Nine Hybrid Cloud Security Threats to Avoid
As adoption rates of hybrid cloud deployments increase, IT administrators should take care to avoid these security pitfalls.
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Analyst firm Gartner predicts that nearly half of enterprises will employ a hybrid cloud infrastructure by 2017. As adoption rates increase, IT administrators are realizing that managing security for a hybrid cloud deployment can be a tricky balance to strike.
Pulse Secure, a provider of secure access and mobile security solutions, says the problem is not with they hybrid/IT cloud solution in itself, but rather with the deployment and management of the technology. Click through for nine common security threats for hybrid cloud and how to mitigate them.
Network administrators will be incapable of preventing future breaches without conducting rigorous risk profiles of IT infrastructure and systems to pinpoint how and where any intrusions have occurred. To help safeguard against threats, administrators should ensure that risk prevention and assessment protocols are in place including IDS/IPS systems to scan for malicious traffic, active log monitoring and current software updates and the implementation of a reliable security information and event management (SIEM) system.
Most businesses regularly deal with multiple application programming interfaces (APIs) within the course of their data lifecycle. Unprotected API endpoints leave an opening for malicious attacks utilizing an authentication/authorization token or key to manipulate personal information and data, especially in enterprise mobility management and BYOD transmissions over unsecure connections. API keys should be handled just like encryption and code-signing keys, and administrators should always verify third-parties before releasing API keys.
Some database managers, in an effort to eliminate inefficiencies in the data center, go overboard when it comes to reducing redundancies. When redundant copies of data aren’t properly distributed across all data centers, risk is increased wherever data is gathered. Administrators should utilize multiple data centers, either from one or many public cloud providers or from a hybrid cloud in order to more evenly distribute data and mitigate risk.
Hybrid cloud administrators should define management policies, procedures and job responsibilities to eliminate ambiguity and ensure they’ve created the most secure environment possible. Establish clear rules governing cloud configuration and installation, access control for sensitive data or restricted applications and reporting guidelines. Identify and document what cross-platform tools are authorized, as well as the access controls and encryption standards are in place.
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks, in which a bad actor secretly interferes in supposedly direct communication between two users, render mutual authentication insufficient because the attacker impersonates endpoints. Mutual authentication should be a part of cryptographic protocols, to be sure, but solutions must go further to include a reliable VPN and proxy server, SSL/TLS encryption of all transmissions and Secure Shell (SSH) network tunnel protocols to send unencrypted traffic over a network.
DDoS attacks are high volume incursions maliciously distributed from multiple sources and generated at a central location to grind network service to a halt. DDoS attacks can be even more insidious than DoS attacks because the attack source can number in the thousands. Administrators should deploy a DDoS mitigation device that continuously processes all incoming and outgoing traffic and immediately scales when a multi-vector attack is detected.
Bob Duggan of greenBee Technologies urged other partners to remain in constant communication with customers. Moreover, he said they need to constantly listen to their clients.
“We are that sixth man on the bench supporting that IT team,” Duggan said. “You need to be in front of them constantly.”
DoS attacks in which network service is disrupted are on the rise. When it comes to cloud management APIs, DoS attacks often occur when enterprises send bad Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) or representational state transfer (REST) requests using HTTP to a web server. Ensure that a scalable flow analytic tool is in place to react to the incursion and redirect traffic to a mitigation device.
Administrators must have a clear plan of attack for managing tasks across multiple domains. To reduce risks, define if specialized tools are needed to manage your enterprise. For example, do you need cloud application migration tools for interoperability? Cloud monitoring tools for a virtualized environment? Cloud automation tools to maintain access and security that’s necessary for dynamic cloud provisioning and VM movement?
Administrators must have a clear plan of attack for managing tasks across multiple domains. To reduce risks, define if specialized tools are needed to manage your enterprise. For example, do you need cloud application migration tools for interoperability? Cloud monitoring tools for a virtualized environment? Cloud automation tools to maintain access and security that’s necessary for dynamic cloud provisioning and VM movement?
As adoption rates of hybrid cloud deployments increase, IT administrators should take care to avoid these security pitfalls.
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