Cloud Security For Dummies

Embrace the cloud and kick hackers to the curb with this accessible guide on cloud security 

Cloud technology has changed the way we approach technology. It’s also given rise to a new set of security challenges caused by bad actors who seek to exploit vulnerabilities in a digital infrastructure. You can put the kibosh on these hackers and their dirty deeds by hardening the walls that protect your data. 

Using the practical techniques discussed in Cloud Security For Dummies, you’ll mitigate the risk of a data breach by building security into your network from the bottom-up. Learn how to set your security policies to balance ease-of-use and data protection and work with tools provided by vendors trusted around the world. 

This book offers step-by-step demonstrations of how to: 

• Establish effective security protocols for your cloud application, network, and infrastructure 
• Manage and use the security tools provided by different cloud vendors 
• Deliver security audits that reveal hidden flaws in your security setup and ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks 

As firms around the world continue to expand their use of cloud technology, the cloud is becoming a bigger and bigger part of our lives. You can help safeguard this critical component of modern IT architecture with the straightforward strategies and hands-on techniques discussed in this book.  

Ric Messier (metro Denver, CO) is an author, consultant, and educator who holds GCIH, GSEC, CEH, and CISSP certifications, and has published several books on information security and digital forensics. With decades of experience in information technology and information security, Ric has held the varied roles of programmer, system administrator, network engineer, security engineering manager, VoIP engineer, consultant, and professor. He is currently a Senior Information Security Consultant with FireEye Mandiant.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with Cloud Security 5

Chapter 1: Clouds Aren’t Bulletproof 7

Knowing Your Business 8

Discovering the company jewels 8

Initiating your plan 8

Automating the discovery process 8

Knowing Your SLA Agreements with Service Providers 10

Where is the security? 10

Knowing your part 11

Building Your Team 11

Finding the right people 12

Including stakeholders 12

Creating a Risk Management Plan 13

Identifying the risks 14

Assessing the consequences of disaster 15

Pointing fingers at the right people 15

Disaster planning 16

When Security Is Your Responsibility 17

Determining which assets to protect 17

Knowing your possible threat level 20

Van Gogh with it (paint a picture of your scenario) 21

Setting up a risk assessment database 22

Avoiding Security Work with the Help of the Cloud 24

Having someone else ensure physical security 25

Making sure providers have controls to separate customer data 25

Recognizing that cloud service providers can offer better security 25

Chapter 2: Getting Down to Business 27

Negotiating the Shared Responsibility Model 28

Coloring inside the lines 29

Learning what to expect from a data center 29

Taking responsibility for your 75 percent 31

SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, AaaA! 31

SaaS 31

SaaS security 32

PaaS 32

PaaS security 33

IaaS 33

IaaS security 34

FaaS 34

SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, FaaS responsibilities 34

Managing Your Environment 35

Restricting access 36

Assessing supply chain risk 36

Managing virtual devices 38

Application auditing 38

Managing Security for Devices Not Under Your Control 39

Inventorying devices 39

Using a CASB solution 40

Applying Security Patches 41

Looking Ahead 42

Chapter 3: Storing Data in the Cloud 43

Dealing with the Data Silo Dilemma 44

Cataloging Your Data 45

Selecting a data catalog software package 46

Three steps to building a data catalog 46

Controlling data access 47

Working with labels 49

Developing label-based security 50

Applying sensitivity levels 50

Assessing impact to critical functions 50

Working with Sample Classification Systems 51

Tokenizing Sensitive Data 54

Defining data tokens 54

Isolating your tokenization system 55

Accessing a token system 55

Segmenting Data 56

Anonymizing Data 56

Encrypting Data in Motion, in Use, and at Rest 58

Securing data in motion 59

Encrypting stored data 59

Protecting data in use by applications 60

Creating Data Access Security Levels 60

Controlling User Access 61

Restricting IP access 61

Limiting device access 62

Building the border wall and other geofencing techniques 63

Getting rid of stale data 64

Chapter 4: Developing Secure Software 65

Turbocharging Development 65

No more waterfalls 66

CI/CD: Continuous integration/continuous delivery 68

Shifting left and adding security in development 68

Tackling security sooner rather than later 69

Putting security controls in place first 70

Circling back 70

Implementing DevSecOps 71

Automating Testing during Development 71

Using static and dynamic code analysis 72

Taking steps in automation 73

Leveraging software composition analysis 74

Proving the job has been done right 76

Logging and monitoring 76

Ensuring data accountability, data assurance, and data dependability 77

Running Your Applications 78

Taking advantage of cloud agnostic integration 79

Recognizing the down sides of cloud agnostic development 80

Getting started down the cloud agnostic path 81

Like DevOps but for Data 82

Testing, 1-2-3 84

Is this thing working? 85

Working well with others 85

Baking in trust 85

DevSecOps for DataOps 86

Considering data security 87

Ending data siloes 88

Developing your data store 89

Meeting the Challenges of DataSecOps 90

Understanding That No Cloud Is Perfect 92

Chapter 5: Restricting Access 95

Determining the Level of Access Required 95

Catching flies with honey 96

Determining roles 97

Auditing user requirements 97

Understanding Least Privilege Policy 98

Granting just-in-time privileges 99

The need-to-know strategy 99

Granting access to trusted employees 99

Restricting access to contractors 100

Implementing Authentication 101

Multifactor authentication (Or, who’s calling me now?) 101

Authenticating with API keys 102

Using Firebase authentication 102

Employing OAuth 103

Google and Facebook authentication methods 103

Introducing the Alphabet Soup of Compliance 104

Global compliance 104

Complying with PCI 105

Complying with GDPR 106

HIPAA compliance 107

Government compliance 109

Compliance in general 110

Maintaining Compliance and CSPM 110

Discovering and remediating threats with CSPM applications 112

Automating Compliance 113

Integrating with DevOps 113

Controlling Access to the Cloud 114

Using a cloud access security broker (CASB) 115

Middleware protection systems 117

Getting Certified 121

ISO 27001 Compliance 121

SOC 2 compliance 122

PCI certification 124

Part 2: Acceptance 125

Chapter 6: Managing Cloud Resources 127

Defending Your Cloud Resources from Attack 128

Living in a Virtual World 129

Moving to virtualization 130

Addressing VM security concerns 130

Using containers 131

Securing Cloud Resources with Patch Management 132

Patching VMs and containers 133

Implementing patch management 133

Keeping Your Cloud Assets Straight in Your Mind 134

Keeping Tabs with Logs 136

Using Google Cloud Management software 136

Using AWS log management 137

Using Azure log management 139

Working with third-party log management software 139

Logging containers 140

Building Your Own Defenses 141

Creating your development team 141

Using open-source security 142

Protecting your containers 143

Protecting your codebase 143

Chapter 7: The Role of AIOps in Cloud Security 145

Taking the AIOps Route 146

Detecting the problem 148

Using dynamic thresholds 149

Catching attacks early in the Cyber Kill chain 149

Prioritizing incidents 150

Assigning tasks 150

Diagnosing the root problem 151

Reducing time to MTTR 151

Spotting transitory problems 152

Digging into the past 152

Solving the problem 153

Achieving resolution 154

Automating security responses 154

Continually improving 155

Making Things Visible 155

Implementing resource discovery 155

Automating discovery 156

Managing Resources, CMDB-Style 157

Seeing potential impacts 157

Adding configuration items 158

Employing CSDM 158

Using AIOps 159

Gaining insights 159

Examining a wireless networking use case 159

Using Splunk to Manage Clouds 161

Observability 161

Alerts 162

Splunk and AIOps 163

Predictive analytics 163

Adaptive thresholding 163

Views of everything 164

Deep Dive in Splunk 164

Event Analytics in Splunk 164

Splunk On-Call 165

Phantom 166

Putting ServiceNow Through Its Paces 167

AIOps require an overhead view 167

React to problems 167

Gauge system health 168

Automation makes it all happen 169

Getting the Job Done with IT Service Management 170

How ITSM is different 170

Performance analytics 170

Changing Your Team 171

A (Not So Final) Word 172

Chapter 8: Implementing Zero Trust 173

Making the Shift from Perimeter Security 174

Examining the Foundations of Zero Trust Philosophy 175

Two-way authentication 175

Endpoint device management 176

End-to-end encryption 177

Policy based access 179

Accountability 181

Least privilege 182

Network access control and beyond 182

CSPM risk automation 184

Dealing with Zero Trust Challenges 185

Choose a roadmap 186

Take a simple, step-by-step approach 186

Keep in mind some challenges you face in implementing zero trust 190

Chapter 9: Dealing with Hybrid Cloud Environments 195

Public Clouds Make Pretty Sunsets 196

Controlling your environment 197

Optimizing for speed 197

Managing security 198

Private Clouds for Those Special Needs 199

Wrapping Your Mind around Hybrid Cloud Options 200

Hybrid storage solution 201

Tiered data storage 202

Gauging the Advantages of the Hybrid Cloud Setup 203

It’s scalable 203

The costs 203

You maintain control 203

The need for speed 204

Overcoming data silos 204

Compliance 206

Struggling with Hybrid Challenges 207

Handling a larger attack surface 207

Data leakage 207

Data transport times 208

Complexity 208

Risks to your service level agreements 208

Overcoming Hybrid Challenges 209

Asset management 209

SAM 210

HAM 211

IT asset management 211

Latency issues 212

On the Move: Migrating to a Hybrid Cloud 213

Data migration readiness 213

Making a plan 213

Picking the right cloud service 214

Using a migration calendar 215

Making it happen 215

Dealing with compatibility issues 215

Using a Package 216

HPE Hybrid Cloud Solution 216

Amazon Web Services 216

Microsoft Azure 217

Chapter 10: Data Loss and Disaster Recovery 219

Linking Email with Data Loss 220

Data loss from malware 221

The nefarious ransomware 222

Ransomware and the cloud 223

Crafting Data Loss Prevention Strategies 224

Backing up your data 226

Tiered backups 226

Minimizing Cloud Data Loss 229

Why Cloud DLP? 229

Cloud access security brokers 229

Recovering from Disaster 232

Recovery planning 232

Business continuity 232

RTO and RPO 233

Coming up with the recovery plan itself 233

Chaos Engineering 235

Practical chaos engineering 236

Listing what could go wrong 238

Seeing how bad it can get 239

Attaining resiliency 239

Part 3: Business as Usual 241

Chapter 11: Using Cloud Security Services 243

Customizing Your Data Protection 244

Validating Your Cloud 244

Multifactor authentication 245

One-time passwords 245

Managing file transfers 250

HSM: Hardware Security Modules for the Big Kids 251

Looking at HSM cryptography 252

Managing keys with an HSM 253

Building in tamper resistance 255

Using HSMs to manage your own keys 255

Meeting financial data security requirements with HSMs 256

DNSSEC 256

OpenDNSSEC 257

Evaluating HSM products 258

Looking at cloud HSMs 259

KMS: Key Management Services for Everyone Else 259

SSH compliance 260

The encryption-key lifecycle 262

Setting Up Crypto Service Gateways 263

Chapter 12: When Things Go Wrong 265

Finding Your Focus 265

Stealing Data 101 266

Landing, expanding, and exfiltrating 267

Offboarding employees 273

Preventing the Preventable and Managing Employee Security 276

Navigating Cloud Native Breaches 280

Minimizing employee error 281

Guarding against insider data thefts 283

Preventing employee data spillage 284

Cleaning up after the spill 285

Chapter 13: Security Frameworks 289

Looking at Common Frameworks 290

COBIT 290

SABSA 291

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Cyber Assessment Tool (CAT) 292

Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FEDRAMP) 292

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) 293

Payment Card Industry — Data Security Standard (PCI–DSS) 293

GLBA 293

SCF 294

DFARS 252.204-7012/ NIST 800-171 294

ISO/IEC 27000 Series 295

CIS Critical Security Controls 295

CIS Benchmarks 295

Common Criteria 296

FDA regulations on electronic records and signatures 296

ITIL 297

Introducing SASE Architecture 298

The sassy side of SASE 299

Sassy makeup 300

The Cloud Native Application Protection Platform 303

Working with CWPP 304

Managing with CSPM 305

NIST Risk Management Framework 305

Federal Information Security Modernization Act 306

Cybersecurity Strategy and Implementation Plan 307

Chapter 14: Security Consortiums 311

Doing the Right Thing 311

Membership in the Cloud Security Alliance 313

Company membership 314

Individual membership 315

Getting that Stamp of Approval 317

CCSK Certification 317

CISA: Certified Security Information Systems Auditor 317

CRISC: Certified Risk and Information Systems Control 318

CCAK: Certificate of Cloud Auditing Knowledge 318

Advanced Cloud Security Practitioner 318

GDPR Lead Auditor and Consultant 319

Information Security Alliances, Groups, and Consortiums 319

Words for the Road 321

Part 4: The Part of Tens 323

Chapter 15: Ten Steps to Better Cloud Security 325

Scoping Out the Dangers 326

Inspiring the Right People to Do the Right Thing 327

Keeping Configuration Management on the Straight and Narrow 328

Adopting AIOps 329

Getting on board with DataOps 330

Befriending Zero Trust 330

Keeping the Barn Door Closed 331

Complying with Compliance Mandates 332

Joining the Cloud Security Club 333

Preparing for the Future 333

Chapter 16: Cloud Security Solutions 335

Checkpoint CloudGuard 335

CloudPassage Halo 336

Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform 336

Symantec Cloud Workload Protection 336

Datadog Monitoring Software 337

Azure AD 338

Palo Alto Prisma 338

Fortinet Cloud Security 338

ServiceNow AIOps 339

Lacework 340

Index 341

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