As organizations increasingly embrace cloud computing, they unlock new efficiency, scalability, and innovation levels. However, migrating mission-critical systems and sensitive data to public, private, and hybrid cloud environments also opens companies up to new and complex cybersecurity risks that must be diligently addressed. To help secure valuable cloud resources and workloads against the growing threat landscape, building a robust cybersecurity team with cloud expertise should be a top strategic priority.Â
This guide takes an in-depth look at some of the most pressing cybersecurity challenges organizations face as they move to the cloud and how targeted recruiting and hiring initiatives can help implement layered defenses to reduce risk before any varmints ride off with your data. We’ll examine key cloud security threat vectors such as data breaches, access control gaps, DDoS attacks, compliance shortfalls, and the specialized skills modern IT security teams need to protect against them.
Ensuring secure authentication and access controls in the cloud
As more sensitive data is aggregated in cloud servers, organizations must minimize the risk of damaging data breaches and leakage that can rain on your parade. Cloud-savvy security engineers are indispensable for deploying robust controls, including identity and access management, network segmentation, data encryption, vulnerability scanning, log analysis, and more to stop cyber criminals from robbing your data bank.Â
When recruiting, look for proven experience architecting layered on-prem and cloud security controls and success investigating and responding to real-world cloud breach attempts via threat vectors like malicious insiders, misconfigurations, insecure APIs, and credential theft. Ask about specific tools and techniques they’ve implemented for securing sensitive cloud data repositories, workloads, and applications based on risk profiles to avoid any ugly dust-ups down the line.
Addressing shared responsibility for security between cloud providers and users
To keep sneaky varmints and cyber criminals out of your systems, stringent cloud access controls are non-negotiable. Leading engineering candidates will demonstrate hands-on experience with core protocols like SAML, OAuth, and SCIM, along with authorization tools such as ACLs, attributive-based access control (ABAC), and role-based access control (RBAC) to stop any data heists.Â
A track record deploying key controls like contextual multifactor and single sign-on authentication, access reviews, network micro-segmentation, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), and identity federation can help thwart unauthorized access before things get ugly.
Mitigating the impact of DDoS attacks on cloud services
With infrastructure offsite, cloud security requires clear vendor oversight based on shared responsibility models and RACI matrices so you know who to call if trouble rides into town. The ideal candidate has experience optimizing coordination between internal IT/security teams and external vendors to monitor, patch, and secure distributed cloud environments. They should be well-versed in contracts and compliance planning to ensure both parties continuously meet their security obligations across the cloud supply chain.
As cloud services expand, so have sophisticated attack vectors like DDoS, ransomware, and supply chain attacks. Look for technically adept security leaders with experience combatting these threats using sinkholing, traffic scrubbing, attack surface reduction, deception technology, micro-segmentation, and automated response measures. A history of using threat intelligence to assess and mitigate cloud risk is also beneficial.
Compliance considerations when storing sensitive data in the cloud
From PCI DSS to HIPAA and GDPR, compliance is exponentially more complicated in the cloud. Security leaders should have working knowledge of data sovereignty, residency, and encryption mandates across global jurisdictions to avoid headaches.
During an interview, ask about their experience continuously monitoring and aligning complex cloud environments with frequently evolving legal obligations related to data security, privacy, and governance across many countries so you don’t end up in the data penitentiary. Savvy professionals will be skilled at continuously assessing for compliance gaps and reducing cloud compliance risks.
Are You Ready to Confidently Secure Your Future in the Cloud?
Implementing advanced security measures and clearly defining shared responsibilities are essential for maintaining strong cyber defenses in cloud environments. At MRINetwork, we can connect you to cloud-savvy security leaders with the technical skills and business acumen to address your unique needs. Want to learn more? Visit our website to explore how we can help you adapt to the cloud.