In the wake of ever-growing organizational migration of data and operations into the cloud, many have seemingly come to believe that their information automatically becomes more secure than that in on-premise systems.  

However, contrary to this assumption, there are very particular security challenges facing the clouds, which make sensitive data susceptible should they not be properly attended to.  

STS was recently recognized as one of the “Best in Cloud Services” by Channel Futures’ prestigious MSP 501 list. One key reason for this is that we take a security-first approach to all of our cloud implementations. 

This article will explain why the cloud could be less secure than imagined and details critical steps organizations need to take to bolster their cloud security posture. 

The False Sense of Security in the Cloud 

Misconceptions About Cloud Provider Security 

Many businesses assume that migrating to a major cloud provider-a company like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud-will automatically protect their data and applications from bad actors. The big providers do have very strong baseline security controls in place; however, it is important to remember that the shared responsibility model places the security of data, access management, and application-level security on the customer. Not grasping these responsibilities opens critical gaps. 

The Widening Attack Surface 

Cloud environments introduce a greatly expanded attack surface compared with traditional on-premises infrastructure. With data and applications distributed across a multitude of cloud services and regions, there are more ways in than the attacker can try to gain entry. The nature of cloud resources is dynamic, making complete visibility into and control over all your assets quite hard to manage. 

Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Complexity 

Most enterprises today are leveraging multiple cloud providers along with on-premises systems in complex hybrid architectures. Therein lies the complexity of dealing with multi-cloud approaches that introduce significant variable heterogeneity due to the use of different environments, each with their own native tools and capabilities. Maintaining a unified security posture becomes exponentially more difficult. 

Key Cloud Security Risks 

Misconfiguration and Human Error 

Cloud misconfigurations remain one of the leading causes of data breaches and security incidents. The ease with which new cloud resources can be spun up means security settings are often overlooked or misconfigured. Even minor mistakes, such as leaving a storage bucket publicly accessible, can expose massive amounts of sensitive data. 

Insecure APIs and Interfaces 

Cloud services are normally managed and integrated through APIs. Badly secured APIs are an easy vector through which attackers can gain access to unauthorized cloud resources and data. Insecure API implementations have resulted in various high-profile breaches. 

Poor Access Controls 

Cloud environments are riddled with very permissive access rights and weak authentication. In the absence of appropriate identity and access management, lateral movement and privilege escalation become pretty easy for attackers once they gain initial access to the environment. 

Data Privacy and Sovereignty Challenges 

Cloud computing brings about laws related to data privacy and those that define data sovereignty. With data spread in several cloud data centers across the globe, it is difficult for most organizations to keep in step with all regulations. 

Insider Threats 

This all complicates insider threat detection and prevention since data across numerous services becomes difficult to track; neither does it become easy to determine suspicious behavior that would indicate data theft or sabotage by employees or contractors. In any case, detection and prevention are difficult to perform because data is spread across so many services, making tracking hard to conduct. 

Why Traditional Security Approaches Fall Short 

Lack of Visibility 

Most of the legacy security tools have no view into workload and data flow visibility across the cloud. This creates blind spots that make threat detection and vulnerability remediation difficult across the entire cloud ecosystem. 

Inability to Scale 

Traditional security solutions do not scale in elastic, distributed cloud environments. Scaling rapidly within cloud resources along with dynamic IP addressing can be a real pain for traditional security solutions. 

Gaps in Shared Responsibility 

Most of the organizations do not properly apply their part of the shared responsibility model for cloud security. This opens up crucial gaps in areas like data protection, access management, and application security that the cloud provider does not cover. 

Siloed Security Approaches 

Using discrete and fragmented security tools for each discrete cloud environment leads to inconsistency and protection gaps. What is needed is an integrated approach, one that addresses consistent policy and visibility. 

Securing Cloud Environments Best Practices 

Strong Identity and Access Management 

The cloud computing environment demands strong identity and proper access management. Strong identity and access management in cloud computing will involve the actual implementation of multi-factor authentication, least privilege access, and periodic auditing of users’ permission in every form of cloud services. 

Encrypt Data in Transit and at Rest 

For sensitive data in the cloud – both in-transit and at-rest – broad encryption deployments need to be implemented. Proper key management retains control over encrypted data. 

Conduct Periodic Security Assessments 

Regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing of cloud environments reveal misconfigurations and open security holes that can be used to defend against hacking. Cloud-native security frameworks – like CIS Benchmarks – are very instructive. 

Deploy Cloud-Native Security Solutions 

Purpose-built cloud security platforms offer deeper visibility and more scalable protection than traditional tools. Native cloud solutions can provide consistent security across multi-cloud and hybrid environments. 

Implement Robust Monitoring and Logging 

Comprehensive logging and monitoring of all cloud activity is critical to any threat detection and incident investigation process. Native cloud SIEM and SOAR solutions help aggregate and analyze security data at scale. 

Automate Security Processes 

Automation and infrastructure-as-code practices further eliminate the opportunity for human error while ensuring that security controls are consistently enforced across all cloud resources. 

Train Employees on Cloud Security 

Performing regular security awareness training of all employees interacting with the cloud systems will go a long way toward preventing many common mistakes that result in data exposure. 

The Way Forward: An All-Encompassing Approach toward Cloud Security 

While the cloud brings an additional attack surface, it also presents several opportunities to put in place much more robust and scalable security controls. The key is a holistic, cloud-native approach to security to address unique risks from distributed cloud environments. 

Shift Left with DevSecOps 

In cloud environments, security must be integrated throughout the development life cycle. DevSecOps practices secure it upfront, not bolting it on as some type of later afterthought. 

Embrace Zero Trust Architecture 

While by nature cloud environments are dynamic; this negates the effectiveness of traditional perimeter-based security. To that effect, zero trust architecture that verifies every access request from any source is important to lock down today’s cloud workloads. 

Leverage AI and Machine Learning 

Advanced analytics powered by AI and machine learning can help identify anomalies and potential threats hidden in massive amounts of cloud telemetry data. This is especially crucial to spot sophisticated attacks. 

Implement Cloud Security Posture Management 

CSPM solutions can provide cloud configuration monitoring continuously with automation of remediation processes. Support maintenance of an effective security posture as the cloud environments continue to change. 

Focus on Data-Centric Security 

The data is scattered across different cloud services; security shall be data-centric. That means sensitivity classification shall be carried out, appropriate controls are applied, and visibility is maintained irrespective of the location where the data resides. 

Build a Secure Cloud Environment 

These are numerous advantages but require the organization to be acutely aware that the cloud is fraught with security challenges-each a little different and requiring an altogether different approach. It is only by accounting for these nuances and putting into place cloud-native best practices that businesses can realize the full potential of the cloud, keeping sensitive data and applications secure. 

The cloud is no less secure intrinsically than an on-premise environment, but it requires a different security mindset and discipline. Indeed, with the right strategy and set of tools in place, organizations can build highly secure and resilient cloud environments that foster innovation and growth. But all this requires relentless vigilance and a commitment toward ongoing evolution of security practices as the cloud technologies continue to evolve. 

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