Cloud Security; Systems, Tools and Measures

Cloud security includes all the technologies, security policies, controls and processes that offers protection to your cloud-based systems, applications and data centers etc. Cloud security helps you prevent financial, reputation and legal loss. Cloud security is must for increasing reliability, reducing costs and ensuring complete compliance adherence 

To have a robust security for your cloud set up, there are well established strategies and tools 

1. Identity and access management 

Identity and Access management systems provide a selective, adaptive, risk based, hierarchical access of data and systems to the organization using multi-factor authentication. With IAM, companies can effectively authenticate users and help stop data breach. IAM systems not only confirms the identities of users but help the user through continuous authentication along the user’s journey. With that, all authentication events and scenarios are continually monitored by the IAM systems. It reduces the need for complex security measures and protocols in the organization 

2. Threat Intelligence Tools 

Threat intelligence involves having viable information that helps the company predict or decide the security threats to organization. It involves gathering information about upcoming threat sources and entities. It helps in warding off advanced perception threats (systematic security intrusions program often carried on by a group of skilled hackers aimed at stealing intellectual property rights and other financial and personal data) 

3. Intrusion detection systems 

These are set of applications run through company systems to monitor organization networks  

1. NIDS (Network Intrusion detection systems)- These systems detect and analyses incoming traffic in the company network 

2. HIDS (Host based intrusion detection systems)- These systems protect important operating files of the organization 

    (c) Signature IDS- These systems identify threats by detecting malicious scripts, specific patterns or signals that may indicate hacking or intrusion like analyzing the byte sequences of the incoming traffic in the network 

3. Anomaly based IDS- It uses machine learning to analyze threats 

4. Encryption Tools and systems 

Cloud systems transfer data from company’s systems to cloud providers’ platform. This is the time the data is most vulnerable for attack. This information if converted into a confidential code to be accessed only by the platform and the company, the chances of attacks are minified. This is called encryption. Encryption can be single or many layered depending on the sensitivity of data and the vulnerability of the systems. The encrypted data, ciphertext contains one or many variables called the key which is present only with the authorized recipients. This enables complete security of data flow between platforms and systems by making data almost impossible to decipher without the decryption key. Encryption tools and systems are built around the same concept. 

5. Micro-segmentation 

This involves dividing the cloud deployment of data into distinct security segments or zones. This enables containment of any intrusion or attack to a small specific zone and easy identification of the point of attack. You can apply flexible security measures to minimize the damage caused. 

6. Firewalls 

Firewalls provide you security with measures like packet filtering, proxying, domain name and IP blocking and port blocking. Coupled with intrusion detection systems, complete control and analysis of traffic, firewalls act as the primary front for ensuring security of the organizations. 

7. Reviewing contracts and SLAs 

Finally reviewing the contracts with your cloud provider and SLAs are important for ensuring complete security. As per McAfee 2019 Cloud adoption and Risk Report, it was found that 62.7% of cloud providers didn’t mention in their contract that the customer data is to be solely owned by the company’s customers. It often creates a legal loophole wherein the cloud provider may in future lay claim to the data. 

8. User training 

It is important to train the users who are involved in the cloud systems, applications or workloads about the security best practices on cloud. They should be easily able to identify phishing mails, malwares and other security risks. 

9. Continuous assessment of servers, SCCM etc 

To enable proactive security continuous assessment and monitoring of servers, platforms, SCCM and others are required. 

10. Cloud Vulnerability and penetration testing 

This involves organising attacks to your cloud infrastructure to identify the loopholes or vulnerabilities in security that may be exploited by hackers. The penetration test is generally of five stages including 

• Reconnaissance 

• Scanning 
• Gaining access 
• Maintaining the access gained through attack 
• Covering the digital foot prints or tracks of the attack 

There are many more measures that needs to be applied to ensure complete cloud security. 

Well, with Ismile Technologies, you need not bother about cloud security. 

We provide complete cloud security monitoring and incident response managed services like 

Consulting services  

2) Azure, IBM, AWS, GCP cloud security enablement as per compliance requirements  

3) Azure, IBM, AWS, GCP cloud security logging, alerting, monitoring, remediation framework  

Azure, IBM, AWS, GCP cloud Security assessment  

1. Active Directory Assessment  

2. AD Security Assessment  

3. Exchange Assessment  

4. Exchange online Assessment  

5. SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager Assessment)  

6. SCOM (System Center Operations Manager Assessment)  

7. Share point Assessment  

8. Share point online Assessment  

9. Skype for Business Assessment  

10. SQL Server Assessment  

11. Windows Server Assessment  

12. Windows Client Assessment  

Managed services  

13. Azure, IBM, AWS, GCP cloud Security monitoring manage services  

14. Azure, IBM, AWS, GCP cloud security enablement as per compliance requirement managed services  

15. 3) Azure, IBM, AWS, GCP cloud security logging, alerting, monitoring, remediation framework managed services