July 11th, 2017

Cloud computing is on a rise but one thing that always haunts organisations is security. It has always been the number 1 concern when it comes to public cloud. The hesitation has its roots in the belief that cloud systems are less secure than traditional systems. Unlike this debate, security is the top most common priority for both traditional and cloud environment. And with cloud coming with benefits like scalability, storage, elasticity and costs, a secured environment make it a totally worth it bet. Here, we bring to you possible cloud security challenges and expert tips to overcome these.
Security and Compliance Certifications
There are various standard security and compliance certifications in cloud computing and it is important to pay some attention to the cloud provider’s kitty. Certification such as ISO 27017:2015, ISO 9001:2008 and the Multi-Tier Cloud Security Standard Level – 3 are few of the reputed certifications that can be considered while making a decision over cloud providers. The financial ability of the providers to invest on secure technologies should also be considered.
IAM to Combat Cloud Security Challenges
Identity Access Management (IAM) are tools that help enterprises to manage user identities and access in the cloud. The IAM technology includes various services for identity management and access management. Most of the enterprises institute these along with other governance and authentication services. Also, it is important to do some white hat security tests to check the vulnerability of the IAM.
Cloud Access Security Brokers
CASBs or Cloud Access Security Brokers are in high demand these days. This trend is owing to the growing popularity of hybrid and multicloud models. This protects the data that is transferred between the client systems and cloud providers. CASBs also perform various analysis to track any suspicious behaviour.
Multicloud Security Snags
Multicloud computing enables a mix and match approach through which enterprises can choose different services and cloud providers as per their need. In most of the multicloud models, data travels across public internet increasing the risk of security. Besides, due to multi providers, there is lack of standardisation. One of the ways around here is educating teams on all security policies and establishing a common method for managing automation and monitoring across clouds.
Network Security Groups
These are really helpful in overcoming public cloud security challenges. Network security groups protect public cloud from outside access. They also help teams to manage access controls for networks in a public cloud. For different cloud providers, the process might be different and therefore it is important to study the set up of network security groups for the respective provider. To avoid potential threats, one should avoid accessing databases directly over the internet and should create a three-tier cloud security mode to control communication between apps and services.
A Multi-layered Cloud Security Framework
This is to ensure additional security. Here, the first layer is a secure virtual machine layer, the second layer is cloud data layer, their one is cloud storage layer and fourth is is virtual network monitor layer. Access to each of these layers should be restricted to only authorised users.
These are few cloud security tips that will help IT pros to overcome security challenges in a cloud environment. If you have any more insight or tips, feel free to mention it in the comment section below.
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