The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many enterprises towards hybrid environments, complex network architectures, and multicloud infrastructure. With over 72% of organizations now using multicloud applications, maintaining visibility and context has become a pressing challenge for security professionals. They must work especially hard to block sophisticated threats in such widely distributed environments. It’s crucial to secure digital assets from cybercriminals by preventing them from exploiting any security loopholes and cloud misconfigurations. Attackers are increasingly using AI to expand their attack surface and exploit cloud networks, but there are proactive steps that organizations can take to fend off these threats.
1. Minimize the Organization’s Cloud Attack Surface
Reducing an organization’s cloud attack surface does not necessarily mean cutting down on the number of cloud applications utilized by the enterprise. On the contrary, leveraging AI in cloud security strategies can help organizations stay ahead of bad actors. Adopting AI-based behavior profiling allows security operations centers to reduce the attack surface, automate workflows within applications, and mitigate attacks. By implementing these measures, organizations can not only remediate successful attacks but also enhance their overall security posture. This approach is vital, considering that attackers are employing AI to launch sophisticated attacks that can bypass traditional security measures.
In addition, AI enables a more dynamic and predictive approach to cybersecurity. AI-powered tools can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate potential threats. Automating workflows within cloud applications not only improves efficiency but also ensures that security protocols are consistently applied. Moreover, AI can assist in the rapid identification and remediation of vulnerabilities, thereby reducing the window of opportunity for attackers. By actively minimizing the cloud attack surface through AI-driven solutions, organizations can significantly bolster their cloud security defenses.
2. Employ AI for Predictive Threat Mitigation
Utilizing AI for predictive threat mitigation is a key aspect of a robust cloud security strategy. AI tools facilitate quicker detection, investigation, and response to threats. Machine learning-based user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) tools are essential for identifying anomalous behavior across the network. These tools not only facilitate rapid investigation of potential threats but also automate responses to mitigate and remediate attacks. Security professionals aim to find vulnerabilities before an attack occurs, and AI tools play a crucial role in achieving this goal.
Predictive threat mitigation involves continuously monitoring and analyzing user activities to detect deviations from established norms. By identifying unusual patterns of behavior, AI-driven UEBA tools can flag potential threats in real-time. This proactive approach allows security teams to address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers. Additionally, AI can automate many aspects of the threat response process, enabling quicker and more efficient mitigation efforts. This not only reduces the potential impact of an attack but also enhances the overall resilience of the organization’s cloud infrastructure.
3. Implement Identity Mapping to Enhance Cloud Security Threat Detection
As enterprises continue to migrate to the cloud, identity security has become increasingly important, often surpassing the significance of endpoint security. Security professionals are now more focused on identifying who is behaving anomalously rather than just how, where, or why such behavior is occurring. By mapping cloud activities to users within the network, security personnel can derive valuable contextual data. This data helps them understand which resources, data, and applications are being accessed, enabling more precise threat detection and response.
Identity mapping provides a comprehensive view of user activities across the cloud environment. By correlating user identities with their actions, security teams can detect unauthorized access attempts and other suspicious behaviors. This contextual information is invaluable for identifying potential security breaches and preventing data exfiltration. Moreover, identity mapping allows for more effective forensic investigations, enabling security professionals to trace the origin and extent of an attack. Implementing robust identity mapping techniques is essential for enhancing cloud security and protecting sensitive data from cyber threats.
4. Depend on a Unified Platform to Analyze Threats Across a Multicloud Environment
When a threat occurs in the cloud, assessing its potential impact across a distributed or multitenant surface can be challenging. A centralized platform provides security personnel with a response center that automates workflows by orchestrating with different cloud applications. By doing so, it reduces the mean time to resolve (MTTR) incidents and threats. Such a platform offers a holistic view of the entire cloud environment, making it easier to identify and address security issues promptly.
A unified platform consolidates data from multiple sources, providing security teams with comprehensive visibility into their multicloud infrastructure. This centralized approach enables more efficient threat detection, investigation, and response. By automating workflows and integrating with various cloud applications, the platform streamlines incident management processes. This not only reduces the time required to resolve security incidents but also minimizes the risk of human error. Leveraging a unified platform is essential for maintaining a robust cloud security posture in a complex and dynamic environment.
5. Associate Network Events with Cloud Activities
Analyzing data from both the network and cloud services is essential for identifying patterns, relationships, and potential threats. Enterprises must carefully design, test, and implement correlation rules for cloud security data. These correlation activities help defense systems detect and analyze unusual traffic, anomalous account usage, and unauthorized access to cloud storage. By correlating access and security logs from cloud applications, security personnel can identify attempts at data exfiltration and other malicious activities.
For example, if a security operations center (SOC) professional is investigating potential customer data exfiltration from a cloud-based CRM tool, they would correlate the logs of that CRM tool with logs from other cloud applications, such as email or team communication tools. This correlation can reveal compromised user accounts or data exfiltration methods. By associating network events with cloud activities, security teams can gain a deeper understanding of potential threats and respond more effectively. This approach enhances the overall security of the cloud environment by providing comprehensive insights into user behaviors and network activities.
6. Remove Shadow IT and Regularly Perform Cloud Security Risk Evaluations
Shadow IT, the use of unsanctioned applications across the network, poses significant security vulnerabilities and potential threats. This trend has increased since the pandemic, making it crucial for security personnel to perform regular cloud security risk assessments and audits. Taking a bottom-up approach allows Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) to gain visibility into granular components first, then move on to assess the overall security posture of the network. Eliminating shadow IT and conducting thorough risk evaluations are essential steps in maintaining a secure cloud environment.
Regular risk assessments help identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities in the cloud infrastructure. By systematically evaluating the security of all cloud applications and services, organizations can ensure that they comply with security policies and industry standards. Additionally, risk assessments provide valuable insights into potential threats and enable proactive measures to address them. Eliminating shadow IT reduces the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches, while regular risk evaluations help maintain a robust and resilient cloud security posture. These efforts are critical for protecting an organization’s digital assets and ensuring the integrity of its cloud environment.
7. Establish a Clear Incident Response Plan
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly driven enterprises towards adopting hybrid environments, intricate network architectures, and multicloud infrastructures. Currently, over 72% of organizations utilize multicloud applications, which presents a major challenge for security professionals striving to maintain visibility and context. They face the arduous task of thwarting sophisticated threats within these extensively distributed environments. To protect digital assets from cybercriminals, it is imperative to prevent them from exploiting any security flaws or cloud misconfigurations. With attackers increasingly leveraging AI to broaden their attack capabilities and target cloud networks, organizations must be proactive. Implementing robust security measures and closing potential vulnerabilities are essential steps. By doing so, organizations can better defend themselves against AI-driven threats and safeguard their cloud-based systems, ensuring they remain resilient in the face of evolving cyber risks.
