Solutions for the Complexity of Cloud Security

As the demand for cloud solutions from line of business managers continues to put pressure on IT to provide the appropriate network and other infrastructure support, there are additional complicating factors. The push for adequate security for new combinations of applications can create a complex set of security management practices that drain IT of its time and resources.

Security management is challenged by variable levels of visibility and control, the difficulty of maintaining a consistent security posture across more than one domain, and coordinating responses to a perceived threat. Sharing threat intelligence with cloud services providers as well as deciding who is responsible for damages in the event of a breach are both topics that require attention from IT personnel.

For each type of cloud environment, there are steps that can be taken to create a focused security policy:

Public cloud: In this setting, security can turn into a full-time concern, with enterprises managing multiple security consoles monitoring data moving to and from cloud applications. What’s required is a single, shared security solution in which the enterprise has full visibility, whether the solution is local or stored in the cloud.

Software as a Service (SaaS) requires security tools that are cloud-focused, like cloud access security brokers, which can be deployed in the cloud or on-premises as a way to create security enforcement points between users and service providers. These security tools should also be available as a unified solution.

Private cloud: Many of the challenges for public cloud are the same for private cloud, but there are additional considerations. For instance, each time a new virtual machine or workload is deployed, there are multiple security factors that need to be addressed simultaneously, such as which devices and applications it is able to access and which data it can implement from other applications. A private cloud-based security solution should be able to isolate applications and data as elements in the virtualized data center are modified.

Hybrid cloud and multi-cloud: There are two main concerns when securing hybrid and multi-cloud environments. One is visibility across all legacy, on-site and cloud solutions. The IT team needs to prioritize a central solution with integration across applications. The second concern is securing connectivity so that resources can be temporarily accessed while still protecting the rest of the network. Any security solution must be able to protect the connections critical to the operation of a hybrid or multi-cloud solution.

At AMD Technology, we connect businesses in need of the latest telecom technology to top-ranking service providers. Contact us to talk more about how to best secure any type of cloud environment.