What are the most important steps to secure your data in the cloud?

1) Data classification 2) Encrypt Data 3)Opt for providers with a strong track record of security and compliance. 4)Limit who can access your data. Assign roles and permissions judiciously. 5) Data Sovereign

Absolutely Imperative => Ownership and Governance: 1. The provider will not and cannot take care of everything. Understand who is responsible for what. 2. Solid governance and architecture: in place before migrating / implementing. 3. Proper configurations must be made for all that is under your responsibility. All of this: before proceeding to the next steps.

When public organizations handle personal data in public cloud services, specific rules come into play. They require an initial check called a 'pre-scan data protection impact assessment (pre-scan DPIA)' to be approved. In cases where there's a higher risk involved, a more thorough examination, known as a 'formal data protection impact assessment (formal DPIA),' should be conducted. This assessment involves describing the data processing, explaining the legal reasons for processing, detailing how the data is handled, and identifying any potential risks and how they'll be managed.

You know what they say: it’s better to prepare than to repair. One of the ways to make sure that your system is secure is to implement the best DevSecOps practices that provide your organization with powerful benefits: Easier risk mitigation and flaw prevention. Look for potential security issues on the pre-production stages of a development lifecycle to fix bugs earlier and, thus, reduce their cost.  Decreasing time to remediate critical vulnerabilities. Take advantage of automated security testing. Accelerating deployment frequency. In the long term, compliance with DevSecOps requirements results in faster patching of critical defects and, therefore, quicker software delivery.

Além de tudo que foi falado , acrescentaria algo que é frequentemente ignorado por empresas de todos os setores : a construção da política de segurança e a sua real efetividade. Como sempre digo : o arroz com feijão bem feito !

Purpose driven Architecture with segmentation and layered security Solid governance around the Cloud deployment Encryption of Data at Rest, In Use and in Transit Fine grain access control across all layer of the stack that is in your control. Robust monitoring and logging of events and activities with appropriate event correlation for actionable events. User training.

Your company needs and business goals should be aligned when choosing which provider and services that will be used Ask for their latest audit and SOC 2 report; this will give you a deeper understanding of their practices Make sure your company is backed by a contract that states how it works to remove or transfer its data; otherwise, your company will be locked in

Confidentiality, Integrity, and availability of data must be maintained at all times, whether data is on-premises or on the cloud. Data Encryption (at rest and in transit), tighter IAM controls with role-based access, data backup (yes, data on the cloud also need to be backed up). Data on the cloud needs more stringent security measures than on-premises data as it can be accessed from anywhere and by anyone who has access to it or not. Don’t forget to create human firewall by cyber security awareness training and measures that they need to take.

The choice of a cloud provider is akin to a significant commitment, creating a substantial lock-in effect. Shifting providers isn't a straightforward task, meaning your choice requires thoughtful consideration. To begin, developing a comprehensive checklist of criteria is essential. Security stands out as a paramount aspect. Evaluating a provider's security measures demands reading the documentation and the security measures that the cloud provider has in place Look for adherence to recognized security standards such as ISO, SOC2, and PCI frameworks. While you might not possess the expertise to assess these standards thoroughly, they serve as crucial indicators of a provider's commitment to robust security practices.

According to my experience, I recommend to implement best practices to secure data in cloud services. Choose a CSP (Cloud Service Provider) who provides secure data storage, encryption and access controls and compliant with relevant cloud security standards and regulations, such as ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS . Shared responsibility model – Outlines the responsibilities shared between cloud service providers and their customers. which tasks are handled by the cloud provider and which tasks are handled by customer in ensuring data security.

Encrypting your data at rest is very important when you move to the Cloud, most Public Clouds encrypt data at rest and manage keys but if you want to make sure no one can access your data you can manage your keys locally or with an external provider and encrypt your data using those keys, remember if you lose your keys you lose access to your data.

Data encryption is a fundamental pillar of cloud security. It ensures that even if data is intercepted, it remains indecipherable to unauthorized parties. Local encryption tools or cloud provider services are options, but safeguarding encryption keys is vital for maintaining control and data security.

Encrypting data is critical to protect your sensitive information whether it’s in the cloud or on-prem, but one of the most neglected part of it is how application owners are protecting their encryption keys (or secrets). Therefore, make sure you ask your cloud provider what their offerings are to manage your encryption keys and secrets, asking for their advice on how to protect your data not only at rest but in transit and in use as well. All efforts and technologies should be used to prevent your keys to be compromised.

Selecting a dependable data encryption provider hinges on the shared security model inherent in all cloud service providers. While they equip you with security tools, the responsibility to configure and implement these measures correctly falls on you. Opting for a renowned cloud provider like AWS doesn't automatically ensure data security—it's a collaborative effort. Most providers offer encryption tools for data at rest and in transit. However, activating and validating these configurations within your application is crucial. Whether your data resides in blob storage, file storage, or a database, ensuring encryption for data at rest and in transit is your responsibility.

When is your cloud data ever "at rest"? When a device is replaced? When was the last time you heard about a data breach that was due to unencrypted data sitting on storage device backing a block or object store at a cloud provider? It could happen I guess, not as likely as a server getting stolen from an office, but might as well check the box. Encryption in transit should be default for everything now, and you should have a vulnerability assessment program that includes finding services that aren't requiring transport encryption so you can fix those. And chances are good that if someone didn't bother to setup TLS, they didn't bother to setup access controls either.

Data encryption is your shield in the cloud security battle. Encrypt your data before uploading it, whether with local tools or your provider's services. Always maintain control of your encryption keys and safeguard them. This step ensures even intercepted or compromised data remains unreadable to unauthorized parties, offering robust protection for your sensitive information. Remember, with great encryption comes great responsibility—losing your keys means losing access to your data.

Cloud Provider Encryption Services: While many cloud providers offer encryption services, it's essential to understand the extent and limitations of these services. Evaluate whether the provider's encryption services meet your organization's security and compliance requirements. Encryption Performance: Encryption can impact system performance. Assessing the performance implications of encryption and choosing solutions that balance security with performance is essential to maintaining operational efficiency. User Awareness and Training: Ensuring that users within your organization understand the importance of encryption and are trained to use encryption tools effectively can enhance your overall data security posture.

Encrypting your data is critical to protecting it. Do you know what else is critical to protecting your data? Limiting the data you send. Trust and access should not be implicitly granted to your cloud tenant, instead, work to understand what does and does not belong in your cloud.

The type of encryption is also important. Use only ciphers with forward secrecy for data-in-transit. Use quantum-proof algorithms for data-at-rest. Also, base64 is not encryption.

Certainly encrypt the data and retain control of the keys, but also employ tools that will auto rotate and do some key lifecycle management as well. I often wonder what will happen to the whole symmetric and asymmetric key technology once quantum computing replaces transistors that can only have two states. We need to start thinking of different ways to encrypt data or maybe use better data obfuscation techniques.

When implementing IAM, also use the principle of least privilege and where systems allow the use of privileged identity management to log when someone uses their admin rights. Use conditional access policies to control where your users can log in and access your environment from. Restricting access to countries you do not do business in or visit as an example.

Cloud providers offer diverse access to your environment, but it's vital to be discerning about permissions and levels of access. Emphasize how access is granted, monitored, and secured—considering multi-factor authentication and other protective measures. Equally important is revoking access when roles change or when individuals leave the company. Remember, in a shared security model, configuring and adapting access is your responsibility. Establish robust processes to ensure consistent alignment with changing circumstances.

Managing access diligent is pivotal in securing cloud data. 👉 Employing robust authentication and authorization mechanisms are the linchpins of a secure access management strategy 👉 Multi-factor authentication and role-based access control are highly recommended as they provide granular control over who can access what data 👉 An identity and access management (IAM) solution further streamlines this process, ensuring only authorized personnel have access 👉 Regular monitoring and auditing of access logs are imperative to detect any unusual activities promptly 👉 Additionally, having a protocol for revoking or modifying access rights in real-time can significantly mitigate risks associated with unauthorized access or internal threats

To further enhance the security of accessing your cloud data, in addition to the access security models provided by cloud providers, it is advisable to implement mechanisms such as conditional access, multifactor authentication (MFA) for users, and the use of a password vault (PAM) to manage, control, and log all accesses to the cloud environment. These additional measures enhance the protection of your data and improve the ability to track and control access effectively. #CloudSecurity #SecureAccess

Managing access to data with Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is important. By verifying every access request and granting least privilege access, ZTA enhances data security. It provides contextual visibility into who is accessing data and resources, allowing better control over data access through policies. Even if attackers breach perimeter defenses, ZTA verifies every access request, reducing their ability to access sensitive data. ZTA is designed for the cloud and mobile world where data is distributed because its identity-centric approach secures access no matter where the data resides.

Ensure the cloud provider supports authentication with your current main company login / IAM provider. This is given for some organizations, but not others. Your organization likely already supports identify verification processes, MFA, monitoring etc. with your main IAM.

In my opinion, with many years of experience, I can assure you that IAM is indeed the heart of cloud security, as it controls who can do what, where, and when. A robust IAM strategy is essential to ensure the security and smooth operation of cloud operations and should be a priority in any security project.

Adding to the great writeups below, managing your access management policies using an Infrastructure-as-Code model is very important as it ensures an auditable single source of truth for all your IAM, maintaining a consistent access policy across services and safeguarding access policy against unauthorised modification. Adding automated security testing as part of your IaC deployment workflows also enables to detect IAM configurations that violate organizational policy as early as the development phase, ensuring that no such changes ever make it to production accounts and by introducing ChatOps you can automatically notify affected users that their proposed changes are a policy violation, offering guidance to correct the issue.

As humans are involved in this area, the cornerstone of Identity and Access Management is the setup of a strong Authentication and Authorization strategy. Authentication must involve at least 2 different factors for a user to prove its identity, password/passphrase, device code, and biometrics. The authorization comes into play after the identity is proved and by default apply a Zero-Trust Architecture giving no-access unless there's a business need and this approval process is auditable and traceable. Involve automation to detect incidents in suspicious access and excessive permissions

The typical cloud security gap is in data encryption: "at-rest" data must be encrypted whereas "in-transit" data is encrypted via HTTPs/TLS. For example: FTP/sFTP/Managed FTP (Move-It), if files were encrypted and the keys managed securely (using KMS), data exposure would have been minimalized. Also retaining files and data on web-facing appliances is a security exposure that can be managed by daily purging (automated) to delete files after a determined period (24 hrs). Continuous pentesting and attack surface scanning can improve your security posture and alert you to exposed services.

Regular backups in separate accounts with distinct access are paramount. This is crucial because, in the event of a security breach on your primary account, it won't compromise your backup environment. Diversifying backup accounts ensures the security and reliability of data recovery processes, guarding against accidental loss, corruption, or threats like ransomware. Additionally, periodic testing of backup and restoration procedures is vital to ensure their effectiveness. #DataSecurity #ResponsibleBackup

Remember to follow the backup principles 3 copies of data 2 seperate media types 1 located offsite While you are at it making backups also test restorability. Most people fail to check restorability and regret later. Its not just the fact that you can get the data back its about a. Can you reconstruct the exact same state. b. Can you partially extract specific file c. How fast can you do it.

No matter how many zeros are after the dot, there is some risk associated with data stored in the cloud (as is true with data stored on-premises). Make sure you have a backup scenario for situations when your data becomes unavailable for whatever reasons. Of course, you can also accept the risk when this is acceptable from a business operations perspective. Just know what you're doing and make informed decisions.

Look for a provider that ensures frequent & automated backups to avoid potential data loss. A dependable provider will offer secure, offsite storage solutions, ensuring your data is not stored in the same location as your primary system. This separation minimizes the risk of losing both the original data and its backup in a single event. Opt for a service that facilitates easy recovery and restoration processes, ensuring minimal downtime in case of emergencies. Reliability, security measures, ease of access, and a clear disaster recovery plan are pivotal factors to consider when selecting a data backup provider. Assess their track record, customer reviews, and service level agreements to ensure they meet your specific needs.

Effective data backup management is very key to business continuity! Prioritize and effectively classify all data based on the sensitivity and risk it poses to the business; Backup fulfills the A-Availability mandate of the CIA triad.

Backing up data is a cornerstone of a solid data security strategy. 👉 Regular and frequent backups are crucial to safeguard against unforeseen incidents like data corruption or ransomware attacks. 👉 Storing backups in diverse locations, such as a different cloud provider or a secure on-premises server, enhances data resilience. It's not only about having backups but ensuring they are readily restorable. 👉 Testing restoration procedures periodically is critical to ensuring data integrity and availability when needed. 👉 Moreover, encrypting backups and maintaining a secure, well-documented process for backup and restoration further bolsters the security and reliability of your data safeguard measures.

"To backup or not to backup, that is never the question." Don't wait for a crisis to realize your backup isn't as reliable as you thought. Periodic testing ensures that your data can be restored effectively and efficiently.

En este punto es muy importante tener servicios con copias de seguridad inmutables, donde se puede garantizar la recuperación de la data limpia y hacer complemento del plan de continuidad del negocio minimizando el impacto.

Backing up data is key to protecting data in the event of attacks such as ransomware, data loss or corruption. The organization must identify the risk to information assets to determine criticality and define a protection strategy that could include backup, high availability or failover solutions to reduce recovery time and data loss.

Running updates on your home network can get frustrating at times for us. So keeping up with vulnerability remediation releases, operating systems, and application-specific updates can drive anyone up the wall. Having automated processes in place to help you manage these can be all the difference. A tool such as Microsoft AI document intelligence has integrated intelligence to help you see what is coming when providing it applicable data and work fast to provide solutions for yourself and organization-wide protections. Think outside the norm because your adversaries are.

It's essential to not only update your applications but also the underlying devices they operate on. Regular software updates are vital as new vulnerabilities emerge daily, posing potential threats. To safeguard against these risks, ensure that your containers and operating systems remain consistently updated. This preventive measure shields your systems from potential zero-day exploits and security loopholes, enhancing overall security and reliability.

Developing a Patching strategy or framework that takes into account the different IT asset categories, use cases, risks and devising the patching mechanism - automated or manual. For example, corporate IT assets - mobile phones, laptops, user softwares, network appliances, cameras, smart TVs etc. these can be patched automatically For Engineering IT assets or tools - libraries, dev tools, dependencies etc. Core infrastructures - databases, operating systems, K8s

Keep all cloud-based applications and systems current by applying patches promptly. Choose a provider that offers automatic updates for infrastructure and services. Prioritize security patches to address vulnerabilities swiftly. Implement continuous monitoring for potential threats and anomalous activities. Utilize intrusion detection and prevention systems to enhance real-time security. Educate your team on the importance of updating software and practicing cyber hygiene. Regularly audit configurations to ensure compliance with security best practices.

Prioritize software updates in your organization. Enable automatic updates or set up a regular schedule for manually checking for and installing updates to ensure your software is always up to date. Software updates patch security vulnerabilities and improve the overall security of your cloud environment. Get buy-in from your staff by educating them about the importance of software updates and encourage them to install updates as soon as they are available.

Security is very important. Cyber Threats are on the rise, for personal gain, due to various vulnerabilities. However, having the appropriate antivirus is also important, since, some antiviruses may rather be of a threat to the individual's data. Carrying out a research on the type of antivirus to use will be the first step, and getting reviews, privacy policy, standards, laws, will be of benefit to the user.

Updating software is not only important from a functionality standpoint, but also to a safety and data security perspective. Updating software regularly is often built into company computers and backups, so it is critical to ensure compliance with company policies as well.

Emphasizing the remediation of vulnerabilities is essential for an organization's success in safeguarding critical systems. Operating systems with known vulnerable software components can expose them to potential attacks, potentially resulting in unauthorized access to the underlying infrastructure.

Running a CSPM, CWPP, or CNAPP platform will be invaluable to know 1) what cloud components are out of date and vulnerable to attacks, and 2) how are those components interconnected in a MITRE style attack chain. The time to exploit a vulnerable system in the cloud is much more rapid than it has traditionally been for on-premise systems. Any vulnerable system in a cloud provider should be patched as quickly as possible, and traditional SLA's are likely inadequate and may need to be re-examined for cloud specific infrastructure.

With the dangers of supply-chain and promoted malicious ads in search engines, it is imperative to have a secure upload process when uploading binaries or code in your environment for most applications. Scan binaries with more than 2 anti virus or anti malware packages and scan code for vulnerabilities. On a windows network, you should have internal servers as update sources for your domain computers and the same with your linux endpoints. Side note: Some vendors have some phone-home functionality so make sure to turn that off too

It is still the number one factor in hacking causes - human. Even the most advanced infrastructure cannot cover the human factor vulnerability. Social engineering is on the rise, so it is very important aspect in cyber security. A properly established cyber security program would give the professional detailed insights where bigger vulnerabilities (human factor ones) are, and with that they can focus on constant improvement through tailor made trainings and testing. Awareness is key - users must accept their role in the whole infrastructure and make the best efforts to keep it safe.

Say phishing, smishing, and vishing, and watch users' heads continue to spin hearing these terms. The best thing users can do for themselves and their employers is to stay educated on common best security practices. Security teams should ask, what devices do users operate for use every day and what can they do to better protect themselves? Do they operate in the cloud, a hybrid environment, or use on-premise services? If users don't know where to look for proper security responses, have them contact a professional by providing easily accessible, simple-to-locate, communications when they are unsure of what to do. Make sure users understand that it is better to sound clueless than to be the subject of a cyber-incident investigation.

Go beyond securing the human firewall. Explore failure paths for users and design workflows to minimise these paths. Warn users in case of risky behaviour and have incident management workflows primed and ready

Regular software updates are a crucial defense in the digital age. They patch vulnerabilities and enhance overall security. Combining updates with antivirus and firewall software forms a robust shield against cyber threats. A proactive approach to software maintenance is essential in safeguarding your data and systems.

Teach don't preach! In my experience, the most common reason for humans failing is that they did not know. We can't blame them if they have not been educated. Besides, most security programs require security awareness training and additional training is required depending on their roles or secure area access.

Be up-to-date and react fast! Beyond security and quality the continuous improvement is the right focus. What you have today is not enough for tomorrow.

Still users are the weakest part in cyber security. Even user education is plying major factor to reduce risk, but ensuring having: 1. Policy, 2. Monitor, 3. Regular check, 4. Proper phishing and hunting process, 5. Continues user warning and education,

Since human error is a significant factor in security breaches, Educating your employees about best practices for cloud security is the best option to minimize human error.

User education is a critical component in securing your cloud data. Even the most robust security measures can be compromised by user error or ignorance. Continuous training on topics like secure password creation, recognizing phishing attempts, and responsible data sharing is essential. Implement automated tools to enforce policies and monitor for suspicious activity to complement user education. A clear data security policy outlining roles and responsibilities should be easily accessible to all employees. In essence, a well-informed user base serves as your first line of defense against cyber threats.

Trainings should aim at customization to offer relevant training to individual users. We have systems that automatically put users to test and see their vulnerabilities before customizing their training. They will have to pass these tests after the training for them to continue using the system. Assuming that users got the concept after the training is another mistake that organizations make. Remember that not all users have the same training needs and so offering bundled training to users may not be the solution. Test their knowledge and understanding

data at rest and in transit using strong encryption methods. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to manage permissions. Enforce MFA /2FA for user logins to prevent unauthorized access, even if login credentials are compromised. Classify data based on its sensitivity. Apply appropriate security measures and access controls based on data classification. Configure network security groups and access control lists to restrict network traffic to and from Isolate different data sets to limit the potential impact of a breach. Consider using Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) solutions to provide additional visibility and control over cloud applications.

Ensure that at any point in time, you can speak to your organization's data's CIA triad. This is the fundamentals of keeping data secure in the cloud. Confidentiality: Only those authorized have access to the data. This is where to ensure users' permissions are properly configured. One mistake often made here is not updating permissions when a user leaves the organization. Integrity: Data must be safe from alteration. This is where to ensure data is encrypted both at rest and in transit. Also, watch out for MITM attacks or other ways attackers can eavesdrop. Availability: Data is available to authorized users when needed. This is where to ensure protection against DDoS attacks that can render resources unavailable. SEIM tools can help.

Beyond conventional Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), we must recognize its limitations in today's evolving threat landscape. Traditional MFA can still be exploited, especially when attackers use sophisticated phishing techniques or socially engineer session access. The emerging FIDO2 standard provides phishing-resistant MFA, enhancing security. Yet, even robust physical tokens, like YubiKey, face challenges. If attackers can manipulate session controls, the efficacy of these tokens diminishes. This highlights a critical need: continuously advancing our security measures, staying abreast of attacker techniques, and integrating layered defenses. #Cybersecurity #Security

Make sure to understand the security requirements related to your organization. This encompasses, for example, internal and external regulatory compliance requirements. This is THE most important consideration to ensure the data and information you choose to place in a cloud service remains secure. You can not outsource the accountability for security, to a cloud service provider or other form of business partners. You and your organization will always remain accountable for ensuring you fulfill the security requirements related to your organization. And this is also what your customers (internal and external) expect from you. Security in cloud services shall be an extension of how security is managed within your own organization.

The very first step that you need to take to protect your data in the cloud is to understand what data you need to protect. I have implemented DLP solutions at multiple organizations, and while they can be powerful tools, they require a lot of work to tell them where your sensitive data is. And this requires a lot of work with the business and with all users to be able to classify and find sensitive data. But what if you don't have the time and resources for this classification? There are tools on the market today that will find your sensitive data and show you how to protect it...

Remember that cloud security is an ongoing process. Regularly review and update your security measures to adapt to changing threats and evolving best practices. Collaboration with your cloud service provider and staying informed about the latest security developments are essential to maintaining a secure cloud environment. Understand Shared Responsibility is very important. Cloud Service Providers are responsible for the security of the cloud infrastructure, while you are responsible for securing your data and applications within that infrastructure. Understand this division of responsibilities.

While most of the Public Cloud providers support Data at Rest/Transit, IAM RBAC, POLICIES ETC natively, it's crucial for developers to correctly leverage these in their implementations. Architects should ensure that there are no leaks in their solutions.

Let's remember that not all cloud service providers ate the same: due diligence and vendor management are essential to ensure that you have a good fit for your data classifications, technical resilience and operational capabilities. Careful consideration needs to be made to data hosting and backup locations, to ensure that data protection frameworks are providing appropriate safeguards, and remember to update any privacy statements to ensure users are aware of where and with whom their personal data may be being processed or stored.

One thing I have found helpful in securing cloud environments is to understand what model of cloud architecture you want is it Infrasteucture as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS)or Software as a Service (SaaS) or is it a hybrid. Once this is defined you pick a reputable vendor whose adherence to international governance standards like ISO 27001 and PCI DSS is commendable. It is crucial to know the commitment and mitigations in place to prevent data breach in regards to vendor/cloud partner (AWS, Azure, Google, Oracle) and obligations of the customer. If there is need for me to acquire Fortigate Cloud Native Firewall and a Data Loss Prevention as well as File Integeity Monitor this should be clear from the onset.