Cloud security is essential for protecting the apps and data hosted in the cloud, and it’s actually a vast area. This is the primary reason many businesses struggle to secure themselves from attacks. However, as a cloud services provider, you can devise a cloud security strategy that minimizes the risk of cyber-attacks.
Cloud infrastructures are still relatively secure as compared to on-site computing as it has the resources to secure the data. So, if you are providing cloud services to your customers but are lacking in the security niche, we are sharing a few strategies that you can follow!
The Importance Of Cloud Security
With more companies migrating their software systems and data, it’s becoming important to understand the sensitive data that can cause monetary and reputational loss if exposed. As a cloud services provider, it’s essential to prevent data theft and leaks to ensure your customers’ trust remains intact and you don’t have to suffer from a data breach. In addition to this, cloud security is important for regulatory compliance.
8 Ways To Secure The Data In The Cloud
Securing the data in the cloud and the entire cloud infrastructure is crucial to the business as well as your reputation as a cloud services provider. So, let’s see which steps can help you secure the data!
1. Use Multi-Factor Authentication
Many people make the mistake of using a username and password, but they aren’t enough to keep the hackers at bay. In addition, the basic credentials are the primary way for hackers to gain access to your business’s infrastructure and data. That’s because once they have the credentials, they can sign in to the cloud apps.
For this purpose, it’s important to use multi-factor authentication, as it helps ensure that only authorized people can sign into the cloud infrastructure and access sensitive data. It is an effective security measure that keeps hackers away from your infrastructure – also, it’s to be implemented as IaaS.
2. Manage The User Access
The majority of business employees don’t have access to every software and data file on your cloud. For this reason, it’s important to set proper authorization to make sure only authorized personnel can access and alter the data. It not only eliminates the chances of accidental edits but also ensures that cloud infrastructure is protected from hackers.
To illustrate, if an employee has all the information and access to the cloud and falls prey to a phishing email, you can bid farewell to your data. It’s better to hire a qualified IT professional for a cloud services setting. In particular, you can opt for managed cloud services to make sure your user management and access are streamlined.
3. Opt For Automation To Identify Intrusion
Investing in real-time user activity analysis and monitoring is essential for identifying abnormalities and irregularities in the cloud structure. For instance, you will be able to identify unknown IP addresses accessing the cloud. These activities can trigger a system breach, which means identifying them at an early stage can help.
It will ensure that your security issues are fixed on time. Every business has a different cyber security need, so it’s recommended you conduct the risk assessment.
4. Use The Off-Boarding Process For Departing Employees
Whenever someone leaves your company, you’ve to ensure that they cannot access the cloud infrastructure, including the apps, storage, and customer data. So, to ensure proper protection, you have to ensure they are off-boarded from the system. It’s better to create a systemized de-provisioning process, which helps revoke the access rights of the employee leaving.
In addition to this, you must off-board the departing employees as soon as they hand in their resignation letters. In case you don’t have the time, hire a third-party person to set up the de-provisioning process.
5. Give Anti-Phishing Training To Your Employees
The most common way for hackers to access your sensitive business data is to use the employees’ credentials through spoofing sites, phishing, and social media spying. As a service provider, you must understand that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, and all your employees have to play a part. This is why you have to provide regular anti-phishing training to the employees, so they can identify the threats.
It’s recommended that you set up a monthly training program that updates the employees about the latest cybersecurity trends and learn how to identify if someone is trying to wiggle their way into the system.
6. Invest In Cloud-To-Cloud Backup
The most common reason behind breaches in cloud services is human error. For instance, if the employee deletes some data and the hackers get the data, he/she can extract the password from the data and gain access to the credentials. This is important because the majority of app and software providers save the data on their server even after you delete the data.
So, instead of deleting the data, you should focus on creating a cloud-to-cloud backup to store your deleted data. Also, it prevents corruption or missing data. In addition, it ensures that if the data is lost from one platform, you can access it from the backup rather than paying the ransom to hackers.
7. Ensure Proper Configuration Of Security Settings
Another important step is to configure the security settings of the cloud servers properly because it can help protect them from data breaches. This is because the misconfigured servers tend to expose data to the public. Having said that, it’s important to collaborate with the cloud vendor to configure the settings properly.
8. Implement Consistent Security Policies
It doesn’t matter if you have a private cloud, public cloud, or both; it’s important to implement security policies on all the infrastructures. That’s because even if one part is compromised, it will allow hackers to gain entry into your system, which compromises the entire encryption. For this reason, you have to ensure consistency in security policies and make sure there are no weak links.
The Bottom Line
All in all, cloud security is extremely effective and is a great way of securing your clients’ business data. Following the strategies from this article will ensure that you can get maximum results from cloud infrastructure while maintaining the highest security level.
