Cloud Storage Security: Understanding the Tools

If you are a chip designer migrating your operations to the cloud, it is essential to understand the cloud storage security tools available to securely protect your work.

Although storing data on the cloud eliminates the need to utilize in-house infrastructure, the supposed lack of control over storing your data in the cloud remains a concern for businesses. Yet cloud storage is often more secure than on-premises storage. 

This article acts as an introduction to cloud storage security. It highlights the methods available for maintaining strong security while retaining the cloud’s speed, flexibility, efficiency, and productivity benefits.

What is Cloud Storage Security?

Cloud storage security is the collection of technologies, policies, and practices that keep data safe from unauthorized access and attacks. Malware, DDoS attacks, hacking, data breaches, data leaks, and disaster recovery are all primary focuses of cloud storage security. Working with your cloud vendor to ensure you understand its security and how it differs from others is essential before you commit to a vendor. 

Cloud storage enables enterprises and organizations to store data in the cloud as opposed to on-site. Through this method, files live on a third-party server and provide employees access from any device and, if enabled, any location.

Cloud storage is especially useful for data backups, primary file storage, disaster recovery, and file archives. It can also aid with testing and development environments for DevOps. 

As the data itself does not physically stay on-premises, companies must rely on the cloud vendor to secure it. Vendors see this reliance as a top priority. They use a collection of methods to ensure security and uptime, including:

• Secure authentication protocols
• End-to-end data encryption
• Redundancy to ensure availability
• Data storing across distributed servers
• Various cloud monitoring features

Cloud Storage Security Tools

For successful cloud storage security, responsibility splits between the cloud vendor and the consumer. Both sides must have strong data protection. The consumer must utilize extra measures to bolster security, while the provider must implement baseline frameworks for their platforms. These measures include the following tools: 

• Continuous monitoring with real-time visibility into every server.
• Security tests and vulnerability assessments that run on a regular basis, ensuring protection against the latest threats. 
• Redundant servers with regular cloud backups in case of unforeseen disasters, ensuring your data stays accessible. 
• Hardware and software-based firewalls to filter traffic to and from cloud storage. 
• High-end encryption, both at rest and in transit. Client-side encryption allows for only the client to see the data, as the vendor does not keep the keys. If the provider’s server is breached, decryption key access fails.
• Two-Factor Authentication through a biometric scan, a one-time PIN or hardware token.

When choosing a cloud provider, keep in mind their location and where they store data. You should avoid countries with lax data regulations if possible. Before signing a contract, examine the gateway and firewall services your provider offers. Check for encryption technologies for in-transit and at-rest data. AES encryption, SSL/TLS handshake, and HTTPS are all valuable protocols that you should also confirm. 

Always make sure to validate the source of any data that comes into your network. Especially if many employees and customers interact with files, make sure that you regularly scan your network and keep alterations to data visible and auditable.

Advancement of Cloud Storage Security into the Future

By nature, cloud storage is safer than typical on-premises servers. These advancements in security will only continue. AI tools have begun to play a larger role, taking the burden off staff members and handling low-level security analyses.

The utilization of multi-cloud storage will further improve redundancy and disaster recovery procedures. As hardware advances, cloud-based infrastructure will also continue to increase its scalability and flexibility. 

As more companies switch to the cloud, vendors will reduce costs to become more competitive. They will utilize confidential computing, expanding at-rest and in-transit encryption capabilities and further increasing security’s robustness.