The increasing number of cyber-attacks on cloud platforms is a big concern for businesses. Despite improvements in cloud technology the cloud attacks have consistently increased.
As per recent data, 2020 witnessed around 1108 data breaches which increased to 1291 in 2021. If you compare 2020 and 2021 cloud attacks data, you will see a 17% increase in cloud attacks in 2021.
Cloud security experts argue that CIEM solutions can make your cloud platforms secure even if you use multiple cloud service providers or hybrid cloud platforms.
Here are seven tips for using Cloud Infrastructure Entitlements Management solutions for the first time.
- Establish Requirements First
For best results, you need to get a well-defined picture of the requirements for your cloud security solution. For example, the security requirements for a single cloud platform, multiple cloud platforms, and hybrid cloud platforms are different. You need to clearly define the prioritized targets, objectives, and the overall workflow of the security solution.
You can begin with use cases for your business. Ask yourself a few questions about what the cloud security solution will do for your organization and how you plan to take things further.
It is an excellent step to review the security policies and processes that can support your CIEM solution implementation, including places to meet compliance requirements and existing controls at greater risk.
- Separation of Duties
“Separation of duties” refers to a concept where one cloud user does not have excessive permissions that give the user to complete any malicious action. Cloud security experts state that separation of duties acts as a foundation for least access privileges that help secure cloud platforms.
Separation of responsibilities is critical for internal control to prevent erroneous and inappropriate actions. Also, separation of duties is a deterrent to fraud as you need collaboration to perpetrate a fraudulent act.
CIEM allows organizations to separate roles of administrators, managers, and auditors. Using the security tool, the security teams can monitor the usage of cloud resources and ensure all users comply with their quotas.
The security tools also provide a thorough overview of the organization’s cloud resources consumption at any given time. It also allows auditors to verify that all processes are correctly executed and that managers have a complete overview of the cloud resource usage.
- Collect as Much Data as Possible
Assessing and managing cloud risks can be potentially daunting. The first question that most people have is where to begin. Cloud security experts mention that risk assessment starts with gathering data, and data collection allows security teams to understand what hazards exist in the cloud environment.
- Design and Manage Permissions
Permissions are also called privileges and rights in cloud computing. It defines what level of access a group or user has to file and folders in the cloud database. Public clouds have a complicated permissions model.
Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management focuses on enforcing the least privileged access model that ensures users have only the permissions required to complete their daily duties.
Before implementing identity and access management, security teams should analyze each job function and design permissions to access essential cloud resources. It will make IAM more effective and reduce cloud risks to a more significant extent.
- Integration Into Existing Systems
Cloud infrastructure is vast. Several systems like SIEMs, patch management solutions, automated audit checklists, security and compliance tools are needed for the smooth functioning of the cloud infrastructure.
The Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management solution should integrate into existing systems smoothly to strengthen the overall security and compliance. It ensures the organization can follow standard processes while getting pertinent information about cloud usage from a single source.
- Identity Classification and Confirmation
Unlike the data center model, where you have to only worry about human identities, the public cloud is a different story altogether. It has several non-human identities which can surpass human identities. The application has resources and access privileges that make identity and access management difficult for security teams.
Confirmation can help better identity and access management and make the Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management solution easier to enforce the least access privileges across cloud environments.
- Have a Comprehensive Incident Response Plan
The cloud security solution can provide you with real-time monitoring of the cloud resources and help identify risks. However, the onus of responding to various security events and threats is the responsibility of the security teams and not on the security tool itself.
Hence, it would help if you had a comprehensive incident response plan while implementing a Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management solution to your cloud environment.
So, these are the best practices you ought to follow when implementing CIEM solutions in your cloud infrastructure.
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