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“I think what we’re seeing now, when it comes to the Cloud and security, is a bit of a myth that the Cloud is less secure. I’ve heard this many times, but it does not seem to be true in real life,” David Linthicum, SVP of Cloud Technology Partners quoted.
A lot has been discussed about data security in the cloud. The primary reason behind this is the shared servers and storage among organizations in these domains. However, with time, biggies like Microsoft with Azure and Amazon with its AWS data storage services have improved various data protection policies. Despite this, there’s panic around cloud data protection. Here’s why:
What Causes the Fear Around Cloud Security?
Ownership of the Resources
When you have the on-premise infrastructure, you own the hardware and the datacenter. No one can access them but you and your teams. Hence, you are always alert or up-to-date about protection.
When your storage is on the cloud, you own minimal. Virtually you are separated by the partitions in the cloud, but physically you share the hardware. Ergo, you are like the tenant of a house that just has a shelter. The ownership still rests with the provider. Sometimes, you even share the roof with other tenants.
You get the drift.
Data Related Threats
In the cloud, you are unaware of who is sharing the server space and network bandwidth with you. Some of the sharers could have malevolent motives. A few of them could have a poor data strategy. What if one of these organizations is being investigated by the law? What if an ill-willed employee in the vendor’s team starts taking benefit?
In cases such as these, your data becomes vulnerable to exposure and unnecessary scrutiny.
Complex Regulations
With cyber threats rampant these days, your data has to follow many industry regulations and laws. Think of instances such as HIPPA and GDPR. Additionally, your data has to follow the local regulations of a region or country, as well.
Not that these are real threats to cloud security. But, the panic around the cloud creates many misconceptions. Let’s see some prevailing myths around cloud data security and how Amazon AWS solves them.
Common Cloud Security Myths and AWS Solutions
The Public Cloud Can Be Breached Easily
Just because you share space in the cloud with other firms doesn’t mean your security is at stake. It isn’t your Facebook wall in the public social media where anyone can write or read anything.
AWS owns datacenters in various regions around the globe. That helps you choose a region to store your data. AWS doesn’t replicate the data in any location out of your preferred regions. This also helps you abide by local laws like GDPR.
Also, although AWS or a 3rd party vendor manages your servers and network, you get to control your encryption. Using AWS Key Management Service (KMS), you can create and manage encryption keys. You can define usage policies and audit the same. AWS Cloud HSM is especially designed for the security of the hardware.
In specific scenarios, you can even extend your on-premise encryption system to the cloud.
All the Cloud Projects Need Same Security
No, they don’t.
Your cloud space’s security depends on the sensitivity of data. And its availability demands. Your test and development environment can be on the public cloud. If it is a live system, it may reside on the private cloud. And security for a production system is tight with no slack.
A government project with critical data would have a higher recovery rate with negligible loss as compared to your trial product development.
Your data sensitivity and availability demands run the design of your cloud infrastructure and security.
AWS bifurcates data into customer content and account information. Customer content is controlled and owned by you using various encryptions, storage options, and multi-factor authentication. Based on the sensitivity, you can decide your requirements. Rules to abide by the local laws can be infused in these options.
The Cloud Provider is the Supreme
While your vendor is responsible for creating a wall of security around your data, you keep the keys to get inside. Just like the tenant of a house with a tight agreement. Your house owner owns the walls and roof, but the key to enter is in your pocket.
AWS ensures the security of the cloud, and you take care of the security in the cloud.
You need to manage the passwords and 2-factor authentication. Your data is visible to only you because it is encrypted, and the decryption is your duty. Access provisioning to your users is your onus, too.
Your vendor is a guard to your cloud storage and network who sits outside the gate and looks after the perimeter. A lot of power rests with you.
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The above image explains well why Amazon could be a good option for your data security in the cloud.
Other Data Protection AWS Cloud Storage Offers
Backup and Archival
Backing up the data in tapes and legacy systems are outdated. The cloud protects your data from accidental deletion or overwriting using backup and archival. Scalability with cloud backup and archival are a boon for the data explosion every organization is seeing nowadays.
AWS offers 99.99% data durability with backups.
You get 3 copies of your data within your chosen region. This ensures retrieval in any unimaginable case of loss. Also, AWS offers automated and timely backup. So, you can relax on your weekends and don’t need to fret about scheduling the backups.
Many sectors like finance, public sector, and healthcare need to maintain data for a longer period. AWS offers a cost-effective archival system for this with high security. You can also comply with regulations like HIPAA, FedRAMP, and GDPR.
Moving back data from archival to production is also easy with AWS.
Disaster Recovery
The crashing of a complete datacenter due to a fire breakout or malicious virus outburst is not new. Sabotage, due to natural calamities like earthquakes or the effects of a pandemic can’t be ignored either.
Cloud systems provide resilience against such incidents.
With minimum data loss and quick recovery, AWS offers a robust disaster recovery system. AWS CloudEndure provides continuous replication ensuring minimal loss and faster recovery.
Content Disclosure
AWS protects customers’ data with the utmost care. Unless required by local law or governing regulation, Amazon never reveals your data to any authority. If unavoidable, Amazon abides by the contract to the possible clauses and discloses the content only after your consent.
Is Your Cloud Data Protected?
Whether you are running an IoT application or a digital marketing firm, if you own a CRM system or a healthcare app, your data tends to grow by leaps and bounds. Soon, you will look for scalability within the budget. That when you need the cloud for your business. This will be accompanied by data protection worries.
All said and done, we believe that Amazon Web Services is a great solution to keep your data secured. To discuss safeguarding your data in the cloud, reach out to us.