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Cloud-based infrastructure requires a similar level of security as an organization’s on-prem environment. Cloud network security is a foundational layer of cloud security and is vital to protecting the data, applications, and IT resources deployed within enterprise cloud environments as well as the traffic flowing between cloud deployments and the enterprise’s intranet and on-prem data centers.
On-prem enterprise networks use network security solutions for advanced threat prevention, to restrict access to corporate systems, enforce security policies, and perform internal segmentation of corporate networks. Cloud network security provides similar enterprise-grade protection to cloud infrastructure and networks.
Overview :
Cloud network security is challenged by the continued presence of the on-premise network. In today’s environment, security policy must be managed comprehensively across the hybrid network that comes about as a result of the connection between the on-premise data center and the cloud estate that now hosts a growing number of applications. Cloud compliance with regulations and security policy is no less essential than in the data center.
Organizations that employ the cloud often use the services of more than one cloud vendor. The multi-cloud usage trend is likely to continue. These organizations now need to manage
♦ On-premise security
♦ Cloud security
♦ And Inter-cloud network security emanating from multi-cloud use
As more and more applications are migrated to the cloud, network security teams face an onslaught of new cloud security challenges.
Case Study:
As companies move to adopt cloud-based infrastructure, they need to protect these resources in accordance with corporate security policies and applicable regulations. Traditional, perimeter-based defenses cannot effectively protect cloud-based infrastructure, and the cloud vendors’ security tools built into most public and private cloud offerings do not meet enterprise security requirements.
Cloud network security solutions close a foundational security gap in the cloud. They enable companies to achieve the same level of security monitoring and threat prevention that they have in their on-premises environment despite the dissolving network perimeter. This is essential to an organization’s ability to fulfill its duties under the cloud shared responsibility model and to ensure corporate cybersecurity and regulatory compliance.
Customers who use the same security vendor for their on-prem and cloud deployments should ensure they can manage all their network security from a single pane of glass, thus increasing efficiency and reducing TCO as well as corporate risk.
Problem statement:
1. Reduces Business Risk
As you migrate workloads to the cloud, you increase your attack surface. Why? Before, you only had to worry about potential threats and vulnerabilities in your on-premise IT infrastructure, which impacted business operations. Now, you also have to contend with similar concerns in your private, public, and hybrid clouds. When you adopt cloud security, you reduce risks in those areas.
2. Protects Data
Cloud environments generate, process, and store huge amounts of data every day. In fact, predictions say that by 2025, 100 zettabytes, or 50% of the world’s data at that time (up from 15% in 2015), will be stored in the cloud. Some of that will be sensitive data, e.g., personal data, financial data, trade secrets, credit card data, etc. Your company also needs cloud security to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of that data.
3. Increases Reliability and Availability
A significant part of your business processes run in the cloud, so you need to constantly keep the cloud services driving those processes reliable and available. Cloud security also helps you prevent processes from being deliberately or accidentally corrupted or disrupted.
4. Ensures Regulatory Compliance
Data protection/privacy laws and regulations cover certain types of data stored in the cloud. These laws could be the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), among others. When you implement cloud security best practices, you increase your chances of staying compliant with these mandates.
5. Reduces Costs
The price of a single data breach costs you much more than cloud security initiatives. Data breaches are more likely to happen in the absence of cloud security. In the 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average total cost was already estimated to be at $4.24M, with the average cost of a mega-breach (50-65 million records) already at $401M. That means you’ll have to spend on potential lawsuits, legal and regulatory fines/penalties, data breach notifications, and other related costs. You’ll also suffer a loss of opportunity and a severely damaged reputation.
Indeed, you shouldn’t take cloud security’s importance lightly. That said, I should say the road to a secure cloud environment has bumps and potholes. In the next section, I’ll tackle the top 4 challenges you’ll likely face along the way.
Benefits:
Manually managing the security tools and configuration options natively available in cloud environments can be complex and does not provide the level of security needed by the modern enterprise. Key benefits of a cloud network security solution include:
Advanced Threat Prevention: Cloud network security solutions provide cloud infrastructure with enterprise-level threat prevention. This is essential to protecting cloud-based infrastructure against modern cyber threats.
Consistent Policy Enforcement: Enforcing consistent corporate and security policies across on-prem and cloud-based environments can be difficult due to the significant differences between them. A cloud security solution integrated with existing on-prem solutions enables more consistent security and threat monitoring.
Security Orchestration and Automation: CNS solutions integrate with cloud environments and enable security automation and configuration management. This allows security teams to more quickly and scalably manage potential threats to cloud-based infrastructure.
Consistent Security Visibility: Cloud network security solutions that integrate with existing on-prem solutions enable security monitoring and management from a single pane of glass. This simplifies threat prevention, security monitoring, and reporting for cloud environments.
When talking about Cloud Security or Cloud Computing Security, the first thing you should know is “it’s a cyber-security discipline,” comprising a detailed and practicable set of policies that enlist all the essential technologies, advanced controls, and IT services protecting your personal and professional data and applications saved in cloud platforms. It protects your information against threats, either internal or external.Effective Cloud Security demands the hard work and efforts of every other person present in the company along with cloud providers and the customers that are using them.Overview :Cloud Security Services Can be a set of control-based safeguards and technology protection designed to safeguard resources stored online from leakage, theft, or data loss. Security applications operate as software within the cloud employing a Software as a Service (SaaS) model.Three main service models of cloud computing:-i.Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)ii. Platform as a Service (PaaS)iii. Software as a Service (SaaS).Case Study:What are the security issues in cloud computing? Because if you don’t know them, then how are you supposed to put proper measures in place? After all, weak cloud security can expose users and providers to all types of cyber security threats. Some common cloud security threats include:i.Risks of cloud-based infrastructure: including incompatible legacy IT frameworks, and third-party data storage service disruptions.ii. Internal threats due to human error: such as misconfiguration of user access controls.iii. External threats: caused almost exclusively by malicious actors, such as malware, phishing, and DDoS attacks.Problem statement:In the 1990s, business and personal data lived locally — and security was local as well. Data would be located on a PC’s internal storage at home, and on enterprise servers, if you worked for a company.Introducing cloud technology has forced everyone to reevaluate cyber security. Your data and applications might be floating between local and remote systems — and always internet-accessible. If you are accessing Google Docs on your smartphone or using Salesforce software to look after your customers, that data could be held anywhere. Therefore, protecting it becomes more difficult than when it was just a question of stopping unwanted users from gaining access to your network. Cloud security requires adjusting some previous IT practices, but it has become more essential for two key reasons:i.Convenience over security. Cloud computing is exponentially growing as a primary method for both workplace and individual use. Innovation has allowed new technology to be implemented quicker than industry security standards can keep up, putting more responsibility on users and providers to consider the risks of accessibility.ii. Centralization and multi-tenant storage. Every component — from core infrastructure to small data like emails and documents — can now be located and accessed remotely on 24/7 web-based connections. All this data gathering in the servers of a few major service providers can be highly dangerous. Threat actors can now target large multi-organizational data centers and cause immense data breaches.Unfortunately, malicious actors realize the value of cloud-based targets and increasingly probe them for exploits. Despite cloud providers taking many security roles from clients, they do not manage everything. This leaves even non-technical users with the duty to self-educate on cloud security..Physical equipment required in networking, such as routers and cablingOperating systemsData serversComputing software used as a core of online networkingHard drivesComputer virtualization frameworks, including both host and guest machinesRuntime environments or running programData (stored or modified)ApplicationsE-mailsEnd-user hardware such as PCs, smartphones, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and modems.Benefits:i.Protection against DDoS:-Due to a frequent number of attacks on Distributed denial of service, a top cloud computing security solution focuses on measures to prevent huge amounts of traffic aimed toward a company’s cloud servers.ii. Data security.iii. Regulatory compliance.iv. Flexibility.v.High availability and support.
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