Unit 5 Cloud Computing

Security in the Cloud: Security Overview – Cloud Security Challenges and

Risks – Software-asa-Service Security – Security Monitoring – Security
Architecture Design – Data Security – Application Security – Virtual Machine
Security - Identity Management and Access Control – Autonomic Security.
Cloud Computing :
Cloud Computing is a type of technology that provides remote services on the
internet to manage, access, and store data rather than storing it on Servers or
local drives. This technology is also known as Serverless technology. Here the
data can be anything like Image, Audio, video, documents, files, etc.

Need of Cloud Computing :

Before using Cloud Computing, most of the large as well as small IT companies
use traditional methods i.e. they store data in Server, and they need a separate
Server room for that. In that Server Room, there should be a database server,
mail server, firewalls, routers, modems, high net speed devices, etc. For that IT
companies have to spend lots of money. In order to reduce all the problems with
cost Cloud computing come into existence and most companies shift to this
technology.
Security Issues in Cloud Computing :
There is no doubt that Cloud Computing provides various Advantages but there
are also some security issues in cloud computing. Below are some following
Security Issues in Cloud Computing as follows.
1. Data Loss –
Data Loss is one of the issues faced in Cloud Computing. This is also known
as Data Leakage. As we know that our sensitive data is in the hands of
Somebody else, and we don’t have full control over our database. So, if the
security of cloud service is to break by hackers then it may be possible that
hackers will get access to our sensitive data or personal files.

2. Interference of Hackers and Insecure API’s –

As we know, if we are talking about the cloud and its services it means we
are talking about the Internet. Also, we know that the easiest way to
communicate with Cloud is using API. So it is important to protect the
Interface’s and API’s which are used by an external user. But also in cloud
computing, few services are available in the public domain which are the
vulnerable part of Cloud Computing because it may be possible that these
services are accessed by some third parties. So, it may be possible that with
the help of these services hackers can easily hack or harm our data.

3. User Account Hijacking –

Account Hijacking is the most serious security issue in Cloud Computing. If
somehow the Account of User or an Organization is hijacked by a hacker
then the hacker has full authority to perform Unauthorized Activities.

4. Changing Service Provider –

Vendor lock-In is also an important Security issue in Cloud Computing.
Many organizations will face different problems while shifting from one
vendor to another. For example, An Organization wants to shift from AWS
Cloud to Google Cloud Services then they face various problems like
shifting of all data, also both cloud services have different techniques and
functions, so they also face problems regarding that. Also, it may be possible
that the charges of AWS are different from Google Cloud, etc.
5. Lack of Skill –
While working, shifting to another service provider, need an extra feature,
how to use a feature, etc. are the main problems caused in IT Companies
who doesn’t have skilled Employees. So it requires a skilled person to work
with Cloud Computing.

6. Denial of Service (DoS) attack –

This type of attack occurs when the system receives too much traffic. Mostly
DoS attacks occur in large organizations such as the banking sector,
government sector, etc. When a DoS attack occurs, data is lost. So, in order
to recover data, it requires a great amount of money as well as time to handle
it.
7. Shared Resources: Cloud computing relies on a shared infrastructure. If one
customer’s data or applications are compromised, it may potentially affect
other customers sharing the same resources, leading to a breach of
confidentiality or integrity.
8. Compliance and Legal Issues: Different industries and regions have
specific regulatory requirements for data handling and storage. Ensuring
compliance with these regulations can be challenging when data is stored in
a cloud environment that may span multiple jurisdictions.
9. Data Encryption: While data in transit is often encrypted, data at rest can be
susceptible to breaches. It’s crucial to ensure that data stored in the cloud is
properly encrypted to prevent unauthorized access.
10.Insider Threats: Employees or service providers with access to cloud
systems may misuse their privileges, intentionally or unintentionally causing
data breaches. Proper access controls and monitoring are essential to mitigate
these threats.
11.Data Location and Sovereignty: Knowing where your data physically
resides is important for compliance and security. Some cloud providers store
data in multiple locations globally, and this may raise concerns about data
sovereignty and who has access to it.
12.Loss of Control: When using a cloud service, you are entrusting a third
party with your data and applications. This loss of direct control can lead to
concerns about data ownership, access, and availability.
13.Incident Response and Forensics: Investigating security incidents in a
cloud environment can be complex. Understanding what happened and who
is responsible can be challenging due to the distributed and shared nature of
cloud services.
14.Data Backup and Recovery: Relying on cloud providers for data backup
and recovery can be risky. It’s essential to have a robust backup and recovery
strategy in place to ensure data availability in case of outages or data loss.
15.Vendor Security Practices: The security practices of cloud service
providers can vary. It’s essential to thoroughly assess the security measures
and certifications of a chosen provider to ensure they meet your
organization’s requirements.
16.IoT Devices and Edge Computing: The proliferation of IoT devices and
edge computing can increase the attack surface. These devices often have
limited security controls and can be targeted to gain access to cloud
resources.
17.Social Engineering and Phishing: Attackers may use social engineering
tactics to trick users or cloud service providers into revealing sensitive
information or granting unauthorized access.
18.Inadequate Security Monitoring: Without proper monitoring and
alerting systems in place, it’s challenging to detect and respond to security
incidents in a timely manner.

Cloud security is a collection of procedures and technology designed to address

external and internal threats to business security. Organizations need cloud security
as they move toward their digital transformation strategy and incorporate cloud-
based tools and services as part of their infrastructure.

Software As a Service

SaaS (Software as a Service) security refers to the measures and processes

implemented to protect the data and applications hosted by a SaaS provider. This
typically includes measures such as encryption, authentication, access controls,
network security, and data backup and recovery.

Why is SaaS Security important?

SaaS (Software as a Service) has become increasingly popular in recent years due to
its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and scalability. However, this popularity also
means that SaaS providers and their customers face significant security challenges.

SaaS Security is important because:

 Sensitive data would be well-protected and not compromised by hackers,

malicious insiders or other cyber threats.
 SaaS security helps avoid severe consequences such as legal liabilities,
damage to reputation and loss of customers.
 Aids in increasing the trust of the SaaS provider to the customers.
 Aids in compliance with security standards and regulations.
 Ensures the security and protection of applications and data hosted from cyber
threats, minimizing the chance,s of data breaches and other security incidents.

Challenges in SaaS security

Some of the most significant challenges in SaaS security include:

1. Lack of Control

SaaS providers typically host applications and data in the cloud, meaning that
customers have less direct control over their security. This can make it challenging
for customers to monitor and manage security effectively.

2. Access Management

SaaS applications typically require users to log in and authenticate their identity.
However, managing user access can be challenging, particularly if the provider is
hosting applications for multiple customers with different access requirements.

3. Data Privacy
SaaS providers may be subject to data privacy regulations, which can vary by
jurisdiction. This can make it challenging to ensure compliance with all relevant
laws and regulations, particularly if the provider hosts data for customers in multiple
countries.

4. Third-party integration

SaaS providers may integrate with third-party applications, such as payment

processors or marketing platforms. However, this can increase the risk of security
incidents, as vulnerabilities in third-party software can potentially affect the entire
system.

5. Continuous monitoring

SaaS providers must continuously monitor their systems for security threats and
vulnerabilities. This requires a high level of expertise and resources to detect and
respond to security incidents effectively.

What makes SaaS applications risky?

1. Virtualization

Cloud computing systems run on virtual servers to store and manage multiple
accounts and machines, unlike traditional networking systems. In such a case, if
even a single server is compromised it could put multiple stakeholders at risk.
Though virtualization technology has improved significantly over time, it still poses
vulnerabilities that are often easy targets for cybercriminals. When properly
configured and implemented with strict security protocols, it can provide significant
protection from numerous threats.

2. Managing identity
Many SaaS providers allow for Single Sign-on (SSO) abilities to ease access to
applications greatly. This is most helpful when there are multiple SaaS applications
and access is role-based. Some of the providers do have secure data access systems,
however, with an increase in the number of applications, it becomes quite
complicated and difficult to manage securely.

3. Standards for cloud services

SaaS security can greatly vary based on the provider and the standards maintained
by them. Not all SaaS providers conform to globally accepted SaaS security
standards. Even those providecomplicatedliant might not have SaaS-specific
certification. Standards such as ISO 27001 can offer a certain level of confidence;
however, if not carefully evaluated they might not have all security avenues covered
under the certification.

4. Obscurity

that the time customers are not aware of the processes handled by the SaaS service
provider. If a SaaS provider tries to be too obscure about the backend details,
consider it a red flag. To be completely confident regarding SaaS security the
customers must know in detail how everything works.

Most popular SaaS providers are transparent about their backend processes;
however, several providers may not disclose details such as their security protocols
and multi-tenant infrastructure. In such cases, Service Level Agreements (SLA) are
useful since it compels the provider to disclose all responsibilities. After all,
customers have a right to know how their data is protected against cyber-attacks and
information exposure among other SaaS risks.

5. Data location

SaaS tools might store clients’ data in some other geographical region, but not all
providers can promise that due to several factors such as data laws and cost.
Sometimes clients would be comfortable with their data being stored within their
country. Data location should also be based on factors such as data latency and load
balancing.

6. Access from anywhere

SaaS apps can be accessed from anywhere and that is one of the reasons which
makes them more appealing. However, this feature has its own set of risks. Incidents
such as accessing the application using an infected mobile device or public WiFi
without any VPN would compromise the server. If the endpoints are not secure it
would allow attackers to enter the server.

7. Data control

Since all data will be hosted on the cloud, clients do not have complete control over
it. If something goes wrong, clients are at the mercy of the SaaS provider. Once
agreeing to a price model, the provider becomes responsible for storing and
managing data. In such cases, clients often worry about who has access to it,
scenarios of data corruption, and access by third parties and competitors, to name a
few. When sensitive data is stored, answers to these queries become much more
crucial.

Security Architecture Design:

Key Elements

While developing cloud security architecture we need to include several critical

elements:

 Each layer to be secured

 Components management in centralized manner
 Resilient and redundant design considerations
 Scalable and elastic
 Sizing deployment storage
 Notifications and alerts provision
 Standardization and automation across cloud
Shared Responsibility: Cloud Service Models
The cloud service models define the cloud security architecture as per
applicability. Organizations offering cloud services follow a shared
responsibility model as per cloud service model – Infrastructure as a service
(IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) and Software as a service (SaaS).

Cloud service provider is responsible for security of cloud components required to

operate cloud service (computing, software, storage, networking, database,
hardware, and infrastructure etc.). The client is responsible for data and
information protection which is stored on cloud, as well as who all will have access
to that data; however, responsibilities will vary depending on cloud service model.

 Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) – In this kind of service model in cloud

customer is responsible for security of whatever is installed on the
infrastructure
 Platform as a service (PaaS) – Application configuration, permissions
management and security within application implementation is customer
responsibility in this model.
 Software as a service (SaaS) – Customer is responsible for security
components to access software, identity management, customer network
security and so on.
Principles of Cloud Security Architecture

Let’s look at key principles we need to focus on while defining cloud security
architecture as under:

 Identification – Overall cloud resource repository knowledge involving

users, assets, business environment, policies, vulnerabilities, threats, risk
management strategies which exist
 Controls for security – Parameters and policies implemented across users,
assets, data, and infrastructure to manage overall security posture.
 Security by design – Standardized and repeated deployment of common use
cases with security controls, standards, and audit requirements.
 Compliance – Integration of industry standard and regulatory standards into
cloud architecture to meet the requirements.
 Perimeter Security – Management of connection points between corporate
networks and public / external networks.
 Segmentation – To prevent lateral movement of attackers in cloud network
segregation of sections.
  User Identity and Access Management – Visibility, understanding, and
control on all users which have access to cloud assets. Access, permissions,
and protocol enforcement.
 Data Encryption – Data at Rest and data in motion is encrypted to
minimize breach impact.
 Automation – Rapid security and configuration provisioning and quick
threat detection.
 Logging and Monitoring – activities are captured and monitored related to
all connected systems and cloud-based services to ensure operations
visibility, compliance, and early detection of threats.
 Visibility in Multi-cloud – Bring visibility in multiple cloud deployments
by incorporating tools and processes.
 Flexibility in Design – Agility in architecture design to develop and
incorporate new components and solutions without compromising security.

Data Security:

What is cloud data security? Benefits and solutions

Cloud data security is the practice of protecting data and other digital information
assets from security threats, human error, and insider threats. It leverages
technology, policies, and processes to keep your data confidential and still
accessible to those who need it in cloud-based environments.

Cloud computing delivers many benefits, allowing you to access data from any
device via an internet connection to reduce the chance of data loss during outages
or incidents and improve scalability and agility. At the same time, many
organizations remain hesitant to migrate sensitive data to the cloud as they struggle
to understand their security options and meet regulatory demands.
Understanding how to secure cloud data remains one of the biggest obstacles to
overcome as organizations transition from building and managing on-premises data
centers. So, what is data security in the cloud? How is your data protected? And
what cloud data security best practices should you follow to ensure cloud-based
data assets are secure and protected?

Cloud data security defined

Cloud data security protects data that is stored (at rest) or moving in and out of the
cloud (in motion) from security threats, unauthorized access, theft, and corruption.
It relies on physical security, technology tools, access management and controls,
and organizational policies.

Why companies need cloud security

Today, we’re living in the era of big data, with companies generating, collecting,
and storing vast amounts of data by the second, ranging from highly confidential
business or personal customer data to less sensitive data like behavioral and
marketing analytics.

Beyond the growing volumes of data that companies need to be able to access,
manage, and analyze, organizations are adopting cloud services to help them
achieve more agility and faster times to market, and to support increasingly remote
or hybrid workforces.
 The traditional network perimeter is fast disappearing, and security teams are
realizing that they need to rethink current and past approaches when it comes to
securing cloud data. With data and applications no longer living inside your data
center and more people than ever working outside a physical office, companies
must solve how to protect data and manage access to that data as it moves across
and through multiple environments.

Data privacy, integrity, and accessibility

Cloud data security best practices follow the same guiding principles of
information security and data governance:

 Data confidentiality: Data can only be accessed or modified by authorized people

or processes. In other words, you need to ensure your organization’s data is kept
private.

 Data integrity: Data is trustworthy—in other words, it is accurate, authentic, and

reliable. The key here is to implement policies or measures that prevent your data
from being tampered with or deleted.

 Data availability: While you want to stop unauthorized access, data still needs to
be available and accessible to authorized people and processes when it’s needed.
You’ll need to ensure continuous uptime and keep systems, networks, and devices
running smoothly.

Often referred to as the CIA triad, these three broad pillars represent the core
concepts that form the basis of strong, effective security infrastructure—or any
 organization’s security program. Any attack, vulnerability, or other security
incident will likely violate one (or more) of these principles. This is why security
professionals use this framework to evaluate potential risk to an organization’s data
assets.

What are the challenges of cloud data security?

As more data and applications move out of a central data center and away from
traditional security mechanisms and infrastructure, the higher the risk of exposure
becomes. While many of the foundational elements of on-premises data security
remain, they must be adapted to the cloud.

Common challenges with data protection in cloud or hybrid environments include:

 Lack of visibility. Companies don’t know where all their data and applications
live and what assets are in their inventory.

 Less control. Since data and apps are hosted on third-party infrastructure, they
have less control over how data is accessed and shared.

 Confusion over shared responsibility. Companies and cloud providers share

cloud security responsibilities, which can lead to gaps in coverage if duties and
tasks are not well understood or defined.

 Inconsistent coverage. Many businesses are finding multicloud and hybrid cloud
to better suit their business needs, but different providers offer varying levels of
coverage and capabilities that can deliver inconsistent protection.
 Growing cybersecurity threats. Cloud databases and cloud data storage make
ideal targets for online criminals looking for a big payday, especially as companies
are still educating themselves about data handling and management in the cloud.

 Strict compliance requirements. Organizations are under pressure to comply

with stringent data protection and privacy regulations, which require enforcing
security policies across multiple environments and demonstrating strong data
governance.

 Distributed data storage. Storing data on international servers can deliver lower
latency and more flexibility. Still, it can also raise data sovereignty issues that
might not be problematic if you were operating in your own data center.

What are the benefits of cloud data security?

Greater visibility
Strong cloud data security measures allow you to maintain visibility into the inner
workings of your cloud, namely what data assets you have and where they live,
who is using your cloud services, and the kind of data they are accessing.
Easy backups and recovery
Cloud data security can offer a number of solutions and features to help automate
and standardize backups, freeing your teams from monitoring manual backups
and troubleshooting problems. Cloud-based disaster recovery also lets you restore
and recover data and applications in minutes.
Cloud data compliance
Robust cloud data security programs are designed to meet compliance
obligations, including knowing where data is stored, who can access it, how it’s
processed, and how it’s protected. Cloud data loss prevention (DLP) can help you
easily discover, classify, and de-identify sensitive data to reduce the risk of
violations.
Data encryption
Organizations need to be able to protect sensitive data whenever and wherever it
goes. Cloud service providers help you tackle secure cloud data transfer, storage,
and sharing by implementing several layers of advanced encryption for securing
cloud data, both in transit and at rest.
Lower costs
Cloud data security reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) and the administrative
and management burden of cloud data security. In addition, cloud providers offer
the latest security features and tools, making it easier for security professionals to
do their jobs with automation, streamlined integration, and continuous alerting.
Advanced incident detection and response
An advantage of cloud data security is that providers invest in cutting-edge AI
technologies and built-in security analytics that help you automatically scan for
suspicious activity to identify and respond to security incidents quickly.

Who is responsible for securing your data?

Cloud providers and customers share responsibility for cloud security. The exact
breakdown of responsibilities will depend on your deployment and whether you
choose IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS as your cloud computing service model.

In general, a cloud provider takes responsibility for the security of the cloud itself,
and you are responsible for securing anything inside of the cloud, such as data,
user identities, and their access privileges (identity and access management).

At Google Cloud, we follow a shared fate model. That means we are active
partners in ensuring our customers deploy securely on our platform. We can help
you implement best practices by offering secure-by-default configurations,
blueprints, policy hierarchies, and advanced security features to help develop
security consistency across your platforms and tools.

What it means to be compliant

Being compliant in the context of the cloud requires that any services and systems
protect data privacy according to legal standards and regulations for data
protection, data sovereignty, or data localization laws. Certain industries, such as
healthcare or financial services, will also have an additional set of laws that come
with mandatory guidelines and security protocols that will need to be followed.

That’s why it’s important to consider cloud service providers and evaluate their
cloud security carefully. Reputable cloud service providers will not only strive to
ensure their own services and platforms are compliant but should also be willing to
collaborate with you directly to understand and address your specific regulatory
and risk management needs.

What Is Cloud Application Security?

Cloud application security is the process of securing cloud-based software
applications throughout the development lifecycle. It includes application-level
policies, tools, technologies and rules to maintain visibility into all cloud-based
assets, protect cloud-based applications from cyberattacks and limit access only to
authorized users.

Cloud application security is crucially important for organizations that are operating
in a multi-cloud environment hosted by a third-party cloud provider such as
Amazon, Microsoft or Google, as well as those that use collaborative web
applications such as Slack, Microsoft Teams or Box. These services or
applications, while transformational in nature to the business and its workforce,
dramatically increase the attack surface, providing many new points of access for
adversaries to enter the network and unleash attacks.

Why Do Organizations Need Cloud Application

Security?
In recent years, many organizations embraced an agile software development
process known as DevOps. This approach combines traditional software
development and IT operations to accelerate the development life cycle and rapidly
release new software applications.

However, traditional network, application and infrastructure security measures

typically do not protect cloud-based applications, thus making them vulnerable to a
host of cyberattacks during development.

Organizations that are leveraging the cloud, particularly as part of the software
development process, must now design and implement a comprehensive cloud
security solution to protect against an expanding array of threats and increasingly
sophisticated attacks within the cloud environment — including those that target the
application level.

Cloud Application Security Framework

The cloud application security framework consists of three main components:

1. Cloud security posture management (CSPM) focuses on misconfigurations, compliance and

governance, and securing the control plane.
2. Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP) oversees runtime protection and continuous
vulnerability management of cloud containers.
3. Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) works to improve visibility across endpoints that includes
who is accessing data and how it is being used.

CSPM, CWPP and CASB are the trifecta of securing data in and access to the
cloud. Organizations are encouraged to deploy all three security methods to
optimize their cloud security infrastructure.

An In-depth Look at CSPM, CWPP and CASB

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

The CSPM automates the identification and remediation of risks across cloud
infrastructures , including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS ), Software as a Service
(Saas) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).
CSPM is used for risk visualization and assessment, incident response , compliance
monitoring and DevOps integration, and can uniformly apply best practices
for cloud security to hybrid, multi-cloud and container environments.

CSPMs deliver continuous compliance monitoring, configuration drift prevention

and security operations center (SOC) investigations. In addition to monitoring the
current state of the infrastructure, the CSPM also creates a policy that defines the
desired state of the infrastructure and then ensures that all network activity
supports that policy.

CSPMs are purpose-built for cloud environments and assess the entire
environment, not just the workloads. CSPMs also incorporate sophisticated
automation and artificial intelligence, as well as guided remediation — so users not
only know there is a problem, they have an idea of how to fix it.

Some organizations may also have a cloud infrastructure security posture

assessment (CISPA), which is a first-generation CSPM. CISPAs focused mainly
on reporting, while CSPMs include automation at levels varying from
straightforward task execution to the sophisticated use of artificial intelligence.

Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP)

Cloud workload protection platforms (CWPPs) protect workloads of all types in any
location, offering unified cloud workload protection across multiple providers. They
are based on technologies such as vulnerability management, antimalware and
application security that have been adapted to meet modern infrastructure needs.

Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

Cloud access security brokers (CASBs) are security enforcement points placed
between cloud service providers and cloud service customers. They ensure traffic
complies with policies before allowing it access to the network. CASBs typically
offer firewalls, authentication, malware detection, and data loss prevention.

Cloud Application Security Threats

Cloud applications are vulnerable to a wide range of threats that may exploit
system misconfigurations, weak identity management measures, insecure APIs or
unpatched software. Here we review some of the most common threats
organizations should consider when developing their cloud application security
strategy and solution.

Misconfigurations

Misconfigurations are the single largest threat to both cloud and app security.
These errors can include misconfigured S3 buckets, which leave ports open to the
public, or the use of insecure accounts or an application programming interface
(API). These errors transform cloud workloads into obvious targets that can be
easily discovered with a simple web crawler. In the cloud, the absence of perimeter
security can make those mistakes very costly. Multiple publicly reported breaches
started with misconfigured S3 buckets that were used as the entry point.

Because many application security tools require manual configuration, this process
can be rife with errors and take considerable time to set up and update. To that
end, organizations should adopt security tooling and technologies and automate
the configuration process.

Unsecured APIs

APIs are often the only organizational asset with a public IP address. This can
make them an easy target for attackers, especially if they are insecure due to
lackluster access controls or encryption methods.

Insufficient Visibility and Threat Detection

The shift to the cloud is a relatively recent phenomenon for many organizations.
This means that many companies may not have the security maturity needed to
operate safely in a multi-cloud environment.

For example, some vulnerability scanners may not scan all assets, such as
containers within a dynamic cluster. Others cannot distinguish real risk from normal
operations, which produces a number of false alarms for the IT team to investigate.

As such, organizations must develop the tools, technologies and systems to

inventory and monitor all cloud applications, workloads and other assets. They
should also remove any assets not needed by the business in order to limit the
attack surface.

Misunderstanding the “Shared Responsibility Model”(i.e., Runtime Threats)

Cloud networks adhere to what is known as the “shared responsibility model .” This
means that much of the underlying infrastructure is secured by the cloud service
provider. However, the organization is responsible for everything else, including the
operating system, applications and data. Unfortunately, this point can be
misunderstood, leading to the assumption that cloud workloads are fully protected
by the cloud provider. This results in users unknowingly running workloads in a
public cloud that are not fully protected, meaning adversaries can target the
operating system and the applications to obtain access. Even securely configured
workloads can become a target at runtime, as they are vulnerable to zero-day
exploits.

Shadow IT
Shadow IT, which describes applications and infrastructure that are managed and
utilized without the knowledge of the enterprise’s IT department, is another major
issue in cloud environments. In many instances, DevOps often contributes to this
challenge as the barrier to entering and using an asset in the cloud — whether it is
a workload or a container — is extremely low. Developers can easily spawn
workloads using their personal accounts. These unauthorized assets are a threat to
the environment, as they often are not properly secured and are accessible via
default passwords and configurations, which can be easily compromised.

Lack of a Comprehensive Cloud Security Strategy

As workloads move to the cloud, administrators continue to try and secure these
assets the same way they secure servers in a private or an on-premises data
center. Unfortunately, traditional data center security models are not suitable for
the cloud. With today’s sophisticated, automated attacks, only advanced, integrated
security can prevent successful breaches. It must secure the entire IT environment,
including multi-cloud environments as well as the organization’s data centers and
mobile users. A consistent, integrated approach that provides complete visibility
and granular control across the entire organization will reduce friction, minimize
business disruption and enable organizations to safely, confidently embrace the
cloud.

virtual machine security in cloud computing

The term “Virtualized Security,” sometimes known as

“security virtualization,” describes security solutions that are
software-based and created to operate in a virtualized IT
environment. This is distinct from conventional hardware-
based network security, which is static and is supported by
equipment like conventional switches, routers, and firewalls.
Virtualized security is flexible and adaptive, in contrast to
hardware-based security. It can be deployed anywhere on
the network and is frequently cloud-based so it is not bound
to a specific device.
In Cloud Computing, where operators construct workloads
and applications on-demand, virtualized security enables
security services and functions to move around with those
on-demand-created workloads. This is crucial for virtual
machine security. It’s crucial to protect virtualized security in
cloud computing technologies such as isolating multitenant
setups in public cloud settings. Because data and workloads
move around a complex ecosystem including several
providers, virtualized security’s flexibility is useful for
securing hybrid and multi-cloud settings.

Types of Hypervisors
Type-1 Hypervisors

Its functions are on unmanaged systems. Type 1 hypervisors

include Lynx Secure, RTS Hypervisor, Oracle VM, Sun
xVM Server, and Virtual Logic VLX. Since they are placed
on bare systems, type 1 hypervisor do not have any host
operating systems.

Type-2 Hypervisor

It is a software interface that simulates the hardware that a

system typically communicates with. Examples of Type 2
hypervisors include containers, KVM, Microsoft Hyper V,
VMWare Fusion, Virtual Server 2005 R2, Windows Virtual
PC, and VMware workstation 6.0.

Type I Virtualization

In this design, the Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) sits

directly above the hardware and eavesdrops on all
interactions between the VMs and the hardware. On top of
the VMM is a management VM that handles other guest VM
management and handles the majority of a hardware
connections. The Xen system is a common illustration of this
kind of virtualization design.

Type II virtualization

In these architectures, like VMware Player, allow for the

operation of the VMM as an application within the host
operating system (OS). I/O drivers and guest VM
management are the responsibilities of the host OS.

Service Provider Security

The system’s virtualization hardware shouldn’t be physically
accessible to anyone not authorized. Each VM can be given
an access control that can only be established through the
Hypervisor in order to safeguard it against unwanted access
by Cloud administrators. The three fundamental tenets of
access control, identity, authentication, and
authorization, will prevent unauthorized data and system
components from being accessed by administrators.
Hypervisor Security
The Hypervisor’s code integrity is protected via a technology
called Hyper safe. Securing the write-protected memory
pages, expands the hypervisor implementation and prohibits
coding changes. By restricting access to its code, it defends
the Hypervisor from control-flow hijacking threats. The only
way to carry out a VM Escape assault is through a local
physical setting. Therefore, insider assaults must be
prevented in the physical Cloud environment. Additionally,
the host OS and the interaction between the guest machines
need to be configured properly.
Virtual Machine Security
The administrator must set up a program or application that
prevents virtual machines from consuming additional
resources without permission. Additionally, a lightweight
process that gathers logs from the VMs and monitors them in
real-time to repair any VM tampering must operate on a
Virtual Machine. Best security procedures must be used to
harden the guest OS and any running applications. These
procedures include setting up firewalls, host intrusion
prevention systems (HIPS), anti-virus and anti-spyware
programmers, online application protection, and log
monitoring in guest operating systems.
Guest Image Security
A policy to control the creation, use, storage, and deletion of
images must be in place for organizations that use
virtualization. To find viruses, worms, spyware, and rootkits
that hide from security software running in a guest OS,
image files must be analyzed.

Benefits of Virtualized Security

Virtualized security is now practically required to meet the
intricate security requirements of a virtualized network, and it
is also more adaptable and effective than traditional physical
security.
 Cost-Effectiveness: Cloud computing’s virtual machine
security enables businesses to keep their networks
secure without having to significantly raise their
expenditures on pricey proprietary hardware. Usage-
based pricing for cloud-based virtualized security services
can result in significant savings for businesses that
manage their resources effectively.
 Flexibility: It is essential in a virtualized environment that
security operations can follow workloads wherever they
 go. A company is able to profit fully from virtualization
while simultaneously maintaining data security thanks to
the protection it offers across various data centers, in
multi-cloud, and hybrid-cloud environments.
 Operational Efficiency: Virtualized security can be
deployed more quickly and easily than hardware-based
security because it doesn’t require IT, teams, to set up
and configure several hardware appliances. Instead, they
may quickly scale security systems by setting them up
using centralized software. Security-related duties can be
automated when security technology is used, which frees
up more time for IT employees.
 Regulatory Compliance: Virtual machine security in
cloud computing is a requirement for enterprises that
need to maintain regulatory compliance because
traditional hardware-based security is static and unable to
keep up with the demands of a virtualized network.
Virtualization Machine Security
Challenges
 As we previously covered, buffer overflows are a common
component of classical network attacks. Trojan horses,
worms, spyware, rootkits, and DoS attacks are
examples of malware.
 In a cloud context, more recent assaults might be caused
via VM rootkits, hypervisor malware, or guest hopping
and hijacking. Man-in-the-middle attacks against VM
migrations are another form of attack. Typically,
passwords or sensitive information are stolen during
passive attacks. Active attacks could alter the kernel’s
data structures, seriously harming cloud servers.
 HIDS or NIDS are both types of IDSs. To supervise and
check the execution of code, use programmed
 shepherding. The RIO dynamic optimization
infrastructure, the v Safe and v Shield tools from
VMware, security compliance for hypervisors, and Intel
vPro technology are some further protective solutions.
Four Steps to ensure VM Security in Cloud
Computing
Protect Hosted Elements by Segregation

To secure virtual machines in cloud computing, the first step

is to segregate the newly hosted components. Let’s take an
example where three features that are now running on an
edge device may be placed in the cloud either as part of a
private subnetwork that is invisible or as part of the service
data plane, with addresses that are accessible to network
users.

All Components are Tested and Reviewed

Before allowing virtual features and functions to be

implemented, you must confirm that they comply with
security standards as step two of cloud-virtual security.
Virtual networking is subject to outside attacks, which can be
dangerous, but insider attacks can be disastrous. When a
feature with a backdoor security flaw is added to a service, it
becomes a part of the infrastructure of the service and is far
more likely to have unprotected attack paths to other
infrastructure pieces.

Separate Management APIs to Protect the Network

The third step is to isolate service from infrastructure
management and orchestration. Because they are created to
regulate features, functions, and service behaviors,
management APIs will always pose a significant risk. All
such APIs should be protected, but the ones that keep an
eye on infrastructure components that service users should
never access must also be protected.

Keep Connections Secure and Separate

The fourth and last aspect of cloud virtual network security is

to make sure that connections between tenants or services
do not cross over into virtual networks. Virtual Networking
is a fantastic approach to building quick connections to
scaled or redeployed features, but each time a
modification is made to the virtual network, it’s possible that
an accidental connection will be made between two distinct
services, tenants, or feature/function deployments. A data
plane leak, a link between the actual user networks, or a
management or control leak could result from this, allowing
one user to affect the service provided to another.

Identity mgt and access control

How Identity and Access Management

Works?
AWS(Amazon Web Services) will allows you to maintain the
fine-grained permissions to the AWS account and the
services provided Amazon cloud. You can manage the
permissions to the individual users or you can manage the
permissions to certain users as group and roles will helps
you to manage the permissions to the resources.

What Is Identity and Access

Management(IAM)?
Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a combination of
policies and technologies that allows organizations to identify
users and provide the right form of access as and when
required. There has been a burst in the market with new
applications, and the requirement for an organization to use
these applications has increased drastically. The services
and resources you want to access can be specified in IAM.
IAM doesn’t provide any replica or backup. IAM can be used
for many purposes such as, if one want’s to control access
of individual and group access for your AWS resources. With
IAM policies, managing permissions to your workforce and
systems to ensure least-privilege permissions becomes
easier. The AWS IAM is a global service.
Components of Identity and Access
Management (IAM)
Users
1. Roles
2. Groups
3. Policies
With these new applications being created over the cloud,
mobile and on-premise can hold sensitive and regulated
information. It’s no longer acceptable and feasible to just
create an Identity server and provide access based on the
requests. In current times an organization should be able to
track the flow of information and provide least privileged
access as and when required, obviously with a large
workforce and new applications being added every day it
becomes quite difficult to do the same. So organizations
specifically concentrate on managing identity and its access
with the help of a few IAM tools. It’s quite obvious that it is
very difficult for a single tool to manage everything but there
are multiple IAM tools in the market that help the
organizations with any of the few services given below.
IAM Identities Classified As
1. IAM Users
2. IAM Groups
3. IAM Roles
Root user
The root user will automatically be created and granted
unrestricted rights. We can create an admin user with fewer
powers to control the entire Amazon account.
IAM Users
We can utilize IAM users to access the AWS Console and
their administrative permissions differ from those of the Root
user and if we can keep track of their login information.
Example
With the aid of IAM users, we can accomplish our goal of
giving a specific person access to every service available in
the Amazon dashboard with only a limited set of
permissions, such as read-only access. Let’s say user-1 is a
user that I want to have read-only access to
the EC2 instance and no additional permissions, such as
create, delete, or update. By creating an IAM user and
attaching user-1 to that IAM user, we may allow the user
access to the EC2 instance with the required permissions.
IAM Groups
A group is a collection of users, and a single person can be
a member of several groups. With the aid of groups, we can
manage permissions for many users quickly and efficiently.
Example
Consider two users named user-1 and user-2. If we want to
grant user-1 specific permissions, such as the ability to
delete, create, and update the auto-calling group only, and if
we want to grant user-2 all the necessary permissions to
maintain the auto-scaling group as well as the ability to
maintain EC2,S3 we can create groups and add this user to
them. If a new user is added, we can add that user to the
required group with the necessary permissions.
IAM Roles
While policies cannot be directly given to any of the services
accessible through the Amazon dashboard, IAM roles are
similar to IAM users in that they may be assumed by
anybody who requires them. By using roles, we can
provide AWS Services access rights to other AWS Services.
Example
Consider Amazon EKS. In order to maintain an autoscaling
group, AWS eks needs access to EC2 instances. Since we
can’t attach policies directly to the eks in this situation, we
must build a role and then attach the necessary policies to
that specific role and attach that particular role to EKS.
IAM Policies
IAM Policies can manage access for AWS by attaching them
to the IAM Identities or resources IAM policies defines
permissions of AWS identities and AWS resources when a
user or any resource makes a request to AWS will validate
these policies and confirms whether the request to be
allowed or to be denied. AWS policies are stored in the form
of Jason format the number of policies to be attached to
particular IAM identities depends upon no.of permissions
required for one IAM identity. IAM identity can have multiple
policies attached to them.
Access management for AWS
resourcesIdentity management
 Access management
 Federation
 RBAC/EM
 Multi-Factor authentication
 Access governance
 Customer IAM
 API Security
 IDaaS – Identity as a service
 Granular permissions
 Privileged Identity management –
PIM (PAM or PIM is the
same)
Figure – Services
under IAM
More About the
Services: Looking
into the services on brief, Identity management is purely
responsible for managing the identity lifecycle. Access
management is responsible for the access to the resources,
access governance is responsible for access request grant
and audits. PIM or PAM is responsible for managing all the
privileged access to the resources. The remaining services
either help these services or help in increasing the
productivity of these services.
Market for IAM: Current situation of the market, there are
three market leaders (Okta, SailPoint and Cyberark) who
master one of the three domains (Identity Management,
Identity Governance and Privilege access management),
according to Gartner and Forrester reports. These
companies have developed solutions and are still developing
new solutions that allow an organization to manage identity
and its access securely without any hindrances in the
workflow. There are other IAM tools, Beyond Trust, Ping,
One login, Centrify, Azure Active Directory, Oracle Identity
Cloud Services and many more.
Use cases Identity and Access
Management(IAM)
1. Resource Access Control: Identity and access
management (IAM) will allows you to manage the
permissions to the resources in the AWS cloud like users
who can access particular serivce to which extent and
also instead of mantaing the permissions individually you
can manage the permissions to group of users at a time.
2. Managing permissions: For example you want to assign
an permission to the user that he/her can only perform
restart the instance task on AWS EC2 instance then you
can do using AWS IAM.
3. Implemneting role-based access
control(RBAC): Identity and Access Management(IAM)
will helps you to manage the permissions based on roles
Roles will helps to assign the the permissions to the
resourcesw in the AWS like which resources can access
the another resource according to the requirement.
4. Enabling single sign-on (SSO): Identity and Access
Management will helps you to maintain the same
password and user name which will reduce the effort of
remembering the different password.
IAM Features
Shared Access to your Account: A team working on a
project can easily share resources with the help of the
shared access feature.
1. Free of cost: IAM feature of the AWS account is free to
use & charges are added only when you access other
Amazon web services using IAM users.
2. Have Centralized control over your AWS account: Any
new creation of users, groups, or any form of cancellation
that takes place in the AWS account is controlled by you,
and you have control over what & how data can be
accessed by the user.
3. Grant permission to the user: As the root account holds
administrative rights, the user will be granted permission
to access certain services by IAM.
4. Multifactor Authentication: Additional layer of security is
implemented on your account by a third party, a six-digit
number that you have to put along with your password
when you log into your accounts.
Accessing IAM
1. AWS Console: Access the AWS IAM through the GUI. It
is an web application provided by the AWS(Amazon Web
 Application) it is an console where users can access the
aws console
2. AWS Command Line Tools: Instead of accessing the
console you can access y the command line interface
(CLI) to access the AWS web application. You can
autiomate the process by using the Scripts.
3. IAM Query API: Programmatic access to IAM and AWS
by allowing you to send HTTPS requests directly to the
service.
FAQ’s On Identity and Access Maagement
1. What Are The 4 Components Of Identity Access
Management?
The 4 four major components of dentity Access Management
are
 Identity
 Authentication
 Authorization
 Auditing
2. What Is The Role Of Identity Access Management?
Identity and access management (IAM) is a security
discipline that enables organizations to manage digital
identities and control user access to critical information and
systems.

Automatic Security in Cloud Computing

Cloud security automation is a strategy to cloud security

reliant on automated systems and processes to secure cloud
data, applications, and infrastructure. Cloud security
automation comprises numerous techniques, applications,
tools, and methodologies to automate many lower-level,
repetitive tasks so that security teams and infrastructure
specialists can focus on higher-priority processes.

Via automation, your security team can efficiently monitor

production environments for security vulnerabilities and follow
predefined remediation steps to manage incident response
tasks. Security process monitoring tools automatically feed
intelligence to DevSecOps teams so they can address cyber
threats and safeguard critical resources.

Automation of cloud environments typically includes at least

three pillars of cloud infrastructure management:
 Infrastructure security automation

Security operations can benefit from automated vulnerability

scanning to detect and remediate security issues within cloud
environments.
 Application security automation

Security teams can streamline deployment and block potential

threats in applications and libraries in the corresponding
pipeline.
 DevSecOps

Your security operations center can directly utilize security

frameworks, checks, and controls in the DevOps pipeline.

As both on-premises and cloud environments are becoming

increasingly complex, IT specialists must implement
enhanced automated security policies to adequately protect
your company's digital assets.

Security automation in hybrid cloud environments has many

advantages over traditional, manual processes. It reduces the
timeframes for application development (benefiting software
engineers) and enhances the organization's security posture
with encrypted processes. Moreover, it eases threat
intelligence gathering and leverages smart security alerts in
Incident Investigation to minimize and remediate security
risks.

The benefits of security automation tools are undisputed, but

let's dive deeper into what makes them a must for modern
organizations.

Why cloud security

automation is a game
changer?
Startups and SMBs lack the resource of large enterprises, so
they need to optimize their workforce hours to ensure a
streamlined development process, business growth, and
continuity. Think of it this way — every minute spent
implementing security policies is not spent on implementing
features and services to ensure value for customers. As
cybersecurity is critical for every modern organization, it's
imperative to approach security tasks and processes
efficiently.

Via the proper techniques, tools, and methodologies, cloud

security automation can deliver a strong security posture
without investing too much time or effort. Unlike traditional
approaches, cloud automation can significantly speed up
security framework implementation during development.
Moreover, cloud security automation can ensure that cloud
applications are built in line with regulatory standards, such as
HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, etc., from the start.

However convenient for SMBs, security automation solutions

can also benefit large companies and enterprises.

Minimizing the skill gaps

Cybersecurity exposes significant gaps when companies
move their operations to the cloud. For example, server farms
are now often multi-cloud environments, and corporate PCs,
even if regularly patched and vetted, can turn into rogue
personal devices exposed to unknown threats.

Cloud automation tools can fill various skill gaps in large

companies. As malicious actors adapt quickly to traditional
security means, today's threat hunters can't rely solely on
conventional patching cycles. Automation can streamline
patch deployment, reduce human error and costs, and raise
efficiency across the entire company network.
As adoption goes, responsible teams may need to implement
a different approach to handling security processes. While
DevOps teams are used to the "break and fix" mentality, a
security team is typically trained to minimize the impact and
ensure that no tool interferes with the company infrastructure
on a large scale. If your security team is ready to adopt more
of a DevOps mentality, your company can utilize cloud
security automation to fill critical skill gaps.

Cloud environment testing and

proactive threat hunting
A secure cloud environment enables isolated patch testing at
reasonable costs. Once security testing is complete, you will
only deploy patches found to be operating smoothly in your
existing setup. Automated scanners can detect and identify a
vulnerability, deploy a patch to the test environment, monitor
its progress, and alert responsible teams of any issues. If no
problems arise, the patch can be deployed manually or
automatically via a trusted patching agent.

Moreover, the modern IT environment typically contains work-

from-home (WFH) endpoints. All devices joining the corporate
network pose a risk to its integrity if unsecured. When patches
are deployed directly from the cloud, automation is a logical
step to reduce human error and combat security incidents.
Automating cloud security ensures a robust threat posture.
Automated response capabilities can address vulnerabilities
as soon as patches are available without human intervention.
This will reduce costs, ease threat identification, and,
ultimately, improve security posture and compliance.

Reliable third-party platforms

The good thing about automation is companies don't have to
do it alone. With the right security automation platform, your
business can enhance security processes without investing
much time or effort.

Robust security automation platforms will monitor all

endpoints to gather threat intelligence; detecting threats via a
dedicated solution yields fewer false positives and eliminates
"alert fatigue." Moreover, you can streamline manual tasks, fix
security gaps, and benefit from a more focused incident
response according to strict security rules.

Moreover, automating cloud security can be a significant

benefit to zero-trust environments. Security orchestration,
which could usually take months or even years, can be
optimized via automated data collection, analysis, and asset
discovery tools.
The limitations of
traditional security
approaches
Once upon a time, antivirus software was the top dog of
cybersecurity solutions. Even though it's still a part of every
cybersecurity strategy, it's not nearly enough to combat
today's ever-evolving cyber threats.

As increasingly sophisticated attacks target organizations of

all sizes, companies must assess all legacy cybersecurity
solutions and improve and adapt to the current threat
landscape. If a business overlooks security monitoring and
cloud automation, traditional defenses will not only drain
unnecessary resources — they may put critical assets at risk
and invite threat actors into your corporate network.

Legacy systems typically require complex configurations and

extensive maintenance. However, poor management and a
cumbersome patching process may quickly expose them to
advanced exploits. Even though many traditional systems are
now cloud-compatible, they are not cloud-native — that
affects their capability to support the speed and scale required
by evolved business environments.

Essentially, traditional solutions lack the agility of cloud-native

applications (SaaS) regarding configuration, update
deployment, or new features support. Most traditional tools
are point-specific, so they can't keep up with the rapidly
growing threat surface or the numerous channels hackers try
to leverage. This puts them at a considerable disadvantage
compared to cloud-native solutions, especially when battling a
new, unique cyber threat.

When legacy solutions are no longer relevant to configuration

hardening guidelines, maintaining them is no longer cost-
effective. Instead of dedicating significant budgets to outdated
systems, businesses can shift spending to overhauling
reliable systems to secure them long-term.

Moreover, relying on traditional security often gives

companies a false sense of security, which, in turn, causes
them to lower their guard or behave recklessly. Legacy
security tools can't "patrol" the security perimeter efficiently,
so they won't detect as many threats as an updated solution.
This leads to poorer threat response and enables malicious
actors to attack the company network successfully.

The advantages of
automated cloud security
solutions
Cloud security tools are faster, more efficient, and easier to
pilot than legacy solutions. Security automation offers more
accurate detection rates via multiple advanced detection
engines, capable of rapid, precise scanning of static and
dynamic data — text, files, URLs, etc.

Automated processes rely on artificial intelligence (AI) and

machine learning (ML), such as natural language processing
(NLP) and optical character recognition (OCR), image
recognition, and other advanced algorithms to identify
phishing websites, spam attacks, impersonation techniques,
targeted attacks, and more.

The benefits of cloud security automation are similar to the

advantages of any form of automation. They allow teams to
leverage technology to perform routine tasks more efficiently,
with a smaller chance of human error. A security automation
platform can offer the following benefits within the InfoSec
scope.

Improved compliance and auditing

Automation tools can manage reporting and compliance
activity, thus decreasing regulatory complexity and associated
risks.

Enhanced security tools

Automated tools apply and enforce security rules and policies
consistently and continuously, with minimal to no human
intervention.
Automated threat containment and
mitigation
Algorithms can follow automated playbooks to respond to
specific security events, which enables more efficient incident
detection. Afterward, automated security tools can contain
and even resolve attacks with minimal manual intervention.

Reduced security teams' cost

Some companies may not perceive a security automation
platform as having "immediate value." The platform typically
requires a tech investment upfront, so some businesses will
be reluctant to take the step. However, security automation
reduces the total operating costs for an organization, as
perceived as direct savings in terms of reduced labor costs,
lower mean time to repair (MTTR), minimal downtime, optimal
RTO and RPO, and more.

Increased efficiency in threat

detection
Advanced technology enables more accurate and faster
threat detection, allowing security analysts to identify
indicators of compromise (IoCs) and indicators of attack
(IoAs) more quickly. Automation also helps your security team
to prioritize alerts during security monitoring, thus benefiting
faster response times.
The future of cloud security and the
role of security automation tools
Digital security leaders, dedicated security groups,
governments, and enterprises understand the importance of
cloud security automation. Even though we can't be certain
about how cloud security will look in 10 years, we can make
an educated guess on upcoming trends in the near future.

Privacy regulations

Official privacy guidelines play a crucial role in developing and

adopting cloud security. Privacy legislation (GDPR, HIPAA)
enforces strict data handling policies globally. Companies
must always keep every bit of personally identifiable
information (PII) or proprietary information in encrypted
directory services. This will require organizations to
understand the complex, layered model of the cloud to know
where the data resides at any given moment to automate
deployments and ensure encrypted data protection.

Quantum computing

Quantum computing can greatly impact cloud security

automation and encryption algorithms. According to the Cloud
Security Alliance (CSA), a quantum computer will break
present-day cybersecurity infrastructure on April 14, 2030. All
current algorithms used in global public key infrastructure will
be vulnerable to quantum attacks. This means that, in a post-
quantum world, companies will need to rely on quantum-
resistant cryptography via significantly enhanced public key
algorithms.

Blockchain

Blockchain will also significantly impact ensuring high

assurance levels in ownership and responsibility. Essentially,
blockchain-based smart contracts will be able to govern your
company's relationship with a cloud provider. If the service
crashes or an issue occurs, your service level agreement
(SLA) exception will kick in immediately, as it's part of the
smart contract.

Smart contacts focus on the fundamental relationships and

responsibilities related to critical infrastructure. Blockchain,
combined with the cloud, can enable a new era of cloud
security automation and ensure control for individuals and
companies that require it.

Types of security automation

The three most common security automation approaches
include:
 Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR)

SOAR comprises software programs developed to fortify an

organization's cybersecurity posture. SOAR platforms enable
human analysts to monitor security data from numerous
sources, including security information and management
systems, threat intelligence platforms, different cloud
instances, data access requests, and more.
 Extended detection and response (XDR)

XDR collects threat data from endpoints, cloud workloads,

emails, and more to enable easier and quicker threat hunting,
investigation, and response for security analysts.
 Security information and event management (SIEM)

SIEM comprises security tools and services to combine

security events management (SEM) and security information
management (SIM) to gain more visibility into malicious
activity on the company network. The approach gathers data
from every point in the IT environment and sends it to a
single, centralized platform. The harvested data can be used
there to categorize alerts, issue reports, and propose incident
response security tasks.

Analyzing data from all hardware and network applications at

all times enables companies to recognize a potential threat
before it becomes a full-blown data breach.

Conclusion
Cloud security automation is critical to streamline
cybersecurity processes and protect company data against
increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. The proper
automation platform can enable organizations to address
every aspect of their data protection strategy — from common
security tasks to cloud container security and database
granular security automation. Streamlining security operations
eases threat investigation and incident response, optimizes
RTO and RPO, minimizes downtime, and ensures business
continuity for organizations of all sizes.