Cloud Security is a way of protecting cloud data and applications from cyber attacks. It is not practically possible to prevent a variety of attacks but using proper strategies and practices; the cyber attack can be reduced.
However, the cloud service provider provides the best infrastructure and uses the latest technologies and software to prevent the cloud from any cyber attack. Also, cloud computing is more secure than on-premise computing because data is accessible from anywhere and replicated to multiple locations, so there is no fear of data loss.
Main Cloud Security Risks
- An unauthorized user got access to internal data
- Unwanted malicious attacks like malware, DDoS attack, etc., can destroy the cloud infrastructure.
- Data can be leaked or exposed.
Cloud Security Technologies
- Encryption: Encryption is a way of scrambling the data, changing the plain text into ciphertext. Using this way, only the authorized user can understand the data with the help of a decryption key. If an unauthorized person gets access to these, they cannot understand data unless they have a decryption key.
- Identity and access management (IAM): Identity and access management (IAM) is essential for cloud infrastructure. It checks who the user is and if the user is allowed to access the data or not. That means only the authorized user can access the critical data stored on cloud infrastructure. Only the user identity can determine whether they will get the access privilege.
- Identity providers (IdP): Identity providers (IdP) are used to verify the user's authenticity in various ways. The first is Single Sign-on (SSO), where the user needs to sign up only once and access all the cloud services. The second is Multi-factor authentication (MFA), where the user must verify using a two-step process.
- Firewall: Firewalls make layer protection around the cloud assets by blocking unwanted malicious attacks from the external world. The firewall helps to stop unwanted malicious threads, DDoS attacks, and vulnerabilities that may affect the cloud data. A firewall reduces the chance of cyber attacks and secures the organizational cloud infrastructure.
Essential Practices to keep Cloud Data Secure
- Properly configuring all the security levels for cloud servers’
- Robust security policies for all clouds and data centres
- Backup plan to prevent data loss
- Educating employees and users on cloud data security
