What to look for in cloud security: Key factors & practices

Want to know what to look for in cloud security? This big question needs an answer for businesses moving to the cloud. 

With threats such as DDoS attacks, code injection, or data breaches on the horizon at all times, effective cloud security extends beyond fancy firewalls and complex passwords. It requires finding the right protection for your business needs and establishing shared responsibility between the cloud vendor and end user.

This article explores cloud security, including its importance, how it works, and key factors to consider when selecting a solution.

Table of contents

• What is cloud security?
• How does cloud security work?
• Why is cloud security important?
• What to look for on cloud security?
• Challenges of advanced cloud security
• Cloud security best practices
• Common cloud security mistakes to avoid
• FAQs on what to look for on cloud security
• Secure your cloud with Liquid Web

What is cloud security?

Cloud security refers to the measures, technologies, and policies implemented to protect data, applications, and infrastructure associated with cloud computing. It involves safeguarding sensitive information stored or processed in cloud environments from unauthorized access, data breaches, and other cyber threats.

An organization’s cloud security policy can be as unique as its operations. There’s no shortage of apps, tools, and techniques allowing IT admins to customize their internal security best practices to meet their specific needs.

Although there’s a lot of flexibility regarding how to structure cloud security, one thing remains constant: To be effective, cloud security needs to be a collaborative effort.

How does cloud security work? 

Cloud security is a joint responsibility of cloud service providers (CSPs) and their customers. Both parties play a crucial role in ensuring data protection, compliance with regulations, and proper management of user and device access.

The foundation of cloud security is the shared responsibility model. This model defines the security tasks that belong to the CSP and those that are the customer’s responsibility. Understanding this division of duties is key to building a robust cloud security strategy.

The CSP is responsible for the security of the cloud infrastructure itself — the physical data centers, networks, and virtualization layers. As a customer, you’re responsible for securing anything that runs “in” the cloud, such as network controls, identity and access management, data, and applications.

The shared responsibility model varies depending on the cloud service model (infrastructure-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service, or software-as-a-service) and the CSP. The more the provider manages, the more they can protect.

Why is cloud security important?

As your digital presence grows, so do the opportunities for threat actors to infiltrate and corrupt important customer or company data. It’s predicted that financial damages from data breaches will hit $10.5 trillion by 2025 — cloud security measures can help combat these growing data breach threats.

Cloud security is crucial for several reasons.

Data protection

With the increasing amount of sensitive information stored in the cloud, protecting this data from unauthorized access, theft, or corruption is paramount. However, cloud security has your back. Measures such as advanced encryption, multi-factor authentication, and comprehensive access controls safeguard your sensitive data and keep it out of the wrong hands. 

Regulatory compliance

Many industries, such as healthcare, finance, and retail, are subject to strict data protection regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS. Cloud security helps to maintain compliance and avoid hefty fines.

Business continuity

Security breaches or DDoS attacks can disrupt business operations, leading to downtime, lost productivity, and unhappy customers. Strong cloud security helps ensure uninterrupted business operations.

Reputation management

Data breaches can severely damage a company’s reputation. Implementing robust cloud security measures demonstrates a commitment to protecting customer data, building trust, and maintaining a positive brand image. Cloud security systems protect sensitive data and prevent data breaches that can damage a company’s reputation.

What to look for in cloud security

Now that we understand the importance and mechanisms of cloud security, let’s explore the best practices that can help you enhance your cloud security posture.

Choose an established and secure cloud provider

Choosing the right cloud provider is often about going with an established name. Opt for a cloud service provider with a successful track record focused on security. Established providers usually have more resources and experience enhancing their security and access control features.

When selecting a cloud provider, consider the following.

Security response

Investigate the provider’s history of security breaches and their responses. A quick online search can provide valuable insights into a provider’s security track record.

Security features and add-ons

Assess the built-in security features and additional services the provider offers and ensure they meet your specific security requirements.

Security policies

Choose providers with clear, publicly accessible security policies and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that explicitly cover security and data responsibility. These documents should explicitly cover security and data responsibility, ensuring transparency and accountability in the provider’s operations.

Compliance

If your industry is subject to specific regulations, ensure the provider’s servers are fully compliant. Look for certifications relevant to your needs, such as PCI, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, or SOC compliance.

Liquid Web has recognized these compliance needs and can provide sophisticated solutions that satisfy HIPAA-audited hosting and PCI-compliant hosting. We also offer compliance scanning services. Cloud security solutions that combine server protection with compliance scanning can shield your servers from online threats while ensuring physical safeguards meet your requirements.

.

Understand security and compliance responsibilities

Cloud security is a shared responsibility between the provider and the end user. Understanding where your responsibilities begin and end is essential. This clarity allows you to focus your security efforts on the areas under your control.

Here are key points to remember.

Cloud service provider policies

Familiarize yourself with the provider’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), Terms of Service (TOS), and Privacy Policy. These documents often contain essential information regarding ownership, security, and responsibilities and should be accessible on the provider’s website. 

Data location 

Track where your data is stored with different cloud providers, either through the provider’s contractual terms or support team. Since providers may have varying levels of compliance with specific regulations, it’s important to match your data types with the appropriate provider. 

Ensuring that your chosen cloud provider can meet regulatory requirements is crucial for data security. Understand the regulations that apply to your data (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, PCI) and verify that your provider can meet these requirements.

Access control and security hardening

Before uploading data to a cloud provider, thoroughly review all security and access settings. Understand who needs access to which data types within your organization and implement the principle of least privilege.

Steps for hardening security and access include.

• Restrict enhanced or privileged permissions to your cloud infrastructure.
• Ensure everyone interacting with your cloud infrastructure has enough access to perform their tasks.
• Enable multi-factor authentication for all user accounts.
• Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to manage permissions efficiently.
• Perform an annual review (at minimum) of access and sharing settings to understand who can access and share your cloud data and how.

Understand data encryption for your cloud provider

Understanding your cloud provider’s encryption policies is crucial. With ever-increasing threats from malicious actors, there’s no excuse for transmitting data unprotected. Ensure that you encrypt your data in transit and at rest.

Consider the following factors regarding data encryption with your cloud provider.

Data in transit

All data moving between the end user and the cloud service provider should be encrypted via Secure Sockets Layer, and this prevents network interception.

Data at rest

Look for a cloud provider that offers robust encryption options to protect your data stored on their servers. Encrypting regulated data is often necessary to prevent access in case of physical server compromise.

Encryption keys

Understand who controls and manages the encryption keys. Some providers offer customer-managed keys for additional control.

Liquid Web offers self-encrypting drives for dedicated HIPAA hosting.

Develop policies and employee training

Developing clear policies on your cloud service access, usage, and data storage is essential. Comprehensive employee training programs should complement these policies.

• Access policies: Define who can access cloud services and how.
• Data storage policies: Specify what data types can be stored in the cloud.
• Security awareness training: Educate staff on identifying phishing attempts, creating strong passwords, and following security protocols.
• Regular updates: Keep policies and training materials up-to-date with evolving threats and best practices.

Remember, security measures can sometimes frustrate end users. Explaining the reasons behind these policies can increase compliance and create a security-conscious culture within your organization.

Audit access and monitor usage

Regularly audit your cloud service to maintain security. These audits can help you understand who has accessed your cloud resources and what activities they’ve performed.

• Regular access reviews: Periodically review user access rights and revoke unnecessary permissions.
• Activity monitoring: Use tools such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Cloud Watch, and Google Cloud Operations to monitor user activities, focusing on sensitive data access and unusual patterns.
• Automated alerts: Set up alerts for suspicious activities, such as multiple failed login attempts or unusual data transfers.
• Compliance checks: Ensure your cloud usage aligns with relevant compliance requirements.

Stay vigilant for any signs of unauthorized access or data sharing, and be prepared to promptly investigate and address any irregularities you detect. Remember, malicious insiders can be as dangerous as external ones, so maintain a policy of least privilege and hold those with access accountable.

Incident response planning

In cybersecurity, it’s not a matter of if an incident will occur, but when. A well-defined incident response plan minimizes damage and ensures quick recovery.

• Clear roles and responsibilities: Define who does what during an incident.
• Communication protocols: Establish how information will be shared internally and externally.
• Containment strategies: Develop procedures to isolate affected systems quickly.
• Recovery procedures: Plan how to restore systems and data after an incident.
• Post-incident analysis: Learn from each incident to improve your security posture.

Create a disaster recovery plan that addresses breaches of your infrastructure and your provider’s. Know your compliance requirements and act accordingly when a breach occurs.

Scalability and flexibility

Look for security solutions that can grow with your business and adapt to changing needs. Scalable security measures should consider these factors.

• Accommodate increasing data volumes and user numbers without performance degradation.
• Support multi-cloud and hybrid environments.
• Offer modular features that can be added or removed as needed.
• Provide automated scaling of security controls during peak usage periods.
• Allow for easy integration with existing and future systems.

Zero trust approach

Your cloud security system provider should implement the zero-trust concept — no user, device, or application should be automatically trusted, even if they’re within the organization’s network. This assumes that no user, device, or network is inherently trustworthy, requiring continuous verification and least-privilege access to all resources regardless of location. In cloud environments, it reduces attack surfaces, enhances data protection, improves visibility, and adapts well to dynamic resources.

Challenges of advanced cloud security

Cloud adoption introduces complex security challenges beyond traditional IT concerns. Key issues include these areas.

Managing cloud spend

Controlling and optimizing cloud costs is a topmost concern for most organizations (82 percent). This involves balancing resource allocation, understanding complex pricing models, and avoiding over-provisioning. Effective cloud spend management requires continuous monitoring, rightsizing resources, and implementing cost optimization strategies.

Security

The same report shows that cloud security remains a major challenge for 79 percent of organizations adopting cloud technologies. It involves protecting data, ensuring compliance, and defending against evolving threats in a dynamic environment. Addressing this challenge requires a comprehensive security strategy, including robust access controls, encryption, and continuous security monitoring.

Lack of resources or expertise

Many organizations (78 percent, based on the above report) struggle with a shortage of skilled personnel to manage complex cloud environments. This gap in expertise can lead to security vulnerabilities, inefficient operations, and suboptimal use of cloud resources. Addressing this challenge involves investing in training, leveraging managed services, and creating a culture that’s learning continuously.

Changing workload 

Business growth drives increased cloud usage, requiring constant security adaptation. The 2023 Flexera State of the Cloud Report found that 66 percent of enterprises use multiple clouds. This multi-cloud environment complicates security by introducing diverse platforms with unique vulnerabilities and management requirements.

Cloud migration 

Each migration step has unique security considerations. Common issues include data exposure during transfer, incompatible security controls between on-premises and cloud environments, and gaps in access management during the transition period.

Insider threats

Employees pose significant risks, intentionally or not. This includes accidental data leaks, compromised credentials, and malicious insider activities. Effective insider threat mitigation requires employee training, robust access controls, and behavioral analytics to detect anomalies.

Cloud security best practices

The following involves effective cloud security best practices that SMBs and enterprise businesses can implement quickly.

​​Secure coding standards

Establish and enforce secure coding practices based on guidelines like the OWASP Top 10. Implement code review processes, use trusted and updated libraries, and sanitize all user inputs to prevent common vulnerabilities.

Cloud configuration and change management

Use infrastructure-as-code for consistent, versioned configurations and implement a robust change management process. Regularly audit and remediate misconfigurations and use cloud security posture management (CSPM) tools for continuous assessment.

Continuous security assessment and vulnerability management

Conduct regular vulnerability scans and penetration tests, integrating security testing into the CI/CD pipeline. Implement a vulnerability management program with clear prioritization and keep all systems and applications updated and patched.

Third-party risk management for cloud services

Conduct thorough due diligence on providers and regularly review their security posture and compliance with relevant regulations. Implement a vendor risk assessment process, negotiate strong SLAs, and maintain clear incident response procedures and exit strategies.

Common cloud security mistakes to avoid

While cloud security presents challenges, many issues stem from avoidable mistakes. Here are some common pitfalls to watch out for in your cloud security strategy.

Overlooking the shared responsibility model

Cloud security requires a clear understanding of the provider’s and customer’s roles. The shared responsibility model varies by service type (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and provider. Misunderstanding these responsibilities can lead to critical security gaps. Organizations must thoroughly review their agreements and implement controls for their areas of responsibility.

Neglecting proper configuration

Default settings often lack adequate security measures. Common misconfigurations include publicly accessible storage buckets, disabled encryption, and overly broad network access. Implementing security baselines, continuous configuration monitoring, and automated remediation tools can significantly reduce this risk.

Ignoring the principle of least privilege

Limiting permissions reduces risk. Implementing least privilege policies involves granular access controls, regular access reviews, and just-in-time privilege elevation. This approach minimizes potential damage from compromised accounts and limits lateral movement in case of a breach.

FAQs on what to look for on cloud security

Let’s address some frequently asked questions to help guide your cloud security decisions.

What should I consider for cloud security?

Focus on robust access controls, strong encryption, comprehensive compliance support, and effective incident response capabilities. These features help minimize risks and manage potential breaches.

Can small businesses afford enterprise-level cloud security?

Yes. Many providers offer scalable solutions suitable for all business sizes. SMBs can implement enterprise-grade security within budget by choosing the right provider and prioritizing essential features.

How often should I update cloud security measures? 

Update quarterly at a minimum and immediately after significant infrastructure changes or in response to emerging threats. Regular updates are vital for maintaining a strong security posture.

What are the three key areas for cloud security? 

Focus on data protection, access management, and threat detection/response. These form the foundation of a comprehensive cloud security strategy and are critical for preventing and mitigating breaches.

Secure your cloud with Liquid Web

When evaluating cloud security solutions, choose providers that offer robust protection, compliance support, and adaptable services. Following these best practices strengthens your organization’s security and protects critical data. Optimal cloud security requires both effective tools and a reliable cloud provider.

We offer comprehensive solutions for cloud security needs. Our security commitment and cloud hosting expertise make us an ideal partner for businesses improving their cloud security.

Don’t leave your cloud security to chance. Get in touch with Liquid Web to implement these best practices.