Enterprises around the world are increasingly turning to public cloud providers for their computing needs. According to Gartner, the global spend on public cloud services is expected to grow by 20% in 2022. The cloud offers numerous benefits such as flexible pricing models and scalability, but security is often overlooked during the migration process. This oversight can lead to financial losses, irreversible damage, and a negative impact on the brand image of the enterprise. To avoid these risks, it is essential for enterprises to carefully evaluate the potential risks, compliance obligations, and their business requirements before moving to the cloud.
A recent report by Gartner states that 99% of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault by 2025. In this article, we will discuss four secure framework considerations that enterprises should take into account before migrating to the cloud.
The first consideration is to review the shared responsibility matrix in the public cloud. It is crucial to understand the shared responsibility model that defines the security and compliance responsibilities of both the cloud provider and the customer. The cloud provider is responsible for the security of the core cloud infrastructure, including data centers, networks, and hardware. On the other hand, the customer is responsible for securing their data and applications, including access control and data encryption. It is important for enterprises to identify their own security requirements and regulatory obligations before migrating their workloads to the cloud.
The second consideration is to identify the risks to the organization. Conducting a risk assessment is a necessary step to systematically identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks to an organization’s assets. This assessment should be an ongoing process and involve all stakeholders, including the cybersecurity team, IT, and business users. Various risk assessment frameworks, such as the Cloud Security Alliance’s Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM), can be used to identify risks. Once the risks are identified, enterprises can choose to mitigate them using technical controls or contractual protections provided by the cloud provider. The results of the risk assessment should be documented thoroughly and form the basis of the organization’s security readiness in the cloud.
The third consideration is to assess compliance obligations. Compliance requirements in the cloud are influenced by factors such as the organization’s physical location, industry regulations, and the type of data stored and processed. Enterprises must conduct a comprehensive compliance assessment to understand their current state and identify any gaps between their requirements and practices. The next step is to remediate these gaps by implementing the necessary security controls and updating policies. Continual monitoring is essential to ensure compliance with changing regulations. Automating cloud infrastructure security policies and using a cloud compliance management platform can help organizations track their compliance posture and stay up-to-date with regulatory changes.
The fourth consideration is to understand privacy requirements and develop a robust plan to adhere to them. Privacy requirements can vary depending on how an organization acquires, processes, and stores data. It is crucial to define and classify sensitive data and implement access controls to limit access to sensitive information. Monitoring for phishing attacks and adopting a zero trust security approach can further enhance privacy and protect sensitive data. Zero trust security eliminates the traditional perimeter model and requires multiple layers of checks before granting access to resources.
Once these secure framework considerations have been thoroughly analyzed, enterprises can confidently deploy their workloads in the cloud. It is important to dive deeper into the security features of the specific cloud native services that will be used for the workload, such as application/infrastructure security, network security, and data security. Logging and detection tools, as well as a centralized monitoring platform, can help organizations detect and respond to security incidents effectively.
In conclusion, enterprises must prioritize security when migrating to the cloud. By considering the shared responsibility matrix, identifying risks, assessing compliance obligations, and understanding privacy requirements, enterprises can ensure a secure transition to the cloud. Implementing appropriate security measures and regularly monitoring compliance will help mitigate risks and protect the organization’s assets and brand image.