Cloud Data Protection

Cloud data storage has undoubtedly had a huge positive impact, whatever industry you’re in. It’s more cost effective, it makes your data far more accessible than physical servers, and it gives you so much more scalability and flexibility.

But the elephant in the room has always been how safe your data actually is in the cloud, and what can you do to improve it?

The good news is that if you do things the right way, cloud storage is often more secure than traditional storage methods. You just need to understand what cloud data protection is, so you can implement the right measures for your business and infrastructure. 

In this article, we’re going to help you do just that. We’re going to walk you through the key challenges in cloud data protection, the different types of cloud data protection, best practices, and guide you through creating your cloud data protection strategy.

Before we get to that, though, first we need to be on the same page with what we mean by ‘cloud data protection’.

Cloud data protection is the practice of safeguarding sensitive information stored in cloud environments. Focusing on both data at rest and data in transit, it protects the data from unauthorized access, data breaches, and other threats. It’s a combination of techniques and technology to help safeguard the data wherever it is in the lifecycles. 

This has never been more important than it is now, as organizations are generating unprecedented amounts of data through LLMs and AI tools. 

Why is cloud data protection important?

In the simplest terms possible, cloud data protection is important because that’s where the data is. Not only are companies storing more and more of their sensitive data in the cloud, but they’re also using more and more SaaS applications.

This makes the attack surface massive, so you need to be doing everything you can do to protect your data.

If you don't, the repercussions can be devastating. The average cost of a data breach reached $4.45 million in 2023, and that doesn’t even factor in the reputational damage to your company, the operational disruption, or the legal issues you could face.

Key challenges in cloud data protection

Lack of visibility

One of the biggest challenges in protecting your cloud data is that your data is spread across multiple providers, apps, and environments. This makes it hard to keep tabs on what's stored where, and whether it’s safe. These blind spots in your observability need to be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise you can be vulnerable to attacks, without knowing it.

Data loss prevention

Another big challenge is making sure none of your data can be lost or exposed across the different platforms. This is harder the more platforms you use, as it increases the risk of unintentional data exposure from misconfigurations or shadow IT. It can also be hard to maintain consistent data protection across the different platforms, and you need to have strong encryption anytime data is being stored and transferred.

Shared responsibility models

Your cloud data protection isn’t just your responsibility — it’s a responsibility you share with the cloud service provider. But putting a framework in place defining responsibilities between you and the provider can be a challenge in its own right. Again, this problem is made even harder the more providers you have, as the complexity creeps up.

Inconsistent security measures

You might be seeing a theme here, but having multiple cloud service providers also means disparate security policies and configurations. You’ve got to find a way to maintain security standards consistently across the multi-cloud environments. This includes consistent monitoring and a unified security framework.

Compliance complexities

The final big challenge you’ll face is adhering to different regulatory requirements. Depending on where you, your data, and your customers are based, you can fall under various regulations including GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. And if you do, that means ensuring compliance across all the different cloud platforms and services you use. This includes cross-border data flows, and a need for consistent security controls and audit trails across the environments.

Types of cloud data protection

Encryption

One of the most common and oldest types of data protection, encryption protects data both at rest and in transit by converting it into ‘ciphertext’. This is an unreadable, scrambled version of the original data that appears random and meaningless. And only someone with the correct decryption key can convert the data back into its original, readable form. This means that if the wrong person gets hold of the data, they won’t be able to decipher what it actually is.

There are different encryption standards, but the most common are symmetric and asymmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption (e.g. AES) is better for faster processing of larger datasets, whereas asymmetric encryption (e.g. RSA) provides enhanced security.

Access management and authentication

Access management and authentication is all about controlling who has access to what data. This is normally by using Identify and Access Management (IAM) tools to control the data access. These tools make it possible to control access at a more granular level, based on user roles and responsibilities. Other key parts of this protection include using and enforcing multi-factor authentication, and applying the principle of least privilege to minimize risks.  

Data backup and recovery

 Whatever happens, you want to be confident that you never lose access to your data. This is why data backups and recovery are so vital to cloud data protection — they ensure business continuity by saving regular, automated backups. This often comes in the form of geographically dispersed backup storage which makes it possible for rapid data restoration to minimize downtime during incidents.

This might be something your cloud provider does for you, or something you have to organize yourself, so it’s important to check so you’re confident your data isn’t at risk.

Data masking and tokenization

You can’t treat all data the same — this is especially the case when you’re handing Personally identifiable information (PII). This data needs to be protected, and data masking and tokenization is how you do just that. Data masking replaces sensitive information with realistic (but fake) data, whereas tokenization substitutes sensitive data with non-sensitive placeholders (known as ‘tokens’). Both of these methods preserve the data form and integrity while also protecting the sensitive data. This is especially useful when carrying out data analysis, or testing without exposing the PII or other sensitive data.

How to create a cloud data protection strategy

Identify and classify data

The first part of creating a sound cloud data protection strategy is understanding what data you have, and where it’s stored. To do this you need to identify and classify any and all data stored in a cloud server or with a cloud SaaS. This is essential for understanding what data needs protection and its sensitivity level.

Here’s an example of what this process might look like:

1. Define classification levels (e.g., public, internal, confidential, restricted)
2. Conduct a data inventory across cloud environments
3. Develop a classification schema with categories and criteria
4. Use automated tools to scan and analyze data
5. Implement manual classification for sensitive or complex data
6. Apply labels and tags to categorized data
7. Establish security controls for each classification level
8. Regularly review and update classifications

This step makes it possible to prioritize your security plans and allocate resources appropriately. It also helps you to stay compliant with regulations, as you’ll have a clear idea of where regulated data types are being stored.

Implement access controls

Once you have a clear picture of the different classifications of data you have and where it’s being stored, the next step is to make sure only the right people can access the right information. This will reduce the risk of data breaches and unauthorized data exposure. This also supposed the principle of least privilege, which will minimize the potential damage from compromised accounts. 

Your access controls will depend heavily on the platforms you use, but here are some of the key considerations:

• Define clear roles and permissions
• Implement multi-factor authentication
• Configure granular access controls
• Establish comprehensive authentication and authorization policies 
• Continuously update access management strategies

Monitor and audit regularly

The first two steps of your cloud data protection strategy are focused on knowing where the data is, and restricting who can access it. But you also need to be proactively checking for breaches, security flaws, and anything else you need to worry about. This is where monitoring and auditing both play a huge part in your strategy.

Monitoring allows for early detection of potential security threats or anomalies, so as soon as something happens, you can be on it straight away. And auditing prevents you from letting gaps start to emerge across your cloud data security. Both will also provide insights into user behaviour that could help you identify something before it becomes a problem.

Choose the right tools

The final key part of your cloud data protection strategy is choosing the right tools for your infrastructure and storage providers. The key is to find the right cocktail of tools to give you comprehensive data protection, including encryption and threat detection.

Here’s a summary of the common types of tools used for cloud data protection:

• Data Security Posture Management (DSPM): These tools focus on protecting sensitive data stored in the cloud by identifying, classifying, and securing it.
• Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM): These tools automate the identification and remediation of risks across cloud infrastructures, providing continuous monitoring and compliance checks.
• Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP): CWPP solutions focus on securing workloads across diverse cloud environments, protecting both host and containerized applications against threats.
• Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM): CIEM tools manage access entitlements and permissions in cloud environments, helping to enforce the principle of least privilege.
• Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP): These platforms combine the functionalities of CSPM and CWPP to provide comprehensive protection for cloud-native applications.
• Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB): CASB tools act as intermediaries between users and cloud services, enforcing security policies and monitoring user activities.
• Cloud Detection and Response (CDR): CDR solutions specialize in detecting and responding to threats within cloud environments, leveraging advanced analytics and threat intelligence.

This list might feel a bit overwhelming, but a lot of security tools actually cover more than one of these categories. So you just need to compare the features of the tools available, and pick a selection that covers all of these functions.

Best practices for cloud data protection

No strategy or approach are going to be the perfect fit for everyone. Every company is different, and so is their cloud data environment. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any best practices that will apply to everyone:

• Take a comprehensive inventory of data stored in the cloud: I know we’ve already covered this, but this is a reminder that you must identify and catalog all the data types across your cloud environments. This will help you understand what needs protection and prioritize sensitive information.
• Leverage automation to classify data based on sensitivity and compliance: Automated tools make it so much easier to efficiently categorize data. This also makes compliance with regulations and identifying sensitive information a much simpler process.
• Apply the principle of least privilege (PoLP): Restrict access and permissions to only what is necessary for users to perform their tasks, minimizing the risk of unauthorized access and potential data breaches.
• Regularly review and update access controls: Things change, so you need to continuously monitor user access rights and adjust permissions as needed. The focus should be to pick up on changes in roles or responsibilities, ensuring continued adherence to security policies.

How Cyera supports cloud data protection

Designed from the ground up to help you protect your data, Cyera includes tools and features to help you at every stage of your cloud data protection journey.

Discover - Cyera automates data discovery and classification across your cloud environments, making sure you have proper labeling for sensitive categories such as PII and financial data. This enhances your data visibility and compliance, as well as give you confidence in knowing where your data is.

Protect - The platform also provides real-time encryption and access management tools that help you to secure your sensitive data. This includes applying appropriate de-identification methods to meet regulations like GDPR.

Comply - Cyera integrates compliance monitoring and reporting features that flag potential data privacy risks and ensure adherence to global regulatory requirements. This means you can rest easy knowing you’re compliant. 

Respond - With advanced threat detection capabilities, Cyera enables rapid incident response by identifying exposures and applying necessary security controls to mitigate risks across all of your environments.

Need help securing your cloud data? Book your free demo to see how Cyera can help you to implement your cloud data protection strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cloud Data Protection

What is the difference between cloud data protection and security?

Cloud data protection focuses specifically on safeguarding the data stored in cloud environments, while cloud security encompasses a broader set of measures, including protecting the entire cloud infrastructure, applications, and networks in addition to the data itself

How does encryption work for cloud data?

Encryption transforms data into unreadable ‘ciphertext’ using cryptographic algorithms. This protects the data during transmission and storage, with only authorized users able to convert it back to its original, readable form

What are the main challenges of cloud data protection?

The main challenges of cloud data protection are lack of visibility, data loss prevention, shared responsibility models, inconsistent security measures, and compliance complexities. 

Why is compliance essential for cloud data security?

Compliance is essential for cloud data security because it forces organizations to adhere to regulatory standards, implement robust security measures, and maintain customer trust while protecting sensitive information from breaches and unauthorized access.

How can Cyera help organizations protect their cloud data?

Cyera helps organizations protect their cloud data by providing an AI-powered platform that discovers, classifies, and contextualizes sensitive data across cloud environments. This enables continuous visibility, risk detection, and automated remediation of security issues

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