Cloud Security Controls: Types, Challenges, and Best Practices

The 4 Types of Cloud Security Controls

These controls can be divided into 4 main types that combine to deliver end-to-end protection for cloud infrastructure, data, and applications.

Deterrent Controls

Cloud security controls that aim to stop hackers targeting your cloud infrastructure in the first place. These typically make hacking your system seem less attractive by highlighting the level of protections in place, the consequences should they be caught, and introducing potential barriers for insider threats.

Deterrent controls do not actively prevent, identify, or mitigate attacks. They act as an extra layer of protection, influencing the decision-making of would-be attackers to convince them to not target your organization.

Examples include:

• Making protections more visible.
• Warning banners.
• Background checks on employees with system access.
• Explaining your policies regarding prosecuting people deliberately gaining unauthorized access.

Preventive Controls

The protective measures in place to secure your cloud environment and stop hackers attempting to gain unauthorized access. Preventive controls prevent security incidents through a range of mechanisms or solutions, all of which work to reduce your attack surface and mitigate the risks associated with using cloud service providers and SaaS applications.

The goal is to stop unauthorized access to your data as it moves between user devices and applications or is stored on cloud servers. Preventative controls are critical to enable the confident use of cloud environments.

Examples include:

• Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems to protect data from unwanted access.
• Encrypting data both in transit and at rest such that access is limited to those with the proper keys.
• Cloud firewalls that filter traffic to prevent malware from entering your systems.
• Network segmentation or dividing your WAN into smaller subnetworks that limit access.

Detective Controls

If a threat gets past your preventative controls, it is the job of detective controls to identify and report it. Detective controls aim to understand the nature of the security incident, what the potential consequences are, and how best to respond in the quickest way possible to minimize these consequences.

Proper detective controls must continually monitor your cloud environment, checking for suspicious activities or patterns of behavior indicative of attack vectors. This requires that security teams have visibility across all cloud environments regardless of the cloud service provider or application.

Examples include:

• Security monitoring tools to detect and respond to threats.
• Intrusion detection software that identifies unauthorized access.
• Analyzing events in cloud software applications.

Corrective Controls

Once an attack is identified and reported, corrective controls respond by finding the best solution to recover from the incident. They work to limit the impact of an attack or data breach and return to normal operations as fast as possible.

Corrective controls are a critical aspect of cloud security. Given the increasing number of attacks, almost all businesses with significant cloud workloads will experience security incidents. Corrective controls ensure they do not lead to significant consequences, allowing you to recover from attacks and learn how to prevent future issues.

Examples include:

• Incident response plans that provide the best course of action depending on the threat.
• Data backups to data loss or ransomware attacks.
• Patch management programs to update affected software and remove new vulnerabilities.

Best Practices to Help Overcome These Challenges

Following best practices can help overcome the complex challenges associated with implementing cloud security controls. Listed below are four best practices to get you started implementing cloud security controls.

#1. Rely on Cloud Security Control Frameworks

There are a number of frameworks available from industry organizations and cloud service providers that can serve as a blueprint to follow during implementation. They offer a structured approach with guidelines, standards, and procedures to securing cloud infrastructure while ensuring compliance. Popular examples to research include MITRE ATT&CK, Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM), and The NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

#2. Unify Visibility

Implementing cloud security controls that provide centralized visibility, regardless of the complexity of your cloud environments, is vital to success. You need to be able to see and understand all of your cloud assets across fragmented networks and services. This ensures you can track suspicious activity and identify threats more efficiently.

#3. Automate Controls

Cloud security solutions enable automated capabilities to monitor activity and perform tasks without the need for direct human intervention. Automation is the key to real-time protection and quickly patching out vulnerabilities.

#4. Identify Proven Cloud Security Solutions

Cloud security solutions deliver the technology needed to ensure end-to-end protection for cloud environments. These tools each have different capabilities and ways of approaching cloud security controls. Organizations must review their requirements before researching the various solutions that match your needs.