I am sure, most of us have moved homes, once or twice in our lifetime. The first thing when checking out your new neighborhood is if the place is safe, well-maintained and secure. But even in the safest neighborhoods, every homeowner knows that security doesn’t stop at the society’s front gate. You’re responsible for locking your doors, installing security systems, and ensuring your family’s safety inside your home.
Similarly, in cloud environments, the cloud service provider (CSP) and the customer share security responsibilities to meet all controls. This shared approach ensures coverage for audits. It also clarifies the responsibilities of each party, making it clear who is responsible for what actions.
Let’s explore these responsibilities through the AWS Shared Responsibility Model lens.
Source: AWS Shared Responsibility Model (Source: AWS)
The Neighborhood: AWS’s Role in Security
Just like a well-managed neighborhood association, AWS takes care of the big-picture security—what’s often referred to as “security of the cloud.” This includes everything from the physical security of the data centers to the hardware, the operating system, and the virtualization layer that your applications run on. AWS is vigilant about ensuring the infrastructure is secure, much like a neighborhood watch keeps an eye on the streets, making sure that the environment is as safe as possible for its residents.
Your Home: Your Responsibility in the Cloud
However, once inside this secure environment, the responsibility shifts to you—the homeowner. This is where “security in the cloud” comes into play. Just as you would lock your doors, install an alarm system, and set up motion detectors, you must implement security measures within your AWS environment to protect your data and applications.
AWS provides the tools and guidance, but just like choosing the best locks for your doors, you need to decide how to secure your cloud environment. This is where the AWS Well-Architected Framework comes in—a collection of best practices designed to help you build a strong security foundation for your cloud workloads.
The Security Blueprint: AWS Well-Architected Framework
Think of the AWS Well-Architected Framework as the blueprint for securing your home. It covers six key areas, or pillars, that are essential for maintaining a robust security posture. Let’s break down these pillars with the home security analogy:
- Establish a Strong Identity Foundation: Just as you wouldn’t hand out copies of your house keys to everyone, you shouldn’t give broad access to your cloud resources. Implement the principle of least privilege (PoLP) and enforce separation of duties to ensure that only authorized individuals can access sensitive information. Centralizing identity management is a must to eliminate reliance on long-term static credentials.
- Ensure Traceability: Imagine having security cameras around your property that monitor every entry and exit. In the cloud, traceability means setting up real-time monitoring, alerts, and audit logging to track who is accessing your resources and when. This helps in quickly identifying and responding to potential threats. Automate investigations and responses by integrating logs and metrics with your systems.
- Secure Every Layer: Just as you’d secure all entry points in your home—doors, windows, —it is recommended to adopt a defense-in-depth strategy. This involves securing every layer of your cloud environment, from the network edges to the applications running inside, their codes, operating systems, instances, load balancing.
- Automate Security Best Practices: Automating security practices in the cloud helps scale your security efforts efficiently and ensures that nothing is overlooked.
- Protect Data in Transit and at Rest: Just as you’d protect valuable possessions inside your home with a safe and have a section as to what goes where, in the cloud, you should first classify your data and protect it with encryption, tokenization, and strict access controls, whether it’s being stored or transmitted across the network.
- Prepare for Security Events: In the cloud, this involves having a well-defined incident management plan, along with a robust incident response strategy and investigation policies. Regularly conduct drills and use automated tools to enhance detection, response, and recovery processes.
Therefore when it comes to building a robust cloud security program it is crucial to take your first step with Identity Security. The above-mentioned could be your best take to Cloud Security.
Implementing Cloud Identity Security
Developers working in cloud environments are often focused on building and deploying new features. While compliance with security frameworks is just as essential as following health codes in a restaurant, making security measures inconvenient can unintentionally encourage risky behavior. Simplifying safe practices is key to reducing these risks.
AWS emphasizes that identity security is the cornerstone of a successful cloud security program. In the AWS Shared Responsibility Model, managing Identity and Access Management (IAM) falls under the customer’s responsibility, as it forms a critical aspect of security in the cloud.
But what does this involve? The AWS Well-Architected Framework highlights the importance of building a strong identity foundation by enforcing the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP), ensuring users only have the minimum access necessary to perform their tasks.
TEA (Time, Entitlements, and Approvals) goes beyond the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) by ensuring that no entitlements are available by default. Privileged access is granted only after the necessary approvals (whether automatic, contextual, or manual) have been met. This access is time-bound and linked to specific entitlements. Once the time window closes, users return to having Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP) within the cloud console.
With TEA, developers can avoid the delays and frustrations caused by access issues during coding sprints. This system provides secure, just-in-time access to cloud consoles, enabling teams to innovate and maintain momentum—perhaps even leaving time for a quick TEA break!
Let’s Align Your Identity Security in Your Cloud with Technosprout
Embrace this holistic approach with Technosprout to identity security to ensure your organization can perform confidently. By strengthening your own company’s safety net, you protect not only your data but also the trust and confidence of your customers. Implement these strategies to stay agile and secure in a world where the stakes are as high as the rewards.
Amidst a myriad of MSSP options in the market, why opt for Technosprout? How can we help? What sets us apart?
Achieving cyber confidence begins with a solid strategy and governance. Technosprout leverages an “Assess, Design, Implement and Manage” four-pronged approach that leads organizations methodically through business transformation throughout the lifecycle.
Our managed security services provide customized, comprehensive solutions, addressing specific business needs strategically along with the best certified experts and an experience of 7+ years in the market.
Don’t let your organization be the next target. Empower your organization and secure your Identities. We help implement and manage your Identity Security Game with CyberArk for complete risk mitigation. Strengthen your Identity with CyberArk Identity Access Management solutions and Technosprout Managed Services.
