Simple measures to add more security to your Cloud

The approach to be taken to secure your cloud has to be decided upon how mission critical the application is and the extent of data security needed for the application. Two of the general ways adopted are site-to-site VPN terminations and setting up additional security layers such as CloudSpan. Then again each one of them comes with its own pros and cons with respect to the cost, performance, complexity and latency overheads etc.

Here are some ways to strengthen public cloud security to support enterprise usage.

Right apps for the public cloud

There are many start-up firms that begin by using the public cloud for all their application needs that even includes mission-critical applications and their data, which isn’t secure in anyway. Basically, the enterprise applications meant for the public cloud are not subject to strict security policies. For cases such as websites, application development, testing, online product catalogs and product documentation the default security provided by most cloud service providers (CSPs) is more than adequate.

Add security after evaluation, if needed

The CSPs provide varied levels of security for the public cloud. It should be considered while evaluating CSPs.

Organisations considering shifting sensitive applications and data to the public cloud may need to evaluate and compare different CSPs based on The ISO/IEC 27000 series of standards. If needed the security policies applied for the private cloud may need to be extended to cover the public cloud instances. Some security providers let enforcing the same standard of information and application security policies on private and public instances.

Using the right third-party auditing services

Organisations need not simply take the CSP’s word when comes to security compliance. A third-party can audit the actual application of security standards, the processes and procedures of a CSP and compare them to the ones promised to the client.

For example the SAS 70 Type II standards specify that such audits last for a minimum period of six months but could last even longer. Such audits can give an organisation the comfort level needed to move more sensitive applications and data to the cloud confidently.

Adding more authentication layers

Most of the CSPs provide good authentication services for public cloud instances, but there are products that can help add an additional layer of authentication. And yes, now you need to weigh the benefits of security against possible performance degradation, increased network latency and additional points of failure.

How is additional security going to affect integration?

Remember the default security setting by the CSPs is already robust. Adding additional measures on the top of it may affect the overall application performance. It might complicate your identity and access management efforts. All these become more crucial if you are working with mission-critical application that needs to integrate with other business applications-end users, who will not be pleased if the application is not available when they need.

Security should be put at the forefront of your SLA

Public cloud security guarantees with CSPs are no good unless they are specified as SLAs in your contract. Additionally unless transparent monitoring and reporting functions are available to the customer, the contract itself may be of no use.