Cloud Security Tips That Could Save Your Business

The future is cloud. The advancement of cloud technology has completely transformed how businesses operate, communicate, and store data.

According to the most recent Google Cloud Brand Pulse Survey, global technology leaders are planning to increase their investment in cloud-based services and products (41.4%), migrate from legacy enterprise software to cloud-based tools (33.4%), and move on-premises workloads to modern cloud hosting services (32.8%).

From small healthcare clinics to large enterprises, forward-thinking organizations are letting go of on-premise systems and investing in scalable, cost-efficient, convenient, and secure cloud hosting services and cloud environments.

Because companies continue shifting to the cloud, understanding how to keep your data safe within cloud hosting services is critical. However, cloud security can be challenging.

What is Cloud Security? And Why is It So Important?

Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike defines cloud security as a collection of technologies, policies, services, and security controls that protect an organization’s sensitive data, applications, and environments operating within cloud systems and cloud hosting services.

Before cloud computing, organizations protected data within the physical boundaries of their offices. Today, as businesses transition into fully digital workplaces powered by cloud hosting services, security requires an entirely new approach.

Here are a few factors that make cloud security challenging:

• Data Access. Cloud services typically involve storing and accessing data remotely, which can potentially introduce vulnerabilities during transmission and storage. Ensuring secure access to data is crucial.
• Complex Environments. Cloud environments involve various services, configurations, and access controls. Managing cybersecurity across multiple platforms, applications, and user permissions requires specialized knowledge and expertise.
• Evolving Threat Landscape. Cyber threats are constantly changing, and the mass migration to cloud-based tools is enticing malicious actors all over the world. The IBM Security X-Force Cloud Threat Landscape Report shows that cybercriminals focus on attacking cloud targets.

According to a SecurityScorecard and Cyentia Institute report, 98% of organizations have at least one third-party vendor that has had a breach in the last two years.

If your business uses cloud technology or is considering migrating to the cloud, having the right security tools and protocols in place is vital.

Cloud hosting providers typically include baseline protection within their cloud hosting services, but that doesn’t mean environments are impenetrable. Organizations must ensure their cloud infrastructure is correctly configured, carefully designed, and continuously secured to protect sensitive data such as medical records, proprietary software, and financial information.

Cloud Security Best Practices You Need to Adopt

When it comes to protecting modern cloud hosting services, planning is critical. Organizations must stay current on evolving cloud security threats, risks, and best practices. Here are five effective ways to keep your cloud environments secure:

Implement Multi-Factor Authentication

According to IBM, there’s a thriving dark web market specifically for public cloud access. If you want to protect your data on the cloud, you need to increase the security of your login procedure. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) can do that for you.

Amazon Web Services defines MFA as a multi-step account login process that requires users to enter more information than just a password. By requiring a second form of authentication (like a fingerprint, password, security token, etc.), MFA can help prevent unauthorized account access if your system password gets compromised.

MFA provides an extra layer of security that’s difficult for attackers to get past, and according to Microsoft, implementing it makes your accounts 99.9% less vulnerable to compromise.

Properly Set User Permissions

Permission refers to the authorization users get that determines what resources they can access in a network and what type of access they have.

When it comes to your cloud systems, you must actively manage what kinds of information each user can access. Some of your team members may have high-level admin accounts with full access to your entire system. However, giving the same permissions to team members who don’t need them only increases the opportunity for cybercriminals to gain entry to your cloud services.

A cybersecurity concept you can adopt when setting user permissions is the principle of least privilege, which promotes granting users the minimum required access they need to do their tasks.

Cybersecurity company Heimdal explains it this way: In simple terms, the concept refers to users, machines, or systems not being able to access information or do actions unless they absolutely must to do their jobs or, respectively, perform their tasks.

By restricting access to sensitive information to only those needing it, you can protect your organization from internal and external threats.

Never Trust, Always Verify

Adopting the Zero Trust model is a modern approach to protecting one’s networks, including cloud systems.

According to information security analyst Garrett Bekker, the Zero Trust model steps away from the notion that anyone inside a corporate network boundary is trusted and anyone outside it is untrusted. Instead, it assumes that all users are hostile and must not be trusted.

The Zero Trust model requires organizations to never trust and always verify anyone attempting to access cloud systems or cloud hosting services, even if they are already inside the network perimeter. Akamai Technologies’ Chief Technology Officer Charlie Gero recommends restricting access to IP addresses and machines until you know who the user is and whether or not they’re authorized.

Implementing Zero Trust in your organization has several layers and will require you to work closely with IT, cloud, and network engineers. If you’re unsure what to do and who to work with, partnering with a tried-and-tested managed service provider is a smart and safe way to start.

Back Up Your Data

Just because your data is stored using cloud hosting services doesn’t mean backups are unnecessary. A strong cloud security strategy should always include secure offline or isolated backups to ensure business continuity during outages or ransomware incidents.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommends using the 3-2-1 rule when backing up your data:

• 3 - Create one primary backup and two copies of your data.
• 2 - Save your backups to two different types of media.
• 1 - Keep at least one backup file offsite.

Having offline backups means you’ll still be able to access your data even when your cloud services are inaccessible. It also means that in the unfortunate event of a ransomware attack, you will still have access to your data and can at least keep your business running with the information you have.

Simplify Your Cloud Security Processes

Cloud hosting services are designed for efficiency, convenience, flexibility, and security—they’re meant to simplify operations across your organization. However, if your cloud tools, procedures, and policies become overly complex, employees may bypass them, unintentionally increasing security risks.

According to a Dtex report, 95% of its risk assessments showed that employees engaged in activities that bypassed their organizations’ security and web-browsing restrictions. If your cloud security processes are too complex, your employees could ignore them, save essential data elsewhere, and increase the risk of a data breach.

To maximize cloud security and encourage your teams to work with them, use user-friendly tools, implement straightforward rules, and clearly communicate your security policies.

ER Tech Pros Helps Keep Your Cloud Security in Top Shape

Cloud security is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. If you want to future-proof your organization, adopting cloud technology and reliable cloud hosting services is only the first step — ensuring those environments are properly secured is equally important.

Setting up cloud security isn’t easy, though. Your cloud service provider may already offer some, but if you’re unsure about the level of protection your company is getting, a thorough assessment by trusted IT, cloud, and cybersecurity experts may be necessary to eliminate any risks.

ER Tech Pros is a managed IT and cybersecurity service provider specializing in ensuring the IT networks of growing organizations are in their most secure and optimal state.

Whether you’re planning a migration or already relying on cloud hosting services but unsure about your security posture, a thorough assessment from experienced IT and cybersecurity professionals can help eliminate risks and strengthen protection.

ER Tech Pros is a managed IT and cybersecurity provider specializing in secure, optimized cloud hosting services that help growing organizations protect data, maintain uptime, and operate confidently in today’s digital landscape.