To be able to maintain your cloud’s security, it is integral that you check its security status regularly and conduct thorough audits that don’t leave a stone unturned. Vulnerabilities that leave you open and susceptible to cyber attacks can often be missed by the human eye, so it is imperative that you conduct these checks regularly to avoid and prevent any potential hackers from targeting your data.
It is also worth noting how your cloud system and security operates normally when there are no threats so you can better identify them if and when the time comes.
When you conduct an audit check on your cloud’s security, there are a handful of ways you can do this and things you should look for and identify.
1) Virus and Malware Detection
Virus and malware detection is an essential part of any audit and should also regularly operate as you use your system in the background. Malware and viruses can be malicious to your data by infecting it and rendering it unusable and corrupt, so you must ensure that you have effective antivirus software that will detect any suspicious activity.
Any good antivirus software, like those from McAfee, will automatically inform you if there are any irregularities within your data that need addressing. When you conduct your audit, you should ensure that any of these that arise are responded to and resolved to keep your data safe.
2) Monitor Shadow Cloud Use
Employees may be using your cloud services without you even realizing, compromising on your overall security. While they have their right to privacy, if they do this on a device that shares company data, such as a phone or tablet, it is integral that these devices also have cloud security practices in place, such as firewalls, and that you run a risk assessment on your employee’s cloud profiles.
3) Research Your Cloud Service Provider
While some parts of cloud security are shared by you, the customer, and the cloud service provider itself, there are some which fall only to the cloud service provider. You must ensure that your cloud service provider is holding up their end of the deal by researching the exact security they claim to provide and seeing if this is reflected in your cloud security.
If your security needs and your cloud provider don’t line up, you may need to consider switching. For example, if you are currently using a public cloud provider and you need more security, consider switching to private.
4) Security Checks
To ensure that your security system is operating correctly, you may want to test it out using a Honeypot. The Honeypot method simply involves baiting a cyber-attacker and seeing how your security system reacts. This is a practical way of auditing how well your security operates and where it needs to improve, though it can be risky.
This is not an exhaustive list of how and what you should take note of when you conduct an audit, though you should make sure that you are thorough and conduct them regularly.
