What Is Cloud Infrastructure Security?

Cloud infrastructure comprises all the components needed to enable cloud computing — data centers, networks, software, and hardware like servers and storage devices. Cloud infrastructure security protects these components with security strategies, best practices, security tools, and technologies designed to defend cloud environments from unauthorized access, data breaches, and other cyberthreats.

The objective of cloud infrastructure security is to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of resources in cloud environments. In doing so, cloud security solutions help organizations improve agility and ensure business continuity.

Cloud infrastructure security solutions deploy multiple levels of defenses that include:

• Protection of physical data centers in hardware
• Securing virtualization layers and hypervisors
• Safeguarding cloud storage systems
• Implementing network security measures for cloud networks
• Ensuring security for APIs and cloud management interfaces
• Protecting endpoints and end users with secure access mechanisms

Cloud infrastructure faces a broad array of security threats that continue to evolve with every advance in technology. Threats to cloud security can originate as cyberattacks by external actors, or as insider threats from malicious or negligent individuals. Cyberattacks on cloud environments typically seek to exploit flaws and vulnerabilities in the various components of a cloud ecosystem.

Some of the most common threats to cloud infrastructure include:

• Data breaches: Unauthorized access to sensitive data, often resulting from weak security controls, can lead to significant financial and reputational damage for organizations when hackers leak it, sell it on the dark web, or use it to launch additional attacks. These breaches expose personal information, intellectual property, and other critical data to malicious actors.
• Malware and ransomware: Malicious software infiltrates cloud systems to disrupt operations or cause potential data loss or corruption. Ransomware specifically encrypts data ‌and allows attackers to demand a ransom for its release, often crippling organizations for days or weeks.
• DDoS attacks: Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks overwhelm cloud resources with excessive traffic, rendering services unavailable to legitimate users. These attacks can result in extended downtime and loss of business continuity.
• Misconfiguration: When IT teams incorrectly set up cloud resources, it creates vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers, effectively leaving the door wide open to data breaches and unauthorized access. Common misconfigurations include exposed storage buckets and inadequate security group settings.
• Unauthorized access: Weak authentication and access control mechanisms allow unauthorized users to gain entry to cloud resources, leading to data theft or manipulation. This often results from poor password policies or lack of multi-factor authentication.
• Insider threats: Employees or contractors with access to cloud data can intentionally or unintentionally compromise security. Insider threats can be particularly challenging to detect and prevent due to the trusted nature of these individuals.
• Cyberattacks: Cloud infrastructure is also subject to a wide range of malicious activities aimed at exploiting vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructure. These attacks can include phishing, exploitation of software vulnerabilities, and social engineering.
• Account hijacking and credential theft: Attackers gain control of user accounts by stealing login credentials, often through phishing or exploiting weak passwords. This allows them to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data and cloud resources.
• Supply chain attacks: To infiltrate a company’s cloud environment, attackers may exploit weaker security postures of providers within a supply chain, often targeting poorly protected services and software components. This can lead to widespread and difficult-to-detect breaches.
• Advanced persistent threats (APTs): These are highly sophisticated, long-term attacks where cybercriminals establish a foothold in a cloud environment to steal data or cause disruption over an extended period. APTs typically involve a combination of techniques, including social engineering, malware, and exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities.

A cloud infrastructure security program encompasses multiple layers of solutions and various technologies that work together to create a comprehensive cloud security posture. These components each protect different aspects of cloud security, from securing physical hardware to managing user access.

• Identity and access management (IAM): IAM uses authentication and authorization mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can access cloud resources. Multi-factor authentication and role-based access control are effective solutions for verifying identities and managing permissions.
• Network security: Network security solutions protect the cloud platform from cyberthreats through the use of firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS), and help to secure communication protocols. These measures monitor network traffic for suspicious activities and prevent attackers from gaining unauthorized access.
• Data protection: Data protection involves encryption, data masking, and other techniques to safeguard sensitive information both at rest and in transit. These methods ensure that data remains confidential and secure from unauthorized access or breaches.
• Security monitoring and incident response: To detect and respond to security incidents swiftly, security monitoring and incident response solutions provide real-time surveillance of cloud environments. Automated incident response tools help mitigate threats by taking immediate action to contain and resolve issues.
• Compliance and governance: Technologies for compliance and governance make sure that cloud operations adhere to regulatory requirements and internal security policies. Regular audits, reporting, and security controls help organizations to meet legal and industry standards.
• Endpoint security: Endpoint security protects devices that access the cloud from malware, phishing, and other threats. Antivirus software, endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, and secure configuration best practices help maintain device integrity.
• Disaster recovery and business continuity: Robust strategies and technologies for disaster recovery and business continuity ensure data can be recovered and operations can continue smoothly after a security incident. These strategies include regular data backups, failover systems, and comprehensive recovery plans to minimize downtime and data loss.
• Security tools and solutions: Security teams rely on various software and hardware designed to monitor, detect, and protect cloud infrastructure from threats. These include SIEM systems, vulnerability scanners, and automated security management platforms.
• Segmentation: Segmentation and microsegmentation techniques divide a cloud network into isolated segments and protect each with granular security controls. By separating critical systems and data, segmentation reduces the attack surface, minimizes the impact of security incidents, and prevents lateral movement of attackers within the network.
• Cloud native security solutions for containerized environments: Cloud native security solutions are specifically designed to protect containers and microservices from vulnerabilities and threats. These include tools for container scanning, runtime protection, and automated security policies to maintain the integrity of containerized applications.
• Virtualization security for hypervisors and virtual machines (VMs): Security teams help to secure the hypervisor layer by implementing measures like VM isolation, secure configuration, and monitoring for suspicious activity within the virtualized environment.

Specific strategies for cloud infrastructure security vary for each type of cloud, based on the specifics of their architecture and the amount of control that organizations have over infrastructure.

• Public cloud: Many organizations rely on multicloud environments, using software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offerings from public cloud services like Akamai, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. These cloud service providers (CSPs) are responsible for securing the underlying infrastructure and operating systems. Consequently, organizations must rely on the providers’ security measures and compliance certifications, while cybersecurity teams focus on proper configuration and access management, while leveraging cloud native security tools provided by the platform.
• Private cloud: Organizations have far greater control over cloud infrastructure security in private clouds, which are typically housed on-premises or in dedicated facilities. Private cloud infrastructure enables teams to customize security controls and policies. Since in-house IT teams have responsibility for all aspects of security, private clouds typically require more extensive in-house security expertise.
• Hybrid cloud: Because hybrid clouds combine elements of both public and private cloud infrastructure, organizations need a comprehensive security strategy that addresses both on-premises and cloud based resources. Security policies must be enforced consistently across environments, emphasizing identity management and access control across platforms.

To implement security solutions that enhance data security, increase business continuity, and provide greater visibility over cloud resources, IT teams can adhere to several security best practices:

• Adopt a Zero Trust model: A Zero Trust approach assumes that threats exist both inside and outside the network, and requires entities to be authenticated and authorized on every request for access.
• Implement strong access controls: Restricting access based on the principle of least privilege — where entities are granted the absolute minimum level of permission needed to perform a function — helps prevent attackers from gaining unauthorized access and users from accidentally exceeding their privileges.
• Use multi-factor authentication (MFA): Requiring users to provide more than one form of identification helps to significantly reduce unauthorized access.
• Regularly update and patch systems: Adopting an optimal cadence for patching and updating systems helps to protect against known vulnerabilities.
• Conduct regular security assessments: Identify and address vulnerabilities through regular audits and penetration testing.
• Educate employees: Train staff on best practices for security hygiene and on the ways to spot the signs of cyberattacks like phishing.
• Leverage automation: Automate security processes to reduce human error and increase efficiency.
• Use cloud native security solutions: These are designed specifically for cloud computing environments, offering better integration and effectiveness.