How to Ensure Your Cloud Data Remains Secure

Cloud storage is one of the biggest shifts for many modern businesses. The advantages seem limitless, and the downsides few, with one key advantage being the security that cloud storage is said to provide. But how safe is cloud storage really? Is simply migrating your data to a cloud storage service enough to keep it safe?

Many businesses over the last two decades have shifted to storing their data in the cloud, and for the most part, the advantages are significant. Cloud storage offers greater flexibility, cost efficiency, and scalability than physical data storage, making it feasible for most businesses. But does moving your data to cloud storage automatically make it safe and secure? The reality is that it doesn't, and there are a few things businesses should do to ensure that all that critical data stays secure.

After a business shifts to cloud storage, it should take an active role in managing its data, rather than relying solely on its storage provider to keep everything secure. This means understanding what your data is, where it is, who has access, how it is accessed, and training your staff to use it properly. For many businesses, implementing some level of Data Security Posture Management, or DSPM, is necessary to ensure data security.

Let's take a closer look at the ins and outs of what businesses that care about their data security should do with cloud-stored data.

Why is Cloud Storage so Popular?

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Before we get into the nitty-gritty of security, it's important to acknowledge why so many businesses opt for cloud storage. In a nutshell, cloud storage offers a more elegant and cost-effective solution for most businesses. Cloud storage allows storage and computing power to be scaled up or down as needed, reducing unnecessary hardware costs. Cloud storage also enables remote teams to collaborate more easily.

Most reputable cloud storage providers maintain robust security for their physical infrastructure, invest in redundancy measures, and ensure high service uptime. For the most part, achieving this without a cloud provider is not feasible for most businesses. While data stored in the cloud offers many benefits, keeping it secure often remains the responsibility of the business that owns it.

Cloud Storage Isn't Synonymous with Security

Many businesses may assume cloud storage systems are inherently secure, but this is not the case. Data stored in the cloud can still be breached, and many of those breaches occur due to mismanagement by the data owners, not the cloud provider. Common causes of breaches include permissive access controls, unnecessary user privileges, and misconfigured storage settings.

Businesses should have a concrete security strategy in mind as they move to the cloud, rather than assuming that cloud storage will solve all their problems. Interestingly, as cloud services become more complex, these mismanagement issues become more commonplace. The more fragmented and complex the services a business uses, the more likely it is to leave gaps in its security.

Understand Exactly What Your Data is

When a business moves data to the cloud, one of the first steps should be to gain a clear understanding of its data. This includes classifying it by sensitivity or security level.

Once data has been classified, it can be secured more appropriately. Some data, for instance, doesn't require a high level of security; it just needs to be accessible to the teams that use it. Data such as customer payment information should be treated with greater discretion.

Manage Access to Data Well

Keeping on top of who has access to what is an important step in data security. A good rule of thumb is that users should have access only to the minimum data they need to fulfill their obligations.

Using some of the authentication best practices, like multi-factor authentication (MFA), regularly reviewing access permissions, and role-based access control (RBAC), are all integral to managing data access permissions.

Ensuring Encryption is in Place and Data is Handled Securely

While many cloud providers offer their own encryption, ensuring your data is encrypted as it moves to and from the cloud is also necessary and may be something a business needs to handle itself.

In terms of handling data securely, creating regular backups and verifying their integrity can greatly benefit in the event of accidental deletion or other situations that could lead to data loss.

Keep Accurate Logs and Monitor Your Data

Because cloud data can be so volatile, having a system to accurately log who uses what data, when, and how they use it can be very valuable. This will ensure that data doesn't move where it shouldn't and will help highlight any suspicious or unusual data movements.

Some elements of this can be automated, providing your teams with alerts when data is downloaded or when attempts to access it from unusual locations are detected.

How Can Data Security Posture Management Help?

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) is gaining traction among businesses seeking to secure data in complex cloud environments. The technique is centred on managing the data itself, rather than on the network or infrastructure where it is stored.

Using DSPM tools can help businesses track where their data is, how it is accessed, and identify any gaps in their security measures. Issues such as exposed data stores, compliance risks, and unnecessarily permissive access points can be detected easily with these tools. DSPM tools perform ongoing analysis of cloud data and usage patterns, helping identify problems before they occur.

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