Many business necessities can no longer be satisfied by traditional IT infrastructure, prompting an increased number of organisations to turn to the cloud. Cloud environments undoubtedly provide competent results, but they also bring with them a range of unique concerns that enterprises aren’t prepared to handle. Cloud security services can help organisations minimise those dangers without losing sight of their core business goals.
What are cloud security services?
Cloud security services were created to reduce risk and ensure cloud systems comply with regulations. The top cloud security concerns for enterprises today are reportedly data loss, data privacy, and credential exposure.
Since cloud systems are often layered and complicated and threatened by multiple sources, it is impossible to protect them using a single, universal approach. Instead, most of these services are tailored to address particular issues.
From a technical standpoint, these services are overseen by cloud-security services, meaning they are managed and taken care of by an external entity. Handing over security operations to a third party has multiple advantages:
- Specialists who understand the best course of action can detect, observe, and address potential dangers. This ensures that risks are managed efficiently and fully.
- Companies that offer managed cloud security services usually have the necessary knowledge to assist organisations in fulfilling their regulatory compliance requirements, which is generally a field that is not within their specialty.
- Internal IT teams no longer need to manage cyber issues, freeing them up to concentrate on the core activities of the business.
Types of cloud security services
Cloud systems can be intricate and built from a variety of technologies and operations. This can mean they are exposed to numerous potential dangers. Therefore, there generally isn’t a single cloud security service that works for every situation. Instead, most of these services are focused on specific areas.
Data loss prevention
Owing to the immense amount of info that is regularly uploaded to, and created by, cloud services, and with multiple applications and devices having access to such information, the possibility of data being lost is tremendous. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) systems are created to detect any sensitive data – such as credit card numbers or personal details – and avoid them from ending up in the wrong hands.
Identity and access management
IAM services guarantee that users obey the concept of least privilege, which means that they have to have permission to access cloud resources and complete activities that correspond to their particular role or purpose. For example, a regular user should not be able to create instances or eliminate snapshots. An IAM service can make sure that rule is obeyed. By using an IAM service, administrators can devise permission policies and attach them to a user or collection of users.
Intrusion detection
Intrusion-detection tools keep an eye on incoming and outgoing traffic to detect any suspicious activities or possible dangers. This is usually achieved by recognizing distinct patterns and behaviours. The conventional intrusion detection system is most often used at the network layer. But, now more solutions apply this form of safety to the host layer (for example, to the virtual machines). By identifying threats before they take advantage of any vulnerabilities, businesses can stop malicious actors from setting up a foothold in the targeted system.
Email security
People are generally the weakest point in any security system, and they can be the focus of cyberattacks. A great many of these offences are carried out via email, such as phishing and Trojans. These attacks may affect your cloud environment, with the possibility of a spear phishing attack being used to gain access to cloud administrator credentials. To reduce this risk, you can set up an email security service that can detect phishing emails and malicious attachments.
Web security
The growing reliance on cloud services has posed a challenge to IT administrators, who must now manage a larger attack surface. Employees use cloud services from multiple locations – at the main office, from their homes, in branch offices, and more. Web security solutions, which are placed between users (wherever they are) and the web, offer administrators a way to secure these connections and ward off cyber threats.
Outsource your cloud service security
Many organisations do not have specialised cybersecurity teams or a security operations centre that could plan and carry out a multi-layered defence strategy and oversee their cloud security systems, detect and respond quickly to any threats. The cloud security experts at Virtu can develop a comprehensive and customised security strategy for your cloud environment. By outsourcing your cloud security responsibilities, you can focus more on your core business.