What tools would you use to evaluate the security of a cloud service provider?

The provider’s information security controls should be demonstrably risk-based and clearly support your own security policies and processes. This is particularly the case for regulations such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation . Under the GDPR, your organization is legally accountable for ensuring the personal data entrusted to you by your customers. In turn, you entrust this information to cloud service providers, and it’s stored and processed in accordance with the GDPR.

Oftentimes, businesses assume that security is a non-issue when working with big-name brands like AWS, GCP, and Azure. But cloud security controls and policies vary between different providers, so it’s important to do your due diligence before making a selection to make sure the provider aligns with your exact needs. A strong word of caution – just because you’re in the cloud, does not mean your cloud is secure. The Shared Responsibility Model outlines where the customer is accountable in securing their cloud.

Business Compatibility

It also defines security considerations — including shared responsibilities, reliability, maintenance and support, governance, and auditing data. As companies increase their public cloud usage, new security challenges are emerging. For example, that same study shows that cloud issues and misconfigurations are the leading causes of breaches and outages.

Many businesses are bound either by laws, regulations, or customer contracts to ensure the data they manage on behalf of their clients is stored and managed under certain conditions. Depending on your industry, you need to ensure your cloud service provider is compliant with the applicable laws and regulations. While you can outsource applications and tasks to a cloud service provider, you can’t outsource your responsibility for them. The cloud SLA is the official agreement between the organization and the cloud service provider. At a high level, the SLA is responsible for outlining the level of service that the customer receives.

Platform

Do comprehensive research into the available resources and the relevant cloud network security best practices vendors follow. Apart from regular security and transparency, some unique aspects that must be https://globalcloudteam.com/ validated include structured workflows, efficient data management, and service status transparency. Evaluate how vendor manages their internal resources, including staffing, training, and management.

This will help prevent unauthorized access to management interfaces and procedures to ensure applications, data and resources are not compromised. A leading cloud service provider will offer cutting edge cloud security hardware and software that you can rely on. You will gain access to a continuous service where your users can securely access data and applications from anywhere, on any device.

Specific criteria to evaluate the security of a Cloud Service Provider

The ISO/IEC and ISO/IEC standards cover information security practices for cloud services. Organizations must understand their part in securing cloud environments, especially if they store or process sensitive data in the cloud. Cloud security vulnerabilities are often the result of poor practices and configurations. The level of responsibility for cloud security depends on the type of cloud service—public, private, and hybrid cloud deployments have different security needs. ISO-27001, ISO-27002, and ISO are security standards that businesses need to look for in the vendor they are evaluating to partner with. These standards indicate if the cloud provider adheres to the security best practices and proactively strives to reduce risks.

While this rush to the cloud might have addressed immediate business needs, it may not have included the appropriate steps to evaluate any security risks or regulatory impacts on the business. Many cloud providers are cautious about how much detail they share about their internal security controls. They have concerns that their customers, competition and attackers may use that cloud application security testing information against them. This may limit enterprise customers, allowing them to review only cloud security certifications, third-party assessments or self-assessments to evaluate cloud service provider data security qualifications. To improve your cloud security architecture and mitigate the risks and threats of cloud computing, it is important to adopt certain best practices.

Insecure Application User Interface (API)

First, check the performance of the service provider against their SLAs for the last 6-12 months. Some service providers publish this information, but others should supply it if asked. They should also be auditable if possible and clearly articulated in the service level agreement. Contractual and service governance, including to what extent the provider can unilaterally change the terms of service or contract. Service providers may have multiple vendor relationships that are important to understand. Extract from CIF E-learning module 8 – Cloud Service provider selection.There are multiple standards and certifications available.

• The HSR provides guidelines for keeping an individual’s electronic health details safe.
• This is why Gartner reports that some cloud providers are pressuring annual spending increases at contract renewal time.
• Thankfully, in the place of governing bodies, there are a number of organizations that dedicate themselves to supporting the industry.
• By choosing a cloud service provider, you can take the worry of security maintenance off your shoulders.
• The STAR registry outlines the privacy and security controls offered by common cloud computing features, so cloud customers may evaluate their security providers to form solid purchasing choices.

One step further, PaaS provides a platform, or environment, for developing, testing, delivering, and managing software that includes servers, storage, network, and databases. The best cloud vendor will store organizations’ sensitive data as backups on a different server to avoid loss during a disaster. Read this article to know more about what parameters businesses can consider while evaluating Cloud Service Providers for security.

Cloud security best practices

A reputable cloud service provider will offer in-built hardware and software dedicated to securing your applications and data around the clock. Encryption available within a cloud service will protect your data from outside parties, but the cloud service provider will still have access to your encryption keys. Some cloud vendors create barriers if clients want to switch to their competitors. For instance, the high cost and security challenges come with changing from one service to another. Ensure their termination policies are geared towards client feasibility and interests. Evaluating the vendor’s exit strategy also helps you ensure that you can easily retrieve your data in case of termination or contract expiry.