What are the Best Practices for Public Cloud Security?

Technology has experienced a rapid proliferation in the past few years. Today, around 96% of enterprises in the US use some kind of cloud computing. Cloud data security is vital. Best practices in cloud security refer to techniques or methods that produce superior results.

In simple words, it is a standard way of doing things while maintaining compliance requirements and ethical standards. Here are the best practices for public cloud security platforms.

Determining Which Data Is Sensitive

Applying the highest level of protection across the board can be overkill. This can leave the most sensitive data of the enterprises unprotected. Organizations should use data discovery and classification methods to define data that needs optimal protection. Enterprises need to aim for a comprehensive solution that locates and protects sensitive information on the network.

Understand How This Data Is Accessed and Stored

While sensitive data can be stored safely in the cloud, no public cloud security platform offers a 100% guarantee for data safety. Hence, enterprises need to examine the access context and permissions associated with data in the cloud environment.

Implement Access Control

The arrival of cloud systems has made data sharing secure. According to security experts, the sharing of data has increased by 50% year over year. No matter how robust your threat mitigation strategy is, you cannot ignore the importance of access control. It will help if you enforce access control policies before enterprise data is moved to the cloud. It is not likely every employee in your organization needs to share data.

Some employees might only need to view it or edit documents. The access control policy must take into account different job roles and the access permissions they need to deliver their job functions. Defining groups, setting up privileges, and restricting the sharing of data externally can help enterprises prevent data leaks.

Establish Cloud Data Deletion Policies

It is common for enterprises to switch cloud service providers. Hence, it is necessary to establish cloud data deletion policies to remove data from the cloud to meet compliance safely.

Monitor Cloud Environment for Threats

Traditional security solutions are designed to defend systems when they are under attack. You need to have a proactive approach to cloud security. You need to employ security solutions that can monitor your cloud environment and eliminate threats before they have a chance to attack. The security software should be able to detect hidden malware and remove it before it causes data loss.

Perform Routine Operation Tests

Cloud technology is always evolving, and so are hacking tools. Security gaps can appear anywhere as you update or upgrade your cloud environment. If the security gaps are not discovered and closed, it leaves the door open for malware and cyber-attacks on the cloud platform.

Leading cloud service providers perform a penetration test to search for security gaps. Before using any cloud service provider, make sure the CSP employs the latest technologies to hunt for gaps in the system.

Train Employees on Your Cloud Security Practices

Sometimes the biggest security threats come from human errors. An employee might misuse the cloud environment due to a lack of knowledge or due negligence. Their actions can open floodgates for threats to enter your cloud environment.

Just like with any technology, enterprises should focus on imparting training to the employees who would be using a cloud environment. The training modules should also include best practices employees need to follow to keep the enterprise data safe and minimize risk to the cloud platform.

A common theme in the best cloud security practices is the cloud consumers need to develop a deep understanding of the working of the platform and the services provided. The best practices mentioned in the post help cloud consumers learn the critical aspects of cloud security and then effectively use the security tools offered by the cloud service provider.