5 Tips for Designing a Flawless Cloud Security Policy
Does your company have a cloud security policy in place? While the cloud introduces several opportunities for businesses, it also introduces several security threats that companies need to be aware of. The ever-changing nature of cybersecurity threats means that your business needs to be prepared for anything. Thus, your enterprise needs a cloud security policy in place to address these concerns.
What should this cloud security policy include, and how should your business enforce it? Below, we’ve listed five tips for designing a flawless policy that addresses common cloud security challenges and needs.
One way your company can help boost your cloud security policy is by soliciting a managed cloud security services provider. Our free MSP Buyer’s Guide contains profiles on the top cloud managed service providers for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as questions you should ask vendors and yourself before buying. We also offer an MSP Vendor Map that outlines those vendors in a Venn diagram to make it easy for you to select potential providers.
Implement access control regulations
You don’t want just any user or device to access your cloud environment — you need to implement access control regulations to keep unauthorized users out. Many cloud vendors will provide native access control tools that only allow access to sanctioned users. This includes identity management, authorization, and authentication protocols.
Assess your compliance requirements
If your enterprise works with sensitive data that falls under a set of regulations, your company needs to ensure that it maintains compliance with these regulations in the cloud. Any cloud provider worth their salt will inform clients of all the regulations its cloud environment complies with. You’ll also want to know which servers your cloud provider will store your data on and where those servers are located. This information should be listed on the cloud provider’s website as well as their service level agreement (SLA).
Encrypt your cloud data
The bottom line of cloud security is keeping your data protected while inside the cloud — an environment you don’t maintain full control over. Encrypting your data that’s currently sitting in your cloud deployment helps protect it from being accessed by unauthorized users. You should also encrypt data that’s being uploaded to or downloaded from the cloud to ensure your data is protected at every instance.
Monitor your cloud environment
Even if you take proactive measures against security threats, there could be threats like malware already lurking on your cloud environment. Thankfully, cloud providers and third-party vendors offer cloud monitoring tools to help you track down suspicious cloud data and activity. You can implement cloud monitoring tools for security, but there are also cloud performance monitoring solutions as well.
Consider your cloud provider’s native security tools
When designing a cloud security policy, your company needs to consider security tools that will help protect your cloud environment. Cloud providers often offer native cloud security tools that help your company protect its cloud deployments. These security tools are often a decent option for basic cloud security, though your business shouldn’t solely rely on them to protect your cloud solutions.
Looking for more info on managed service providers for your cloud solutions? Our MSP Buyer’s Guide contains profiles on the top cloud managed service providers for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as questions you should ask vendors and yourself before buying. We also offer an MSP Vendor Map that outlines those vendors in a Venn diagram to make it easy for you to select potential providers.
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