How to Design a Flawless Cloud Security Strategy
Just like with any technology, maintaining security in the cloud is essential for enterprises. Digital transformation initiatives and an increase in cloud-based solutions are increasing the rate of cloud adoption among businesses. However, several businesses aren’t familiar enough with how the cloud works may not know how to securely operate it. That’s why creating and sticking to a cloud security strategy is so important for businesses.
A cloud security strategy dictates how your enterprise maintains the security of your cloud environment and the data contained in it. Security operations shouldn’t be blind; you need a firm strategy in place to ensure your enterprise knows how to safely work in the cloud. Designing, implementing, and enforcing this strategy might seem tricky, but it’s an essential step in maintaining cloud security. Below, we explore how your enterprise can design a flawless cloud security strategy.
Data privacy and encryption in the cloud
Data security is a major concern for businesses, and rightly so. Companies want to protect their data in case of a security breach, especially when they put their data in the cloud. Your enterprise might be scared to migrate your data into a cloud environment, but the right security strategy can ensure that your data remains private. Public cloud providers should encrypt all the data that your company stores on their servers; they should also make their encryption protocols known in their service level agreement (SLA).
For your cloud security strategy, you need to ensure that your enterprise maintains the security of your data as you move to the cloud. Sensitive data should not be moved to the cloud before your enterprise becomes familiar with their cloud deployment. Instead, your cloud strategy should allow for non-essential data that doesn’t require strict security practices to be moved first.
Maintaining access control in your cloud environment
Your cloud security strategy needs to address how your enterprise maintains control over who has access to your data. A cloud provider will often include access control tools so your enterprise can keep sensitive data in the right hands. Your security strategy should include protocols on which employees and departments can access which data; to implement access control, your enterprise can lock off data behind authentication measures or by doling out access by device.
Cloud security responsibilities
When you adopt the cloud into your infrastructure, then both your enterprise and your cloud provider are responsible for certain security practices. Your cloud provider will outline what you’re responsible for in regards to security in their SLA. The specifics of your company’s responsibilities will depend on the cloud provider, but whatever the case, your enterprise will need to address your responsibilities in your security strategy.
Training your enterprise on cloud security
It’s important to keep your company up to speed on maintaining cloud security. Security threats can come from anywhere, and if they aren’t properly trained on your cloud environment, they can be a major internal risk. Your company needs to train its employees on how to use and navigate its cloud deployment; it should also give special training to your IT team on the security protocols your enterprise uses to control access and protect data.
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