Who Is Responsible For Compliance And Security Of The Cloud?
Cybersecurity threats constantly evolve, making it tough to anticipate what will happen next. However, there are measures that establishments can assume to evade possible security breaches. At the end of this post, you’ll find key areas that you should keep in mind regarding accountability measures for the cloud.
Table of Contents
The Risks Of The Cloud
Many companies rely on the cloud to store their data. But this convenience creates a new set of challenges. With so many servers connected to one another, potential cybersecurity threats are ever-present.
The biggest two risks are hacking and data leakage. Hacking is when someone malicious gains access to your computer or network by exploiting software vulnerabilities or guessing passwords. Data leakage is when an unauthorized individual accidentally or purposefully accesses information stored on the cloud server.
With these threats in place, you need to follow best practices for securing your company’s data stored on cloud servers.
Critical Areas For Compliance And Security In The Cloud
If you’re considering the cloud, you should be thinking about security. It’s essential to understand all risks to develop a plan to address them.
It’s not challenging to try and figure out how to protect your data in the cloud, but it certainly requires some forethought and planning. To help you out, we’ve created this list of five essential areas that will ensure compliance and security measures for your company:
* Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
* Access Control
* Authentication
* Multi-factor Authentication
* Monitoring & Logging
Data Protection
Data protection is one of the key areas to consider when building your security measures for the cloud. Protecting your data will be easier to protect against potential intrusions.
There are two commonly used methods for data protection: encryption and tokenization. Encryption involves using a code to encrypt the data so that other parties cannot read it. On the other hand, tokenization converts sensitive data into a different form to avoid misinterpretation or compromise.
Encryption is best for information that should remain private because it uses strong cryptography, which means it’s difficult to break through. Tokenization is better for information that should only be read but not modified because the conversion process makes the data unusable.
It’s important to state that both techniques are equally effective at preventing unauthorized access, but they work differently. Understanding how these methods work could help you decide which way might work best for your business needs.
Application Security
One of the most important areas of cloud security is application security. This is considered to be one of the biggest vulnerabilities in cloud services. An example of an application-based security breach is when a hacker gains unauthorized access to other people’s data by exploiting a bug in the application programming interface (API).
Since the API allows third-party applications to interact with company data, it can have serious consequences. It can cause your business users’ data and app content to be exposed and even stolen. This type of attack can also allow hackers to gain administrative privileges and control over your system, resulting in financial loss or theft.
What makes this such a big deal? Well, you’re not just risking your data but that of your customers as well. If they log into an account that has been compromised, their information will also be at risk. You want to make sure you protect your customers’ information from these types of breaches.
Ransomware Protection
Ransomware is one of the most detrimental elements of cybersecurity. It’s a type of malware that prevents you from accessing your data, which you need to do your work. Ransomware attacks are becoming more common amongst small businesses. What can you do to protect yourself?
You should invest in ransomware protection, which will scan your files to detect any traces of this malware. This additional layer of defense can help prevent future incidents and keep you safe from hackers.
The best part about investing in ransomware protection is that it doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. You can find various security measures for the cloud that are easy to use and cost-effective. A few other things you should think about when it comes to ransomware protection are backups and passwords. If an attack happens, it’s essential to be prepared with backups in place so you don’t lose all the work you’ve put into your company up until this point.
Password management is also crucial because, once again, if an event like this were to happen, it would make it hard for employees without access to company information without access (or knowledge) of passwords.
Closing Thoughts
The answer to who is accountable is that it is a shared responsibility. Cloud providers, customers, and security teams all have a role to play. In the end, one of the most important things is to make sure you have a plan in place to address cloud security and compliance risks. Ultimately, the risk of not managing the dangers of the cloud outweighs the potential benefits.