Cloud Security is the practice of protecting data, applications, and infrastructure used in cloud computing. What is the cloud? To put it simply – its just somebody else’s computer, network, storage, or some other resource that they are letting you rent or lease.
For example lets look at Amazon Web Services (AWS) – they have data centers all over the world and they provide access to those data centers for a cost. If you need cheap reliable storage without the pain of learning how to build redundant systems, they have “S3” where you can store your data for as long as you want. If you need a computer that you can access anywhere in the world and you don’t want to set that up yourself – just buy an EC2 (Elastic Compute) instance and you can have any type of computer you need instantly. Need it for a few minutes? Great! Amazon can charge by the minute. Want something longer term? Thats okay too, they can bill you monthly for dedicated resources.
All in all – the “Cloud” is just somebody else’s resource that you are borrowing for a set amount of time. That is what makes securing your use of it all the more important.
The main goal of Cloud Security is to ensure that data is kept safe and confidential. Cloud Security covers a broad range of topics, but good starter topics are:
- Data Encryption – Converting data into code (aka encoding) your data to ensure only those who should have access can see it.
- Identity and Access Management (IAM) – Making sure that only those authorized have access to your cloud tools.
- Compliance and Configuration Management – Making sure that people are using only the tools you permit, in the manner you permit them. This is important for both security AND keeping cloud costs low.
- Threat Detection – Constant monitoring of your cloud resources for suspicious events or misuse.
Understanding Cloud Security is important because in today’s world – this is where the bulk of our personal and corporate sensitive information is stored.
