Cloud security challenges not just technological

In the evolving IT landscape, cloud deployments have become deeply entrenched in business operations, presenting both unprecedented opportunities and significant challenges. The widespread adoption of cloud technologies has created a complex and dynamic environment, often spanning multiple providers and geographical regions, each with its own laws, regulations, and standards.

From fragmented environments to access control challenges, API vulnerabilities, interoperability issues, and challenging monitoring practices, today’s extensive cloud deployments can lead to gaps in security coverage and inconsistencies in data protection. In fact, these complexities have been the root cause of several IT security incidents over the years. Cloud usage and deployments have rapidly become crucial parts of business operations and, in some cases, the foundation of the business itself. We've seen a significant shift from on-premises to predominantly cloud-first strategies for many organisations.

I've had the privilege of being part of several of these transitions over the years. One notable instance involved a multinational financial services company whose risk management function had adopted multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies. While these strategies had their advantages, they also presented significant threats.

This particular organisation used a public cloud for advanced risk modelling and an on-premises private cloud for storing sensitive financial data to comply with regulatory requirements. However, the different technologies, security services, and implementations led to inconsistent security measures. During a routine audit, we discovered that sensitive financial data had been inadvertently exposed due to access control misconfigurations on the public cloud.

Several factors contributed to this. Firstly, the diversity and complexity of the cloud environment had allowed vast access through API calls and other technologies. Secondly, the skill set within the organisation was a constraint. The team managed various planes of technology with their security components but lacked the specialised skills to sustainably maintain high-level security across all these environments. The breach that occurred questioned the integrity of the risk model and posed a severe reputational risk to the organisation.

This incident is a great example of the vulnerabilities inherent in complex cloud environments and the critical challenges many organisations face.  Each cloud provider operates with unique tools, interfaces, and security implementations, leading to potential inconsistencies and vulnerabilities. Extensive cloud adoption creates a multifaceted environment that requires meticulous management and robust security measures to prevent against exposures.

Specific toolsets that help consolidate and gain visibility across diverse cloud deployments should be considered to address these challenges. One such toolset is a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution. Coupled with a robust 24x7 Security Operations Centre (SOC), this can centralise data from various sources, toolsets, technologies and cloud infrastructures across the organisation's IT landscape. This centralisation allows for experienced SOC eyes on those data streams, improving response times, reducing alert fatigue, and helping the organisation gain better visibility and understanding of its environment.