Cloud Security Principles
As of 2021, 79% of organizations have been victims of more than one cloud data breach, while 64% regard data loss from cloud storage as one of the main challenges. Despite this, Gartner estimates that spending on cloud services will exceed $396 billion in 2021 and reach $482 billion by 2022.
So, what are the recommended cloud security principles for protecting data and users?
1. Enhanced asset resiliency and security:
Cloud providers must implement sufficient safeguards to secure cloud data and assets used to store it from damage or loss. These include implementing robust security measures for data centers, protecting data at rest, sanitizing data, and safe disposal of data storage infrastructure.
2. User separation:
A cloud solution can host more than one user or consumer within the same service. However, a malicious consumer can attack a service that may adversely impact other users. Therefore, separating users prevents malicious actors from affecting or compromising other consumers.
3. Cloud security governance:
Before procuring cloud services from a specific provider, you must ascertain that provider has implemented sufficient cloud security governance frameworks. Security governance ensures that implemented technical, personal, or physical controls are adequate and updated regularly.
4. Robust operational security:
Cloud operational security assists in detecting, preventing, and remediating cloud threats, risks, and attacks. Adequate cloud operational security should not be sophisticated or time-consuming and should include incident management, proactive monitoring, vulnerability management, and robust change management.
5. Multi-factor authentication:
Password security is the most widely used control measure for preventing unauthorized access. But, compromised passwords also contribute to most cloud attacks. Therefore, cloud providers must implement secure authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication, to validate legitimate consumers. On the other hand, organizations must enable multi-factor authentication in all cloud services to prevent malicious actors from accessing company data using stolen passwords.
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