Cloud Security

Cloud Security

Cloud security protects cloud-based data, applications, and infrastructure. Security is the top concern for cloud adoption.

Shared Responsibility

Provider secures infrastructure (physical, hypervisor, network). Customer secures what runs on cloud (data, apps, IAM, OS). Split varies: IaaS (customer manages most) → PaaS → SaaS (provider manages most).

IAM

Users, groups, roles, policies. Least privilege principle. MFA adds security. SSO and federated identity centralise authentication.

Encryption

At rest (server-side encryption, KMS). In transit (TLS/SSL). Key management (AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault). Customer-managed keys provide more control.

Network Security

Security groups, network ACLs, WAF, DDoS protection (AWS Shield), VPN, private endpoints.

Compliance

SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR. Audit logs (CloudTrail, Azure Monitor) track all changes.

Best Practices

Enable MFA, encrypt all data, least privilege, enable logging, patch regularly, automated scanning, infrastructure as code, security reviews.

Summary

Cloud security requires shared responsibility understanding, strong IAM, encryption, network security, and compliance.