Best Practices of Cloud Security for 2024

World Cloud Security Day, celebrated on April 3rd, raises awareness about emerging threats like malware, denial of service, and password attacks among organisations associated with remote and hybrid work and BYOD.

As per the latest reports from Lookout’s The State of Remote Work Security 2023 survey, 3000 workers in remote and hybrid work models took part in the survey across the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The following findings were highlighted :

Source : Lookout.com

What is Cloud Security?

Cloud security, also known as cloud computing security, refers to the best practices, cybersecurity policies, security procedures and technology designed to safeguard cloud-based infrastructure, data, and applications in cloud environments.

To serve today’s modern customers, Cloud Computing has become the technology of choice for the companies seeking for innovative solutions. But migrating to cloud environments requires new approaches to security to ensure that data remains safe across online infrastructure and platforms.

Cloud security encompasses measures implemented within cloud environments to safeguard a company’s data against diverse threats, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, malware infiltration, unauthorised access or usage by hackers, and other malicious activities.

Let’s look at the Best Practices of implementing Cloud Security at your workplace!

Embracing the Shared Responsibility Model

  The public clouds usually add complexity, and cloud customers are responsible for cloud security.

As the customers are responsible for the security, cloud service providers take on additional security responsibilities when they use the structure shared responsibility model.
A detailed document is provided by AWS and Microsoft Azure to define roles in different deployment situations. The common security rules of cloud vendors must be evaluated by enterprises to reduce miscommunication and misconceptions. If the customers are responsible by implementing encryption and configuring connections and settings correctly, data will generally be secure.

Identity and Access Management (IAM) Strategies:

Unauthorised access is said to be one of the major concerns of public cloud. To minimize the risk organisations should implement an identity and access management strategy.

Organisations need to develop and implement access controls that adhere to the principles of least privilege and zero trust. This entails that user access must be strictly limited depending on the specific roles and responsibilities. PAM – Privileged Access Management can help safeguard the most critical accounts of an organisation.
Harnessing multi-factor authentication (MFA) and identity federation for enhanced security.
Leveraging AWS IAM features such as roles, policies, and permissions boundaries to fine-tune access controls.

Encryption: The Sentinel of Data Security:

To fortify the security of your cloud infrastructure, it is essential to encrypt data within your enterprise, regardless of its nature or form.

Encrypting data at rest and in transit using the AWS Key Management Service (KMS).
Integrating encryption mechanisms into storage services like Amazon S3 and Amazon EBS.
Employing TLS encryption with AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) to secure communication channels.

Network Fortress: Shielding Against Intruders: :

Designing secure Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) architectures with proper subnetting and security groups.
Leveraging AWS Firewall Manager and AWS WAF to safeguard against web-based attacks.
Implementing network monitoring and threat detection using Amazon Guard Duty and VPC Flow Logs.

Proactive Monitoring and Incident Response:

Leveraging AWS CloudTrail for auditing API activity and AWS Configuration for resource tracking.
Utilising Amazon CloudWatch for real-time monitoring, alerting, and automated response.
Establishing incident response protocols and conducting regular security
Assessments to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities.

Compliance and Governance:

Ensuring adherence to industry standards and regulatory requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS).
Implementing AWS services such as AWS Security Hub and AWS Config for continuous compliance monitoring.
Designing governance frameworks with AWS Organisations to manage multiple AWS accounts securely.

Train your staff

To secure cloud accounts and services and to prevent hackers, companies must train employees on how to identify and respond to cloud security risks.

Enforce the importance of using strong passwords in the workplace.
Impose the potential threat of using unapproved tools/applications which may result in hidden vulnerabilities.
Specialised training must be given to keep abreast of emerging threats and countermeasures.

Use Intrusion Detection and Prevention Technology

The use of Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDPS) is the most effective security tool available in the market which helps in monitoring network traffic, searches for known threats and suspicious activity. The IDPS system sends alerts to IT and security teams if they encounter any security risks and threats. The major cloud services like Amazon, Azure, and Google Cloud offer their own IDPS at their own cost.

Adopt Machine Learning for Threat Prevention

Most of the organisations begin to adopt machine learning technology for identifying suspicious behaviour and prevent possible threats in real time.

The Machine Learning algorithms can quickly identify problems and security breaches by scanning at large amounts of data.
This enables the organisations stay ahead of cyber threats by identifying them early and responding quickly.
For instance, if there is a sudden surge of data requests from a specific IP address to a cloud managed service, AI-powered systems can flag it as suspicious and trigger an alert for further investigation, thus preventing a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.

By implementing the above best practices, we can navigate the ever-evolving cloud security landscape and organisations can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks.

Cloud computing is becoming an essential architectural component when companies are designing solutions as part of their digital transformation programmes. Over the years, Infotel Group have crafted cloud solutions for clients across Europe, establishing a strong foundation of expertise in various aspects of cloud architecture. As a trusted cloud solution provider, we strive to deliver seamless digital transformations on top cloud platforms.