There are several important aspects of cloud security management. These include identity and access management (IAM), threat prevention, governance, and segmentation. Let’s explore each of these in more detail. Understanding what they entail can help you decide whether cloud security suits your company. By the end of this article, you will have a clearer understanding of cloud security and how you can benefit from it.
Identity and access management (IAM)
When it comes to cloud security management, IAM is a critical component. Poorly controlled IAM processes can lead to regulatory non-compliance or misuse of company data. With cloud IAM, organizations can extend user access without compromising security. In addition to providing single sign-on capabilities and other features, cloud IAM protects sensitive data while allowing users to work from anywhere.
As cloud infrastructure has grown in size and complexity, identity is the new perimeter. While many IAM solutions provide cloud identity management for human identities and entitlements, these first-generation solutions often lack granularity, visibility, and security. CIEM delivers a hybrid approach to cloud identity management by bridging this identity gap with advanced identity mapping, risk assessment, and anomaly detection.
Governance
Cloud computing is an excellent way to make life more convenient for yourself and your customers. From budgeting apps to unlimited entertainment, cloud computing has enabled collaboration with people worldwide. But with all of the benefits comes risk. Managing risks and anticipating technical issues are essential for cloud-based businesses. Below are some tips for ensuring the security of your cloud-based applications and data security. To begin, determine whether your business needs cloud-based services.
Security governance can take many forms, from a formal framework with well-defined roles and processes to a more flexible, informal approach. First, choose a system based on your organization’s goals and size. Also, consider any external requirements for security, such as compliance with laws or regulatory mandates. Once you’ve established a governance framework, the next step is implementing controls and guidelines to ensure that your organization complies with security policies.
Segmentation
To ensure the security of critical applications and data, companies need to implement the principles of application segmentation to protect sensitive data and minimize the risk of a breach. Unlike traditional networks, which segment and isolate physical servers and other devices, cloud environments require micro-segmentation.
The basic premise behind micro-segmentation is to create conceptual boundaries for data, applications, and infrastructure assets. It is helpful because micro-segmentation can allow security admins to define policies specific to each segment of a cloud environment. Ideally, the solution should be virtual, elastic, and tightly integrated with virtual management platforms. To implement the concept of micro-segmentation effectively, it must consider the following considerations.
Threat prevention
A primary goal of threat prevention with cloud security management is to protect your data from unauthorized access. These threats can originate from insiders or external parties who misuse authorized access. A typical attack involves reconnaissance, privilege escalation to an administrative account, and access to sensitive data. A bypass attack involves compromising credentials from an administrator account. The latter type of attack is a more severe threat because it allows an attacker to maintain access to your organization’s network without obtaining access to any data.
While activity in one service may appear routine, many threats are characterized by overlapping activity across multiple services. This can be an early warning sign for an evolving threat. A comprehensive threat prevention solution should allow you to monitor and prioritize multi-dimensional threats. Your cloud security management solution will focus on multi-dimensional threats that combine multiple indicators to produce substantial evidence of an incident in progress. When you combine these two components, you’ll have a holistic picture of any incident.
