Best practises for Cloud Security

Cloud computing has become a major buzzword in the IT industry and even if you’re not 100% sure what it means, there’s a very strong chance that you’re already using a cloud service (or several!) - Office365 and SalesForce are just a handful of examples which come to mind. 

However, despite companies using on average 5 public and private cloud systems, security is still a large concern. For many organisations, the idea of storing data or running applications on an infrastructure that isn’t managed in-house can be understandably unnerving.

In reality though these systems are a lot more secure than traditional data-storage methods and only 9 percent of those surveyed by CloudPassage said that their organisations had actually experienced a cloud-related security incident.

With this in mind, we’re rounding up some of the best practises for ensuring maximum Cloud security:

1. Ensure you understand your Cloud provider’s security policiesIf you’re considering adopting a new Cloud provider, be sure that you fully review their policies about shared security responsibility, to make sure you understand who is handling the various aspects of security. This can help prevent misunderstandings.
   
2. Transfer encryption First and foremost, make sure any data you’re migrating to a Cloud system is encrypted. Third-party data breaches are a common issue, but one that can be easily avoided if you make sure data encryption is implemented end-to-end.
3. Have a clear Identity and Access Management (IAM) framework in place In a CloudPassage survey, unauthorised access (53%) and hijacking of accounts (44%) were the two biggest threats to public cloud systems. To minimise this happening, we suggest implementing an identity and access management (IAM) solution – this will help you and your staff define clear access policies, which will help you minimise the threat of a breach.
4. Train staff It’s all well and good employing Cloud systems, but if your staff aren’t properly trained in how to use them, this could pose a major security threat. As hackers become more sophisticated and the IT landscape constantly evolves, it’s important that your staff are well trained and up-to-date on the latest security threats.
5. Establish and enforce cloud security policies Businesses need to have written guidelines that specify who can use cloud services, how they can use them, and which data can be stored in the cloud. They also need to lay out the specific security technologies that employees must use to protect data and applications in the cloud.