This archive report was first published on 5 September 2019.
Securing the Public Cloud: 7 Essential Steps ¶
With the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of public cloud services, organizations are rapidly adopting Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). However, this shift introduces new security challenges.
According to Harish Chib, Vice President – Middle East & Africa of Sophos, the key to effective cybersecurity in the cloud lies in improving your overall security posture. This involves ensuring your architecture is secure and configured correctly, having visibility into your architecture, and knowing who is accessing it.
Here are the seven essential steps to secure your public cloud:
- Step 1: Learn Your Responsibilities - Understand the shared responsibility model, where public cloud providers ensure the security of the cloud, while you are responsible for securing your data and workloads.
- Step 2: Plan for Multi-Cloud - With the increasing adoption of multi-cloud strategies, it's essential to plan for this from the outset to future-proof your approach.
- Step 3: See Everything - Accurate visibility of all your cloud-based infrastructure, configuration settings, API calls, and user access is crucial for securing your cloud environment.
- Step 4: Integrate Compliance into Daily Processes - Continuous monitoring is necessary to ensure compliance with regulations, and integrating compliance into daily activities can help achieve this.
- Step 5: Automate Your Security Controls - Automating your defenses, including remediation of vulnerabilities and anomaly reporting, can help stay ahead of cybercriminals.
- Step 6: Secure All Your Environments - This includes securing production, development, and QA environments both reactively and proactively.
- Step 7: Apply Your On-Premises Security Learnings - Use firewalls and server protection to secure your cloud assets, and keep your endpoint and email security up to date to prevent unauthorized access to cloud accounts.
By following these seven steps, organizations can maximize the security of their public clouds, simplify management, and reduce the risk of cyberattacks.
Harish Chib is the Vice President – Middle East & Africa of Sophos.
