Cloud Security Assessment
Cloud security involves the practices and technologies used to protect data and systems stored on cloud-based infrastructure. As organisations increasingly rely on cloud-based tools and environments, it is important to choose and build these systems with security in mind. Cloud security aims to protect against various security threats, including attacks, unauthorised access, and vulnerabilities.
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What is Cloud Security Assessment?
In simple terms, cybersecurity in cloud computing involves protecting cloud-based data and infrastructure from hackers, cybercriminals, and other malicious actors who seek to exploit vulnerabilities in the cloud system. Cloud cybersecurity helps to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and systems while minimising the risk of data breaches, data loss, and other cyber threats.
Cloud cybersecurity relies on a combination of technologies and best practises such as encryption, access controls, intrusion detection and prevention, threat intelligence, secure coding practises, and regular security monitoring and testing. These measures help cloud providers to identify and remediate vulnerabilities, protect against attacks and ensure compliance with data privacy and security regulations.
Overall, cloud cybersecurity is critical to ensuring that cloud computing systems and applications are secure and protected from cyber threats, thereby maintaining the trust of customers and stakeholders who rely on cloud services for their business operations.
What Cloud Providers Do Dionach Evaluate?
Dionach conduct security assessments and configuration reviews against all cloud providers, cloud computing models and cloud services. The assessment is conducted using a combination of automated tools and manual inspection of the cloud environment using read-only accounts with full access to the environment. The Dionach conduct security assessments and configuration reviews against all cloud providers, cloud computing models and cloud services. The assessment is conducted using a combination of automated tools and manual inspection of the cloud environment using read-only accounts with full access to the environment. Dionach consultants will review the configurations and settings against vendor and industry best practises. Reviews can also be carried out against security benchmarks such as those provided by the Centre for Internet Security (CIS).
Dionach have extensive experience in conducting cloud security assessments from vendors such as, but not limited to:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud
- Alibaba Cloud
- Oracle
- IBM
- Tencent
- VMware (Dell Technologies)
- Salesforce
- Oracle
- SAP
- Workday
- Adobe
- MuleSoft
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Cloud SECURITY ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY
The cloud security team and the client work together to define the scope and objectives of the assessment. This involves identifying the systems to be tested, as well as the assessment methods and tools to be used.
Prior to commencement of the engagement Dionach will review all relevant documentation related to the cloud environment. This may include security architecture documents and network diagrams, configuration standards and vendor and security best practises.
The Dionach cloud security team will conduct an information gathering exercise, exploring publicly available information to collate information and establish potential attack points. Information collated during this phase will be used by the consultants to better understand the risks posed to the cloud environment and perform threat modelling.
Once all relevant information is gathered, work will commence on the cloud security assessment. This will start by running a variety of automated scans using a combination of inhouse and third-party tools and scripts which utilise APIs exposed by cloud providers.
The Dionach consultant will conduct a manual review of the cloud environment to find security vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. They will review the results of the automated scans and eliminate false positives and false negatives. The manual review will follow vendor and security best practises and focus on misconfigurations commonly exploited in penetration tests or red team engagements.
The cloud security team documents the findings and recommendations from the assessment. This includes a detailed report on the vulnerabilities identified, the methods used to exploit them, and recommendations for remediation.
WHY CONDUCT CLOUD SECURITY ASSESSTMENT?
- Understand and mitigate risk to protect your organisation’s information.
- Help organisations ensure compliance with regulations and industry standards such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and GDPR.
- Highlight any serious weaknesses and take action before an attacker exploits them.
- Maintain trust with customers, stakeholders, and partners by demonstrating a commitment to security and safeguarding their data.
- Improve security posture.
- Improve attack detection rates and tighten up your incident response procedures.
CLOUD SECURITY ASSESSTMENT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We have documented frequently asked questions about our cloud security assessment. If you cannot find the answer to your questions, please do get in touch directly. We’ll be happy to help.
A cloud cyber security assessment is a process of evaluating the security posture of a cloud environment or service. This assessment typically involves reviewing the cloud architecture, policies, and procedures, as well as identifying potential vulnerabilities and recommending measures to address them.
A cloud cyber security assessment is important because it helps identify potential security risks and vulnerabilities in a cloud environment. By conducting an assessment, organisations can better understand their security posture and take measures to mitigate potential risks.
Some common components of a cloud cyber security assessment include a review of cloud architecture, security policies and procedures, data protection measures, access controls, network security, and incident response plans.
A cloud cyber security assessment can be conducted by internal security teams, external security consultants, or cloud service providers. The choice of who conducts the assessment depends on the organisation’s resources, expertise, and requirements. Dionach offer a highly experienced cloud cybersecurity team who can offer valuable insights and consultancy at every stage of delivery.
The frequency of cloud cyber security assessments depends on the organisation’s risk profile, compliance requirements, and the rate of changes to the cloud environment. Dionach recommend that assessments should be conducted at least once a year or after significant changes to the cloud environment.
Some challenges of a cloud cyber security assessment include the complexity of cloud environments, but Dionach have extensive experience in this area and can support you in defining your technical scope to ensure you achieve maximum value from the assessment.
A cloud security assessment is a comprehensive evaluation of the security posture of a cloud infrastructure, while a penetration test is a simulated attack on the cloud infrastructure to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
Testing disaster recovery plans in cloud security assessments is important to ensure that critical data and applications can be restored in the event of a security incident or outage.
Multi-cloud environments can be assessed for security by identifying the cloud services and providers being used, evaluating the security posture of each service, and analysing the integration and communication between the different cloud services.
The results of a cloud security assessment can be used to implement remediation measures to address identified risks and vulnerabilities. They can also be used to prioritise security initiatives and allocate resources more effectively.
Cloud security assessments can identify security risks and vulnerabilities that may put organisations at risk of non-compliance with regulations. By addressing these risks, organisations can improve their compliance posture.
Common compliance regulations that apply to cloud environments include GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and SOC 2.
A security framework, such as NIST or ISO 27001, can provide a set of guidelines and controls that can be used to evaluate the security posture of a cloud environment.
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How are Dionach positioned to help Your Organisation?
Dionach is a cyber security company that specialises in providing comprehensive security services to organisations of all sizes. Dionach can conduct comprehensive cloud security assessments of your organisation’s chosen cloud infrastructure and services and provide recommendations for remediation. It can help you manage your organisation’s vulnerabilities by identifying, prioritizing, and mitigating them before they can be exploited by attackers. With over 24 years experience and expertise in cyber security, Dionach can help your organisation improve its security posture and protect against cyber threats.
HOW WE WORK
We deliver the whole spectrum of cyber security services, from long-term, enterprise wide strategy and implementation projects to single penetration tests.
Our team works with you to identify and assess your organisation’s vulnerabilities, define enterprise-wide goals, and advise how best to achieve them.
Our recommendations are clear, concise, pragmatic and tailored to your organisation.
Independent, unbiased, personalised – this is how we define our services. We guide you to spend wisely and invest in change efficiently.
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