By this point, your business is probably already using the cloud for some pretty critical things. You’re probably using Microsoft365 or Google Workspace for email, data storage and/or file sharing. You may also be using Box or Dropbox for storage and file sharing. You may be using some other service for these things as well.
You’ve already figured out that moving to the cloud offers many benefits.
But, moving to the cloud also introduces new cybersecurity challenges. In order to reasonably protect your business and client information you will need to address these challenges.
And I wish these things were a “one and done” or “set it and forget it” proposition. But they’re not. These new challenges must be regularly visited to ensure unintended change hasn’t crept in.
Let’s talk about some challenges that must be addressed.
The first challenge is that of misconfiguration, and this can be a major headache if not given good attention. You’ve got things like storage buckets, databases, access policies that can all be improperly configured and that can lead to your information being made available to the wrong people. You’ve got cloud secrets (ok, they call them secrets but you can think of them as passwords) that should be protected. If you are in a regulated industry, these misconfigurations can even lead to fines in addition to damage to your reputation.
There are several sources of information which point to “best practices” that can be used to help with configurations. Be sure to think about encryption and making sure that each user account can only access what is needed.
Another challenge is that of Identity and Access Management (IAM). That’s just a fancy way of saying that you need to ensure that users are known and are authorized to access only the required resources. This sounds simple but can quickly become complex. Effective IAM is critical to maintaining the security of your cloud environment.
SMBs should consider the following as part of the IAM configurations: Require multi-factor authentication for ALL users. Only give users access to the information and resources that are necessary. Simplify management by using cloud tools like Conditional Access Policies that is found in MS Azure. Set up policies to regularly monitor access logs – you can do this either manually or with tools from the cloud provider. And you should make sure that only current users have accounts in your cloud environment.
The last challenge to be mentioned here is that of training. Most people in the office can stumble around and get what they need. But everyone needs to understand that their actions can have a profound effect on the security of the company and client information.
Training programs are mandated by some regulatory and industry cybersecurity frameworks. Take advantage to build on these cybersecurity training programs with good user application training. Think of this as an example… MS Teams is a powerful program. Train users to use it in a way that works with your company requirements.
Wow! Who knew that being in the cloud could be so complex!
It’s a maze and SureDefense Strategies can help you navigate that maze.
