Cloud security mainly focuses on how to implement policies, processes, and technologies together so they ensure data protection, support regulatory compliance, and provide control over privacy, access, and authentication for users and devices. 

Cloud service providers (CSPs) typically follow a shared responsibility model, which means implementing cloud computing security is both the responsibility of the cloud provider and you—the customer. Think of it as a responsibility framework that defines which security tasks belong to the cloud provider and which are the duty of the customer. Understanding where your provider’s security responsibilities end and yours begin is critical for building a resilient cloud security strategy. 

Broadly speaking, the CSP is always responsible for the cloud and its core infrastructure, while the customer is expected to secure anything that runs “in” the cloud, such as network controls, identity and access management, data, and applications.  

Shared responsibility models vary depending on the service provider and the cloud computing service model you use—the more the provider manages, the more they can protect.

It’s imperative to rethink security approaches as more companies move to the cloud from on-premises environments, especially with data governance and compliance under the regulatory microscope. 

In an increasingly hybrid and multicloud world, you have more freedom than ever to build where and when you want. But it also means, security is a lot more complicated than stopping someone from accessing your network. Unfortunately, many organizations tend to treat security as an afterthought and may forgo best practices in favor of chasing after faster digital transformation. As a result, attackers see cloud-based targets as a potentially easy path to big gains and are adapting their tactics to exploit vulnerabilities accordingly. 

While cloud security can never guarantee complete prevention of attacks and vulnerabilities, a well-designed cloud security strategy can go a long way toward preventing breaches or mitigating damage, improving compliance, and building stronger customer trust.

Cloud suffers from similar security risks that you might encounter in traditional environments, such as insider threats, data breaches and data loss, phishing, malware, DDoS attacks, and vulnerable APIs.  

However, most organizations will likely face specific cloud security challenges, including: 

Cloud-based resources run on infrastructure that is located outside your corporate network and owned by a third party. As a result, traditional network visibility tools are not suitable for cloud environments, making it difficult for you to gain oversight into all your cloud assets, how they are being accessed, and who has access to them. 

Misconfigured cloud security settings are one of the leading causes of data breaches in cloud environments. Cloud-based services are made to enable easy access and data sharing, but many organizations may not have a full understanding of how to secure cloud infrastructure. This can lead to misconfigurations, such as leaving default passwords in place, failing to activate data encryption, or mismanaging permission controls. 

Cloud deployments can be accessed directly using the public internet, which enables convenient access from any location or device. At the same time, it also means that attackers can more easily gain authorized resources with compromised credentials or improper access control.  

Cloud resources can be provisioned and dynamically scaled up or down based on your workload needs. However, many legacy security tools are unable to enforce policies in flexible environments with constantly changing and ephemeral workloads that can be added or removed in a matter of seconds. 

The cloud adds another layer of regulatory and internal compliance requirements that you can violate even if you don’t experience a security breach. Managing compliance in the cloud is an overwhelming and continuous process. Unlike an on-premises data center where you have complete control over your data and how it is accessed, it is much harder for companies to consistently identify all cloud assets and controls, map them to relevant requirements, and properly document everything. 

• Identity and access management (IAM): IAM services and tools allow administrators to centrally manage and control who has access to specific cloud-based and on-premises resources. IAM can enable you to actively monitor and restrict how users interact with services, allowing you to enforce your policies across your entire organization. 
• Data loss prevention (DLP): DLP can help you gain visibility into the data you store and process by providing capabilities to automatically discover, classify, and de-identify regulated cloud data. 
• Security information and event management (SIEM): SIEM solutions combine security information and security event management to offer automated monitoring, detection, and incident response to threats in your cloud environments. Using AI and ML technologies, SIEM tools allow you to examine and analyze log data generated across your applications and network devices—and act quickly if a potential threat is detected. 
• Public key infrastructure (PKI): PKI is the framework used to manage secure, encrypted information exchange using digital certificates. PKI solutions typically provide authentication services for applications and verify that data remains uncompromised and confidential through transport. Cloud-based PKI services allow organizations to manage and deploy digital certificates used for user, device, and service authentication.