Security Strategies to Keep Your Hybrid Cloud Safe
When we hear “Hybrid Cloud”, the first phrase that comes to mind is “the best of both worlds.” How? Well, a Hybrid Cloud is a computing environment that uses a mix of an on-premises Private Cloud and third-party Public Cloud services, with both platforms working in tandem.
Companies and organisations that use the Hybrid Cloud get elasticity and cost-cutting advantages of a Public Cloud, and data sovereignty, control, and security from the Private Cloud. When they combine the two, you get the added benefit of allocating workloads to the appropriate environment. This adaptability makes the Hybrid Cloud extremely attractive to many organisations.
As per the Flexera 2020 State of the Cloud Report, almost 83% of enterprises have adopted the Hybrid Cloud strategy. Thus, with the trend of Hybrid Cloud gathering steam, many organisations are focusing on how secure these Hybrid Clouds are. Securing these Hybrid Clouds may take time and effort, but there are different strategies you can adopt to ease the difficulty of this task. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
Strategies to Secure the Hybrid Cloud
1. Shared Responsibility
To begin with, securing the Hybrid Cloud, you must look at this endeavour as a joint venture. To simply assume that the Cloud partner will manage, maintain and secure the data once it leaves the on-premise systems would be a mistake. Even the most popular, or well-equipped Hybrid Cloud providers need to be proactive when it comes to security. Create tools and policies that ensure you have a 360-degree view of the Hybrid Cloud environment. Keep an eye out for blind spots and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, there should be ownership, across the board, of all assets and environments. Each asset should have an assigned owner. For example, business assets like websites and applications can be made secure by deploying a secure web hosting solution. You can transfer the onus of security on your Cloud Hosting provider for the website and applications. A shared sense of security, clear ownership and visibility and awareness of blind spots should keep the Hybrid Cloud secure, and ready, if a threat or vulnerability does arise.
2. Securing endpoints
Using a Cloud infrastructure does not negate the need for strong endpoint security. Endpoint protection implies securing your network against unauthorised access by remote devices, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, or any wireless device. Many attacks, in fact, start at the endpoint level and so you, as an organisation, must look at implementing endpoint protection, which is comprehensive and strong, including features like application whitelisting and browser exploit protection. Furthermore, employers should provide their tech team with the right education to ensure total security of the Hybrid Cloud. Endpoint Protection secures the endpoint devices of the employees and ensures that the data cannot be accessed by unauthorized elements, especially in case of device theft.
3. Encrypt and Isolate
Organisations store important data on the Cloud, so ensure that you isolate the most critical data and infrastructure. The fewer the people who have access to this vital data, the more secure it is from any threats. Another strategy is to encrypt the data passing through the Cloud. This includes data in transit, as well as data at rest. Many Cloud service providers offer data encryption as a part of their security features, so make sure that it is a part of your security strategy.
4. The Principle of Least Privilege
This key concept in computer security is the practice of limiting users’ access rights to the bare minimum permissions they need in order to carry out their tasks. The Principle of Least Privilege is essential to all Cloud environments. Giving employees access to data, environments and privileges that they need to do to the job, will keep things running smoothly — any more access introduces an unnecessary level of risk. Employing principles and securities like this allow you to keep a strong governance and management strategy in place.
5. Backup, Continuity and Recovery
Using a Cloud infrastructure does not always guarantee the safety of crucial data. In the event of an attack or system failure, companies can lose their data (either temporarily or permanently). To create a comprehensive security strategy, you need to back up your data physically and virtually, ensuring that the data is available at all times. In case of emergencies, it is also important to have a backup plan. A good Hybrid Cloud infrastructure provider will ensure an optimum backup plan in case of any damage to the data centres. Many enterprises and providers adopt image-based backups to have copies of Virtual Machines and computers and ensure seamless restore and recovery.
6. Audit
Security is often looked at as a separate (and sometimes) stressful task that companies need to undertake. However, moving to a hybrid infrastructure is also a good time to review security practices and tools that are overdue for an audit. Once the audit is complete, companies can implement new or advanced security services to improve performance, as opposed to functioning with the same tools for years.
7. Manage Workloads
As mentioned at the start, the flexibility to choose which workload to send to which environment is one of the greatest strengths of the Hybrid Cloud. It stands to reason, then, that extending this philosophy to Cloud security will also work as an advantage. You can decide which environment is best for which data, based on factors like the type of data, data access and data volume. With that logic, it may make sense to keep sensitive and critical data and applications on-premises and other pieces on the Public Cloud. This process will involve a deep dive into the Cloud provider’s capabilities and security policies. Accordingly, you can then send different workloads to different environments and reduce the risks that come with different types of data.
Finally, it’s important to choose a steady, secure and reliable service provider. The right Cloud provider will prioritise stability, security and scalability to give you steady and unmatched performance. Combining the right provider, with the strategies above will give your Hybrid Cloud strong protection, leaving you to enjoy all the benefits of this innovative environment.
