The average enterprise uses more than 1,200 cloud services, and 92% of organizations use a mix of public and private cloud providers. More businesses are turning to the cloud, so security becomes increasingly more important. As a Miami cybersecurity company, we know how complex cloud security can be, but there are several actionable, simple steps you can take to protect against cyber attacks.
How Does Cloud Security Work?
Cloud security takes a multi-faceted approach to cybersecurity, implementing a variety of policies and technological solutions to protect apps and data in cloud environments.
These technologies may include:
- Identity and access management, or IAM, tools
- Cloud posture management tools
- Firewall management solutions
Most organizations use services like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure for their cloud needs. While these providers have their own native security measures in place, it’s important not to rely on them.
Implementing your own security measures will provide an additional layer of protection against attackers.
How to Strengthen Cybersecurity for Cloud-Based Applications
There are several steps you can take to bolster cybersecurity for your cloud-based applications.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication
According to Microsoft, more than 99.9% of compromised accounts do not have multi-factor authentication (MFA) enabled.
MFA requires users to provide more than one verification method to access their accounts or networks. For example, you may need to provide your username and password along with a code that’s sent to your phone.
Enabling MFA adds an extra layer of security because hackers won’t be able to access an account with login credentials alone. Unless the hacker has access to the other verification method or uses a more sophisticated tactic to extract the user’s code, they will be unable to access the account.
Invest in Traffic Monitoring
Depending on your situation, it may be worth investing in managed detection and response solutions that will monitor traffic in real-time. These solutions typically use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze massive amounts of data to detect anomalies and alert you to issues before they escalate.
Traffic monitoring can reduce the time you spend discovering problems, allowing you to take action more quickly.
Take Steps to Protect Your Databases
Protecting your databases should be of the utmost importance, and you can accomplish this goal by:
- Upgrading your firewall
- Monitoring your access risk categories
- Deploying email security gateways
There are many effective solutions that use machine learning to filter and analyze network risks and then alert you to malicious or suspicious activity.
Encrypt Data at Rest and in Motion
Secure protocols can help safeguard data that comes from the internet and moves through your applications. These protocols make it more difficult for attackers to access your transmission of data. It’s also important to ensure that the data stored in your backup media or on a disk is encrypted.
Cloud security is complex. To maximize your protection against cyber attacks, consider consulting with a professional, like our cybersecurity company in Miami. A security professional will help you identify vulnerabilities and implement solutions to help protect your cloud-based applications.