cloud security best practices

Top 10 Cloud Security Best Practices

In the cloud computing era, security has been the number one concern among businesses. The technological concept definitely helps enterprises to store a humongous volume of data and run various applications on the cloud infrastructure. But at the same time, it gives rise to a number of security concerns that need to be given due importance. Many businesses show apprehensiveness towards the cloud, especially the public cloud.

This is because they have a low degree of control over the security aspect. In order to make the optimum use of the evolving cloud infrastructure, it is necessary to implement cloud security best practices. The implementation of top cloud security practices can act as effective methods that can secure your operations on the cloud. If you want to have the edge over cyber criminals on the cloud, then these practices can come to your rescue. Also, these best practices will be helpful in your preparation for a cloud security certification such as AWS Security Specialty

Try Now: AWS Certified Security Specialty free practice test 

10 Best Cloud Security Best Practices

With the wider adoption of cloud computing by enterprises, the risk of cloud security also increases. To prevent and deal with top cloud security risks, it becomes important to implement cloud security best practices. So, here are the top cloud security best practices that one should consider to secure the cloud infrastructure.

1. Ongoing and rigorous vulnerability testing 

The continuous and stringent vulnerability testing must be conducted by the cloud service provider. The provider has to ensure that the latest industry-leading vulnerability, as well as incident response tools, are implemented. The solutions will come to your rescue as automated security assessment will be possible. Thus you get a detailed insight into your system gaps and loopholes. The knowledge will help you to strengthen the security posture and minimize your vulnerability. 

For example, cloud security best practices Azure will ensure that your cloud solution’s design deployment and management are effectively managed. It is one of the most useful cloud security best practices 2020 that can improve your level of security 

2. Adding protective layers with user-level data security

The cloud environment exposes your business to a number of risks and threats. A slight gap in the cloud security posture can have severe repercussions for you as well as your business. One of the vital cloud security best practices that can come to your rescue relates to additional protective layers. You need to ensure that your cloud service provider offers role-based access control features.

It would basically allow you to set user-specific access. Apart from this, you will also be able to make editing of permission for the data. Employing additional protective layers in the cloud environment is one of the most effective cloud security best practices. It can play a key role in ensuring that your organization maintains compliance with external and internal data security standards. 

Azure Exam AZ 500 Practice Tests

3. Use of virtual private cloud

If you use cloud computing technology in your organization setting, one of the wisest things is to use a virtual private cloud. It is a far safe and secure option as compared to the multi-tenant approach of the public cloud. The strategy is definitely one of the most secure cloud security best practices that will boost your cloud environment. 

By leveraging on the cloud infrastructure that only you use, you can have proper control over it. As you will have integrated control in the cloud, you will be able to capture any unauthorized or suspicious activity. For instance, an important AWS cloud security best practices are the utilization of virtual private cloud by customers.

4. Train the staff members

For every organization, the human factors act as the core assets. In the evolving technological setting, firms have started to depend even more on their personnel and staff. If you plan to upgrade the safety quotient of your clod ecosystem, you must train your employees. In fact, it is one of the basic cloud security best practices that you need to follow at all costs. 

After your employees get the requisite training, they will be able to identify malicious and suspicious behavior in the cloud environment. Many organizations fail to give due importance to this aspect. Due to this, they are unable to make the optimum use of developing and evolving cloud technology. By training the employees, you can empower them as well as your organization to give a tough fight to cybercriminals.

Are you an AWS Security professional? Plan now to validate your skills with the AWS Certified Security Speciality exam!

5. Enforce robust cloud security policies

Cloud security policies and protocols play a vital role in influencing the quality of cloud security. One of the pivotal cloud security best practices is to implement and enforce stringent cloud security policies throughout the organization. This technique will ensure that all the employees are on the same page and take cloud security seriously. 

In case you are introducing a new corporate policy relating to cloud security, then you must intimate the organizational personnel about the same. The policies will act as the ultimate guidelines that will ensure that cloud security is given top priority throughout the entity. If you use Azure, you must ensure that the cloud security best practices Azure are uniformly followed. 

6. Encrypt all kinds of data 

When it comes to cybersecurity, encryption of data is of paramount importance. If you want to upgrade the quality of the security of your cloud infrastructure, you must encrypt all the data. Thus, the encryption of data that is in motion and the data that is at rest is highly critical. The strategy will give you an advantage over online attackers.

The encrypted data in cloud storage service and in the transit path will not allow attackers to identify your weakness. Thus your vulnerability to attacks and security breaches will minimize to a substantial degree. It is a key element of the cloud security best practices checklist that you must keep in mind. 

Helpful Resources

Preparation Guide for AWS Certified Security Specialty Exam

Preparation Guide for Microsoft Azure Exam AZ-500

Preparation Guide for Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Security Engineer Exam

7. Utilize Intrusion Detection and Prevention Techniques

One of the most effective cloud security best practices revolves around the implementation of Intrusion Detection and Prevention Techniques. These solutions can help your organization to be agile. Thus you will be able to identify attacks and threats that might arise in the cloud setting. You have the option to go with conventional Intrusion Detection and Prevention software and cloud-based software.

While choosing the solution, you need to assess your cloud environment thoroughly so that all the security needs can be met. Additionally, you must also evaluate the key features of the security solution. This approach will ensure that the quality of the security of your cloud setting can be improved. It is one of the cloud security best practices 2020 that will give you an edge in an unpredictable environment. 

8. Manage access to cloud applications 

Access management is very important when it comes to cloud computing. One of the important cloud security best practices involves the setting up and configuration of Multi-Factor Configuration. This control measure will help you to keep a tab on the behavior of your cloud ecosystem. 

You could also set up user groups within the main application. It will further simplify to identify malicious behavior and activities in the cloud environment. If you want to strengthen the security posture of your cloud further, there are other options as well. For example, you can put a block on IP address locations for login purposes.  

9. Protection against cloud phishing and malware threat

In the current times, cloud phishing and malware threat have become very common. You need to gear up so that you can protect your cloud environment against such kinds of attacks and threats. A protective layer on the cloud can play an integral role to minimize your vulnerability. It will restrict the ability of cyber criminals and attackers to exploit tour vulnerability on the cloud platform. 

Emails are one of the primary threat vectors. So, you must try to protect emails. If you are using AWS could computing services, then Aws cloud security best practices will come to your rescue. You do not have to worry about the security aspect while communicating via emails. 

10. Conduct Audit

The cloud technology is evolving like never before. In order to be a step ahead of hackers and online criminals, you must be on your toes at all times. Thus conducting the audit of your cloud infrastructure is of primary importance. The proper auditing and monitoring by your IT team will help you to identify gaps in the cloud infrastructure. So you will be able to optimize the overall cloud security infrastructure and its posture. The process can be conducted based on the complexity of the data environment. 

You need to make sure to consistently perform the audits on a regular basis so that you can safely use cloud technology. The security practice can help you in the long run as the effectiveness of your cloud ill improve. 

Preparing for a Cloud Security interview? Go through these frequently-asked Cloud Security interview questions and answers to pass the interview! 

Conclusion

The technology-driven setting gives rise to numerous risks and uncertainties. The cloud environment is nothing different. Many malicious and suspicious elements can have an adverse impact on your security framework. In order to be ahead of the security threats, there is a need to implement stringent cloud security best practices. These practices will ensure that you are relatively safe and secure in the vast cloud infrastructure. 

Your organization must follow the cloud security best practices checklist so that you will have supreme cloud security. In the dynamic and unpredictable digital platform, cyberattackers are using sophisticated technology to compromise your security. By adopting these security practices on the cloud, you will be way ahead of online hackers. The practices will minimize your risk, and you will be able to exploit cloud computing technology to the fullest. 

Cloud security is an important concern among cloud users which bring a number of opportunity for cloud security professionals. If you are a cloud security enthusiast, enroll now for cloud security certification training courses and validate your skills with a cloud security certification to get a higher paycheck. Don’t think much, take the right step and get ahead towards success!

About Pavan Gumaste

Pavan Rao is a programmer / Developer by Profession and Cloud Computing Professional by choice with in-depth knowledge in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform. He helps the organisation figure out what to build, ensure successful delivery, and incorporate user learning to improve the strategy and product further.

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