Cloud computing is a game-changer technology that has transformed how organizations store data and run applications by providing on-demand access to shared computing resources over the internet.

However, along with the many benefits of the cloud come new infrastructure security risks that must be addressed before things go out of control.

After all, critical business data and workloads are being shifted to the cloud, so ensuring their confidentiality, integrity, and availability is more important than ever.

Cloud infrastructure is the essential component that most cloud services need to enable the on-demand provisioning of computer resources.

It refers to the servers, storage, networking hardware, and virtualization layers that make up a public, private, or hybrid cloud.

However, securing the infrastructure in a cloud environment comes with unique challenges compared to traditional on-premises infrastructure.

Public cloud infrastructure, in particular, poses higher risks as resources are accessed over the public internet and housed in shared data centers along with other customer tenants.

Threat actors are increasingly targeting public cloud infrastructure to exploit common misconfigurations and gain access for malicious purposes.

On the other hand, private and hybrid cloud infrastructures allow for greater control but still require hardened configurations and layered defenses to protect against leaks, outages, and attacks.

This article provides an overview of infrastructure security considerations for the cloud and best practices to secure cloud-based networks and infrastructure.

Importance of Infrastructure Security in Cloud Computing

Cloud infrastructure security is the concrete base on which all other information security practices are built on top of. It establishes baseline protections for the full range of cloud workloads.

The importance of infrastructure security in cloud computing emerges from the following aspects:  

Protects Confidentiality of Data

Cybersecurity engineers often work on preventing unauthorized access to sensitive customer data stored and processed in the cloud. This surely maintains legal and regulatory compliance.

Preserves Integrity of Services

Hardened cloud infrastructure protects against tampering, outages, and disruption that can impact service availability and data accuracy.

Enables Governance & Control

Locking down infrastructure configurations and monitoring for misuse improves visibility and makes the environment more auditable and governable.

Safeguards Entire Supply Chain

Strengthening infrastructure enhances security across the entire cloud supply chain, including apps, services, APIs, and more that rely on it.

Key Components of Infrastructure Security in Cloud Computing

In the cloud computing landscape, the security of infrastructure is and will always be of great significance to safeguarding sensitive data and maintaining operational integrity.

The key components that constitute the foundation of infrastructure security in cloud environments include:

Network Security

• Firewalls and gateways: Establishing a robust perimeter defense is nothing short of essential. Firewalls and gateways monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic, serving as the first line of defense against unauthorized access.
• Segmentation: Dividing the network into segments enhances security by containing potential breaches. This ensures that even if one segment is compromised, the damage is limited and cannot easily spread across the entire infrastructure.
• Access controls and intrusion detection: Implementing stringent access controls and intrusion detection mechanisms further strengthens the network’s defenses. These measures help identify and respond to potential threats in real time.

Computer Security

• Hardening virtual machine images: Strengthening the security posture of virtual machines involves removing unnecessary components, disabling unnecessary services, and applying security configurations to reduce vulnerabilities.
• Lateral movement restrictions: Controlling lateral movement between virtual machines mitigates the risk of lateral spread of threats. This containment strategy prevents attackers from easily navigating across the cloud environment.
• Microsegmentation: Implementing microsegmentation enhances security by dividing the network into small, isolated segments, restricting communication between workloads, and limiting the potential impact of a security breach.

Storage Security

• Encryption: Safeguarding data at rest can be achieved through robust encryption. Encrypting stored data ensures that even if unauthorized access occurs, the information remains unreadable and protected.
• identity and access controls: Rigorous identity and access controls ensure that only authorized entities can access sensitive data stored in the cloud. This adds an extra layer of protection against unauthorized data access.

Identity and Access Management

• Role-based access controls (RBAC): Implementing RBAC ensures that individuals have the minimum necessary access rights for their roles, limiting the potential impact of a security breach.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO): Enhancing authentication mechanisms with MFA and SSO adds an extra layer of security, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and credential compromise.

Vulnerability Management

• Regular scanning: Conducting regular vulnerability scans identifies potential software flaws and weaknesses in the infrastructure. Proactive scanning is crucial for staying ahead of emerging threats.
• Prompt patching: Rapidly addressing identified vulnerabilities through timely patching is imperative. This practice ensures that the cloud environment remains resilient to known weaknesses.

Best Practices for Securing Cloud Networks

Some of the recommended practices to secure cloud networks and make cloud infrastructure security manageable include:

• Implement zero-trust model: Verify every user and device trying to access cloud resources to prevent lateral movement after breaches.
• Use cloud-native controls: Leverage the security tools offered natively by cloud platforms instead of just lifting and shifting on-prem controls.
• Automate security processes: Scripting manual processes like hardening images and configuring firewalls makes security more reliable and scalable.
• Architect for security: Design infrastructure such that components have the least privilege and are isolated, compartmentalized, and easily auditable.
• Continuously monitor: Log, monitor, and analyze user activity, API calls, configs, and network traffic to identify threats, especially in cases of complete IT infrastructure outsourcing. 

Emerging Trends in Cloud Infrastructure Security

Experts are speculating about new emerging trends in the field of cloud security, such as:

• Confidential computing: Encrypts data in use while being processed to increase data security even from the cloud provider.
• Cloud-native data loss prevention: Scalable tools native to the cloud that accurately detect and prevent unauthorized movement of sensitive data.
• Infrastructure entitlement management: Granular visibility into who has access to manage cloud infrastructure configurations for governance.
• Automated remediation: Tools that can automatically fix misconfigured resources based on policy to proactively improve security posture.
• Risk-adaptive access controls: Security policies that adaptively step up identity and resource access controls based on signals like user behavior, vulnerabilities, and threats.

Final Thought

Organizations clearly benefit in many ways by moving their systems and data to the cloud, but they must also elevate infrastructure security to confidently harness the potential of cloud computing.

The shared responsibility model means customers have to take ownership of securing cloud workloads. Fortunately, between maturing cloud security posture management tools and best practices around zero trust, automation, and cloud-native controls, infrastructure security can become a core competency.

The ability to implement layered controls for visibility, identity management, hardening images, and managing vulnerabilities ultimately enables resilient, secure, and compliant cloud adoption.

Denarjes is one of the leading providers of cloud services to businesses of all sizes. You can help you harness the power of cloud services securely and more effectively. You can contact us directly to explore our services.

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