unsecured networks like public Wi-Fi.

Effective cloud security helps minimise these risks through secure password protocols, multifactor authentication, next-generation anti-virus suites and other security services.

6. Cloud Security Enables Scalability and Flexibility​

Scalability is one of the most beneficial characteristics of cloud computing. You can flexibly and quickly scale up and down according to your technology needs. Scalability does have drawbacks though, such as vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. To ensure that scalability is not a problem, implement proper cloud security, compliance and testing measures.

7. Cloud Security Improves Reliability and Trust​

Preventing data breaches or privacy leaks is the fastest way to destroy hard-earned customer trust, as we have seen recently in Australia with Medibank, Optus, Woolworths, Telstra and many others. Businesses can increase resilience to this kind of threat through good cloud security practices and partnerships with capable cybersecurity professionals.

What are the risks in Cloud Security?

Companies face many challenges and risks as they consider cloud-native security solutions to protect their data. Five of the most significant risks include:

Increased Attack Surface

Hackers now see the public cloud environment as an attractive target, taking advantage of unsecured cloud ports to gain access to workloads and data in the cloud. Threats, including malware, phishing scams, zero-day vulnerabilities, and others, are commonplace.

Cloud Compliance and Governance

Most leading cloud service providers have aligned with accreditation programs such as NIST 800-53, NDP, and GDPR. However, customers must take personal responsibility for ensuring that their data processes are compliant. Given the lower visibility of the cloud environment, the compliance audit process becomes nearly impossible unless continuous compliance checks and real-time alerts occur when there are misconfigurations or processes no longer comply with standards.

Lack of Visibility and Tracking

Cloud Service providers control the infrastructure to which their customers have little or no access. This leads to reduced visibility and control, where customers need help identifying and managing their cloud-based resources and assets. Lack of visibility means any breach may be harder to detect.

Changing Workloads & DevOps

Cloud-based resources are typically provisioned at scale and speed, making it difficult for traditional security processes and tools to enforce security policies. Likewise, companies have increasingly embraced highly automated DevOps as part of their digital transformation, which creates additional security challenges. Appropriate security controls must be integrated at the code level early in the development cycle. Trying to apply security processes after deployment of the workload may create exploitable gaps weakening the company’s overall resilience.

Privilege and Access Management

Cloud user roles are frequently set up very loosely, offering significant privileges that are unnecessary or unintended. Giving database delete or write capabilities to inexperienced users or people without a legitimate need to remove or add database assets is a common example. Sessions are vulnerable to security threats at the application level due to poorly configured privileges.

Best practices for security in the cloud

Although the majority of cloud service providers have their own ways of safeguarding the infrastructure of their clients, you are still in charge of protecting the cloud user accounts and access to critical data for your organisation. Take into account the following best practices to lower the risk of account compromise and credential theft:

Manage user access privileges

Hackers like to exploit the desire of companies to provide flexible open access to employees. Consider providing data access only for and when it is needed:

  • Provide access only by request
  • Provide users with one-time-only access
  • Limit the period of access granted
  • Rapid offboarding

Provide visibility with employee monitoring

To increase transparency in your cloud infrastructure, you can use dedicated solutions to monitor your personnel’s activity and that of third parties like suppliers, vendors etc. By watching what they are doing, you’ll be able to detect early signs of cloud account compromise or external threats.

  • Monitor and record employee activity and user session
  • Search important user sessions by various parameters like websites visited, keystrokes typed, applications used etc.
  • Roll out next-generation anti-virus suites to enforce compliance and logging when users are off-network, especially in a post-Covid world

Employee awareness and training

The majority of cybersecurity breaches result from hackers taking advantage of user psychology and behaviour. Increase employee cybersecurity awareness, with a focus on phishing tests and simulations, to further safeguard your cloud infrastructure.

Training without real-world simulations is the most significant error in phishing education programmes. Employees should not be aware of the upcoming test, and the simulation should feel realistic. The results of the simulation can then be monitored to identify which staff require additional training.

Ensure you meet IT compliance requirements

While most cloud service providers are aligned with most of the common compliance standards, organisations using these cloud services still have to ensure their data processes and security are compliant.

Firstly you must define which standards pertain to your industry and which your organisation must meet. To make this process easier, consider hiring a cybersecurity consultant who will provide you with expert knowledge in cybersecurity and IT compliance. Gridware can help your organisation comply with these and other compliance standards:

  • ACSC Essential Eight
  • NIST
  • GDPR
  • ISO27001
  • PCI.DSS
  • Australian Privacy Principles
  • Australian Privacy Act 1988

Incident Response

Losses from a data breach can increase if you can’t quickly detect, contain, and eradicate cybersecurity threats. The longer a threat remains in your cloud environment, the more data an attacker can steal, corrupt, or delete. Consider developing an incident response plan to ensure your cybersecurity team can act efficiently in an emergency. Gridware can assist you in creating a comprehensive incident response strategy and even provide you with forensic evidence to help your recovery and prosecution of cybercriminals.

FAQ

What is cloud security?
Cloud security is the technology, policies, procedures, and services that shield cloud data, applications, and infrastructure against various threats, such as cybercrime.

What are the security risks of cloud computing?
Companies face many challenges and risks as they consider cloud-native security solutions to protect their data. The most significant risks include increased attack surface created by unsecured cloud ports that leave companies vulnerable to malware, zero-day vulnerabilities and other threats. Other risks include a lack of governance and compliance to new security standards, lack of monitoring visibility, rapidly changing workloads in the cloud and poor privilege and access management.

What is the best cloud security?
The following best practices help to lower the risk of account compromise and credential theft – managing user access on request for a limited time, monitor and record employee and user session to identify threats, provide user training and awareness with realistic simulations to lower behavioural risk, Ensure you meet security compliance standards like ACSC Essential Eight, NIST, ASO27001 and other Australian Privacy Standards.

How is cloud security compared to on premise security?
Overall, while cloud security and on-premises IT security have many similarities, the shared responsibility model and the complexity and scale of the security challenges in the cloud usually require a more comprehensive, joint-responsibility approach and adherence to greater compliance standards.