Top 8 Must Have Cloud Computing Security Features

Cloud migration has become the order of the day for most companies especially in the wake of the remote work culture engendered by the recent pandemic. Most companies are in a desperate hurry to deploy the right cloud solutions and start reaping the many business benefits that cloud offers. But in their quest for better cost management, agility, and scalability, many continue to overlook critical security features that may prove costly in the long run. Distributed multi-cloud environments are highly complex architectures that need commensurate attention to security detail. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that traditional, on-premise security mechanisms will be equally effective in the cloud.

In order to get your cloud security strategy right, you must look for the right cloud solutions with the relevant security capabilities specific to your exact business case. You also need to ensure that the solutions remain compatible with safety measures across the distributed network. And finally, you must honor the shared responsibility model. The cloud service providers guarantee a level of security endemic to the offered infrastructure and even assure data security – ultimately, the security of your cloud environment depends on you. You need to ensure that your IT security team has moved beyond the mindset of simply relying on perimeter defenses and a miscellany of traditional on-premises security measures to actually understand the context of the cloud and apply appropriate cloud security control configurations. While this may sound fairly common sense, keep in mind that Gartner predicts that very soon, 99% of all cloud security incidents will solely be the result of device misconfigurations.

In order to mitigate the risk of losing sensitive data and operational disruptions, and the reputational, financial and regulatory costs associated with data breaches, you must pay attention to the following critical cloud computing security features. For more resources on robust cloud security solutions, please refer 24/7 IT Support in New York.

Top 8 Cloud Computing Security Features your business should implement:

Cloud Identity Management (IM) protects access privileges to computer resources, services, data, and applications using the personal identity information system for control. It determines the authorization, authentication, privileges and role assignments functions in the enterprise boundaries. Access control is a key security feature for enterprise systems to authenticate if the stored access credentials on the system actually matches the user’s login information. It is also needed to check whether the user actually has the requisite clearance for accessing certain sections of the information database.

Many businesses need to have a system for accurately tracking and recording intrusion attempts to meet IT security compliance standards, such as PCI or HIPAA. Intrusion Detection Systems with event logging enable you to enforce stronger defences against breach attempts. Specific cloud providers enable monitoring for IDS by default, and even update their firewall configuration to mitigate risks from potential threats.

With most businesses and customers preferring the mobile platform, mobile security has become a critical issue for organizations. Cloud service providers need to anticipate the requirements unique to mobile security and how to keep data safe on mobile networks. For effective mobile security, companies need to start looking at vulnerabilities inherent in the operating systems and also data encryption. For more information on TOPIC, please refer to IT Support New Jersey.

The cloud infrastructure is immense in scope and complexity. Without a clear understanding of the shared responsibility when it comes to securing this vast infrastructure, you may be making your company more vulnerable to security threats than you realize. Cloud providers are responsible for the security of the infrastructure, but ultimately it is up to the business to protect its applications and data stored in the cloud. Protecting cloud-based applications is very different from traditional application security that primarily relies on blocking specific IP addresses. In order to effectively protect web applications, you should look at leveraging application firewalls that make use of artificial intelligence and can adjust security settings depending on the level of threat it faces. You should also look at leveraging machine learning that can help you effectively monitor all traffic, accurately assess threats and respond in real time with better speed and accuracy and minimal need for human interference.

A cloud encryption gateway essentially offers a safe passage for data transit from one specific point to another. The data gets encrypted as it leaves the private enterprise network and travels to the cloud. It is decrypted once it reaches its destination. The value of a cloud encryption gateway is obvious in terms of both guaranteeing data security as well as complying with even the most regardless of data privacy regulations and compliance frameworks. For more information on cloud encryption gateway, please refer Cloud Services New Jersey.

Even with all the security features inherent in your cloud infrastructure, you should look at encrypting the data stored in the cloud. This ensures that even if the breach attempt is successful and your data does get stolen, your sensitive data will stay safe with the right encryption. This is particularly effective against ransomware attacks that have become a persistent threat in recent years. At the very least the protection of data encryption allows you to have the bandwidth to alert your valuable team members, customers or clients so they have a fighting chance to protect their identities. The hackers won’t have the unnecessary privilege being able to access your data immediately once they manage to breach your network.

The methods and techniques employed in cyber crime often develop faster than defensive strategies. It is impossible for organizations to prepare for all kinds of threats in advance. The best they can do is to have the maximum possible safeguards in place already so that the damages can be mitigated even in the case of a successful breach. To start off, enterprises need to set aside a dedicated budget for cloud security on the lookout for vendors that can service their particular cloud computing security needs. Ideally, a vendor like Data Backup Services New Jersey should be able to offer you multiple cloud security solutions within a single, unified dashboard. This would typically include everything from Multi-factor authentication, Single Sign-On, Access Control, password policies, and more.