Cloud Security Best Practices

20 Cloud Security Best Practices

Here are the 20 top cloud security best practices for:

#1. Implement Data Encryption

Data encryption is foundational to cloud security, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected from unauthorized access. Encryption is most effective when it is used to secure data both at rest and in transit.

Data encrypted at rest refers to the process of encrypting data when it’s stored, whether that data exists in file or object storage, block storage, data lakes, or other services. Data encrypted in transit refers to the protection of data as it travels over a network, such as when transmitting data or accessing cloud services. Use of secure communications protocols like SSL/TLS enforces data in transit.

Cloud providers offer centralized control of encryption keys, making regular reviews and updates to these keys easy, further protecting cloud security architecture.

#2. Use Identity and Access Management (IAM)

IAM is a framework of policies and technologies which ensure only authorized individuals can access computing resources, and is an important aspect of securing the cloud. IAM unifies authentication, authorization, role management, and single sign-on (SSO) services to enable user access to resources.

Use of IAM services enforces the principle of least privilege, helping to minimize the attack surface and prevent unauthorized access. In conjunction with IAM, the implementation of multi-factor authentication (MFA) further enhances security, reducing the risk of a breach even if credentials are compromised.

#3. Implement Identity Governance and Administration (IGA)

IGA is the practice of managing the entire lifecycle of user identities, from initial access provisioning, de-provisioning, and auditing. IGA offers a degree of control over the expansive number of identities users require to perform daily work. They enable organizations to have visibility into what user identities exist, in which systems they exist, and what they can access.

IGA solutions provide comprehensive identity management capabilities, enforce policies for access requests, approvals, and certifications. They also ensure that access rights are appropriate and that inactive or compromised accounts are promptly deactivated.

IGA works hand-in-hand with IAM processes to maintain the integrity of the cloud environment.

#4. Conduct Regular Security Assessments and Vulnerability Scans

Misconfigurations and outdated software are highly sought-after entry points for attackers. Continuous monitoring and vulnerability management help organizations identify and minimize potential security threats.

Cloud services provide automated scanning capabilities to detect and report on vulnerabilities. Implementation of a continuous monitoring strategy allows organizations to stay ahead of emerging threats, allowing them to patch or remediate problems before they are exploited by malicious actors.

#5. Enforce Strong Authentication and Authorization Protocols

Before granting access to sensitive resources, context-aware authentication and authorization mechanisms consider factors like:

• User location
• Device type
• Deviation from normal behavior patterns

Implementation of authorization protocols like OAuth (Open Authorization) and OpenID Connect boosts the effective management of user permissions. This is commonly used to standardize how cloud environments grant access to third-party applications without sharing user or service account credentials.

#6. Monitor for Abnormalities and Unusual Activity

Anomaly detection systems can help identify potential threats to cloud security. Threat detection systems typically employ machine learning algorithms to analyze user behavior and network traffic. They identify deviations from normal usage patterns which may indicate malicious activity.

By continuously monitoring for abnormalities in user behavior, organizations can rapidly detect and respond to threats, thereby minimizing the potential for damage.

#7. Educate Users on Cloud Security Best Practices

An informed user base is a key defense against social engineering attacks and other security threats. Regular training and education of staff on cloud security enhances awareness and reduces the risk of human error.

Training that includes simulated phishing attacks, safe browsing practices, secured password management, and the use of multi-factor authentication encourages security awareness among users.

#8. Implement a Patch Management Strategy

The rapid identification and deployment of critical updates is key to ensuring cloud environments remain secure and resilient. Timely updates and automated patch management, enforcing regular updates to software and systems, help organizations to address vulnerabilities quickly.

Centralized, cloud-based patch management tools help to ensure that cloud infrastructure is up-to-date with the latest security patches, reducing the risk of exploitation.

#9. Use Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools

DLP tools detect and prevent data breaches by monitoring and controlling data transfer and usage. These systems use pattern recognition to detect potential violations of data security policies.

DLP can help organizations enforce policies which prevent unauthorized sharing or leakage, thereby protecting against accidental or malicious data exposure. For example, DLP can help identify and potentially block the transfer of sensitive information like:

• Personally identifiable information (PII)
• Financial data
• Intellectual property

#10. Limit Access to Sensitive Data and Applications

All major cloud providers offer robust solutions for role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC) to restrict access to resources. RBAC assigns users permissions based on their designated roles, ensuring that users can access the resources necessary to perform their work functions.

ABAC relies on user attributes to grant access, including:

• User department
• Project
• Security clearance

#11. Implement an Incident Response Plan

An incident response (IR) plan is a structured approach to coordinate the detection, containment, and recovery from cyber attacks or other security incidents within an organization. IR plans rely upon a dedicated incident response team to carry out the various phases of the plan.

When a security incident happens, the IR team assesses the scope of the incident as it relates to both on-premises and cloud infrastructure. It then begins mitigation efforts to prevent further damage, eradicates the intrusion, and takes necessary steps to recover from the incident. IR plans enable organizations to protect infrastructure and business operations from the threat of cyber attacks.

#12. Regularly Back Up Critical Data and Systems

Regular backups ensure that data is restored in the event of data loss, corruption, or damage inflicted during a security breach. Automated management of backup processes, ideally with geographically diverse backup destinations, helps organizations to implement disaster recovery plans to maintain business continuity.

Encrypting backups adds an additional layer of security, protecting them from unauthorized access. Regular tests of restoration processes and procedures ensure that the backup strategy works as expected.

#13. Implement a Disaster Recovery Plan

Disaster recovery plans ensure business continuity in the event of system failure, an unexpected outage or critical disaster. A complete plan includes:

• Steps to identify risks
• Develop strategies for mitigation
• Processes to recover full business operations

Use of cloud infrastructure presents expanded opportunities for business resilience. For example, cloud environments can reduce the friction in creating mirrored failover sites, enabling organizations to swap operations to a secondary site when facing a critical event.

Having a strong plan that includes risk assessment, communications strategies, and which prioritizes business functions enables organizations to safeguard all aspects of the business.

#14. Implement a Vendor Risk Management Program

A vendor risk management program helps to mitigate the risk of third-party vendors to an organization’s security posture. Outsourcing vendors, business partners, IT suppliers, and complimentary cloud solutions all pose some level of risk given the inherent uncertainty surrounding their internal operations and security procedures.

Vendor risk management involves conducting various due diligence investigations, including:

• Conducting risk assessment questionnaires
• Reviewing vendor regulatory compliance
• Assessing the vendor’s security practices

The program ensures that the vendor’s services meet organizational security standards, reducing the risk of data breaches and security incidents in the supply chain.

#15. Use Secure Development Practices

Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) is a framework for the secure creation of software. SDLC involves integrating security practices into every phase of development, from planning and design to deployment and maintenance.

SDLC Security aids in the early detection of vulnerabilities during the development process, reducing the risks of security flaws. SDLC also involves testing practices and tools which are applied to continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to automate testing.

Security reviews and compliance audits help to round out the process, ensuring applications are secure by design.

#16. Integrate Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs)

CNAPP solutions secure cloud-native applications throughout their lifecycle, from development to production. They encompass a range of security capabilities, including:

• Runtime protection
• Vulnerability management
• Compliance monitoring
• Workload security

CNAPPs contribute to a strong cloud security stance and enhance SDLC Security practices. CNAPPs integrate into cloud environments offering visibility into containers, serverless functions, and microservices. They consolidate multiple security functions into a single platform, thereby reducing complexity and improving management efficiency.

They help to ensure regulatory compliance by continuous assessment of risks to applications. CNAPPs are valuable tools to mitigate security risks specific to cloud-native applications.

#17. Ensure Compliance with Relevant Regulations

Regulatory compliance is an important aspect of businesses operating within modern, interconnected cloud environments. The rising adoption of cloud services has attracted increased scrutiny from state, federal, and foreign regulatory bodies.

Data localization, governance, and law enforcement procedures present challenges for cloud service providers and cloud-based businesses alike.

Conducting regular audits and compliance checks is important to maintaining the guidelines set out by applicable regulations. Organizations must stay updated on regulatory changes, complying with regulations like SOX, PCI DSS, GDPR, DORA, and other relevant standards, and maintain compliance activity records.

#18. Deploy a Cloud Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A Cloud WAF filters and monitors HTTP traffic between web applications and the internet, presenting frontline defense for web applications. Cloud WAFs are deployed on cloud infrastructure, and protect against web-based attacks.

They offer real-time web traffic monitoring, providing alerting and enabling quick responses to emerging threats. And because they are cloud-based, these WAFs can automatically scale to handle various threats, including:

• SQL injection
• Cross-site scripting (XSS)
• Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks

Cloud-based WAFs integrate with other cloud security services, and tend to be easier to deploy and manage than on-premises solutions.

#19. Use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

SIEM platforms help to monitor and analyze events in real-time, and are a valuable part of a secure cloud environment.

SIEM platforms aggregate and correlate log data from multiple sources, providing insight into anomalous events. Unusual patterns of behavior can indicate a potential security breach, and can trigger automated incident response procedures.

This enables security teams to respond to threats more effectively, and can prevent massive financial or data losses. Furthermore, audits or requirements of evidence of compliance from regulatory bodies make security systems like SIEM increasingly necessary.

#20. Adopt a Zero Trust Security Model

The zero trust security model abandons the traditional security approach with the implicit trust of users, devices, applications, and networks. The core tenet of the zero trust ethos can be summarized as, “never trust, always verify.”

The zero trust security philosophy has important ramifications to identity verification, access control, and system and device monitoring. Identity is continuously verified, access requests are strictly controlled, and data is encrypted in all places within the organization.

Segmentation and isolation are also core to zero trust. All cloud providers allow for creating segmented and isolated networks, which limits the spread of security breaches.