What is cloud security architecture?

What is cloud security architecture?

The creation and implementation of strategies, technologies, and practices with the aim of securing your cloud environment is referred to as cloud security architecture. Also known as cloud computing security architecture, it helps organizations define security layers, security rules, best practices, and other governance techniques required to bring the best out of their cloud environment. Cloud architecture, on the other hand, refers to the arrangement and design of all the hardware, software, data, and technologies utilized in your cloud environment in a way that best suits business requirements.

Any organization looking to adopt the cloud should have both its cloud architecture and cloud security architecture mapped out.

An effective cloud security architecture ensures that your organization complies with regulations, protects sensitive data, and is capable of adapting to the evolving cloud threat landscape.

Importance of cloud security architecture

Creating a cloud security architecture helps organizations:

1. Understand every intricate detail of their cloud environment.
2. Detect any potential risks or vulnerabilities in the system.
3. Create a quick defense plan in case of any breach as they will be familiar with all the security capabilities.
4. Avoid misconfiguration.
5. Ensure proper utilization of finances as the architecture can guarantee that only the essential security measures are implemented.
6. Adapt to the dynamic nature of the threat landscape by utilizing a more flexible yet well constructed and secure cloud architecture.
7. Ensure scalability as the security architecture will provide an in-depth understanding of what and how they can scale their cloud up or down.

Principles and pillars of cloud security architecture

The foundation of a cloud infrastructure is built upon two types of components: Principles and strategies.

1. Principles are the fundamental concepts that underpin the overall strategy for cloud security architecture, thus acting as the foundation. They specify the core values and requirements that the architecture must follow.
2. Strategies are the practices and tactics used to ensure that the principles are implemented effectively, hence acting as pillars for the cloud infrastructure.

If principles lay the foundation, and strategies are the pillars, then the components are the building blocks that construct the main structure—in this context, the cloud.

Here's an illustration to help you understand the fundamental concepts that provide the framework for the cloud.

The four principles that form the foundation of cloud security architecture are:

1. Confidentiality: This means data privacy is to be maintained. Organizations should take all the necessary actions to ensure that malicious actors do not enter their cloud ecosystem.
2. Integrity: This means data accuracy is to be maintained. Organizations need to ensure that their data is not tampered with in the transit process in any unauthorized or malicious way.
3. Availability: This means data should always be accessible without compromising on integrity and confidentiality. Organizations need to use sufficient servers, networks, and applications to ensure that data is available even in times of a network or server failure.
4. The shared responsibility model: This model describes the roles of cloud consumers and service providers. It also defines the extent of responsibility for securing the cloud, for both the provider and the user. Generally, the service providers are responsible for the underlying infrastructure, and customers are responsible for access, data encryption, and other configurations. You can read about the AWS shared responsibility model here to know more about how cloud service providers (CSP) and customers generally share the responsibility. Depending upon the CSP, the responsibilities shared can vary. All the information in the above blog is strictly pertinent to AWS and its customers only.

Just like the functionality of pillars in a concrete building, cloud security architecture also has multiple strategies that hold its structure together to ensure security of the cloud. These strategies are:

1. Data encryption: One of the most effective ways to ensure confidentiality of your data is by converting it into unreadable ciphered text.
2. Security by design: This method makes sure that security comes first at every stage of the design, development, and deployment. Using tactics such as least privilege, secure coding, and regular security testing, security by design aims to create secure cloud environments.
3. IAM: IAM is an approach by which administrators determine which users can access what and how. It is generally recommended that IT administrators follow the principles of isolation (of sensitive data) and least privilege (for users) to ensure confidentiality and integrity.
4. Visibility: Maintaining visibility into the cloud can help organizations monitor performance, identify and troubleshoot issues, detect opportunities to scale up or down, and recognize security threats. Using SIEM tools can save a lot of trouble by automating most of the work mentioned above.
5. Compliance: Compliances such as GDPR, PCI DSS, and ISO help organizations integrate industry standards and regulations into their cloud environment. Adherence to compliance is an indication of constant observation of their cloud environment, proactive security, and adaptability to the dynamic environment. Cloud security compliance can be exhaustive and confusing, but not if you are prepared. Learn about its significance, frameworks, best practices, and popular standards here.
6. Flexibility: Enables your cloud to adapt to the ever-changing needs of organizations. Flexibility ensures continuous improvement of your cloud without compromising the quality of your existing security solutions.
7. Automation: Ensures swift movement of data, improved threat detection and response, proper resource utilization, and immediate remediation in case of any vulnerabilities or misconfigurations.

What are the different components of the cloud architecture for which security has to be ensured?

Supported by strategies, components ensure that a robust and secure cloud is formed. There are eight different components:

1. Physical infrastructures: Refers to all the physical data centers, middleware, hardware, storage centers, network infrastructure, and endpoint devices that are required to run the cloud. Installing security cameras and restricting illegal accesses are a couple of measures that go into protecting physical infrastructures.
2. Virtualization layer: Refers to virtualization software such as a hypervisor or virtual machines that helps in increasing scalability and resource utilization by mimicking servers, computers, and networks. Some of the steps to securing the virtualization layer involves continuous patch management, managing and supervising admin access to VMs.
3. Management and orchestration: Refers to all the tools that help in monitoring and logging, managing compliance, orchestrating and managing workload, automating processes, and managing identity within the cloud. Installing SIEM solutions, automating threat response and ensuring compliance are a few security measures within this component.
4. Storage services: Refers to various services used for backup and disaster recovery in the cloud. It also includes data transfer services such as Google Cloud CDN, storage services such as AWS S3, or file storage such as Azure Files. Security of this can be ensured by encryption of data, controlled privileges, and accesses.
5. Networking services: Refers to all middleware applications that enable communication between CSPs, users, and other networks. Some of the services that fall under this category are VPNs, CDNs, and network security services such as firewall groups and security groups. Amazon VPC Security Group is an example. Implementing secure firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and security groups for network communications are a few ways to secure these services.
6. Security services: Refers to the various security services, such as encryption, and products that enable data, network, perimeter, application, and endpoint security products that are used to protect cloud resources. It also includes cloud security tools such as a SIEM or IAM that will help them fortify their security posture.
7. Compute services: Refers to the computing environment that provides virtualized settings for running applications such as containers, VMs, or managed services like Google App Engine. This layer can be secured by using runtime security tools, applying patches, and using container security solutions to scan for vulnerabilities.
8. Database services: Refers to the different types of databases such as Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), NoSQL, time series database and managed database services. These are used for storing data, querying them when necessary, and managing data. Azure SQL database is an example. Securing these services will involve encrypting database content, implementing database activity monitoring tools, and using database firewalls.

Do these components change with a change in the mode of deployment or service model? No, but the responsibilities will alter. Let us dive deep.

Cloud security architecture for public, private, hybrid, and multi-clouds

Based on the mode of deployment, the different types of cloud are: public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud.

Public cloud

Public cloud environments are the services and cloud infrastructure maintained by an external service provider who makes these services available to subscribers over the internet.

Architecture: Most components in the public cloud are managed and controlled by the service provider alone. Most of the time, the customers are only responsible for ensuring safe user access, data security, monitoring and logging of users, and compliance adherence.

Please refer to Table 1 to understand the scope of responsibility for the users and CSPs in the public cloud.

Private cloud

In a private cloud model, the services and infrastructure are maintained by an organization privately. The access to these services is limited to a small group of users who belong to the organization.

Architecture: Like public clouds, most components are managed by CSPs. However, since this cloud is used by a single organization, they will have greater security and higher control of their cloud environment.

Please refer to Table 1 to understand the scope of responsibility for the users and CSPs in private clouds.

Hybrid cloud

Hybrid cloud models are a blended type of cloud computing that allows organizations to leverage the scalability and cost-advantages of the public cloud model while also investing in some private cloud infrastructure specifically for the protection of sensitive data.

Architecture: Both private and public clouds are responsible for orchestrating services and data transfer between them

Please refer to Table 1 to understand the scope of responsibility for the users and CSPs in hybrid clouds.

Multi-cloud

These are strategically chosen cloud combinations that could include services rendered from multiple public cloud environments or multiple private cloud environments.

Architecture: As this contains multiple tenants, the responsibility too is going to be diverse and highly dependent on the user of a service rather than the provider.

Please refer to Table 1 below to understand the scope of responsibility for the users and CSPs in multi-clouds.

Table 1: Share of responsibility between CSP and user across pubic, private, hybrid and multi-cloud

Cloud security architecture: Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service

Based on the cloud service models, there are different types of cloud: SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is an approach where users access the service via the internet and typically only pay for the services to which they have enrolled for. Microsoft 365 is an example.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) is an approach where the CSP works as a third party and hosts everything a developer may require, including hardware, software, and development tools, which can be accessible via the internet in a pay-as-you-go style. Google Kubernetes Engine is an example.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is an approach where the CSP rents all of the necessary computational infrastructure to users. Storage, servers, virtual machines, networking, security, and deployment tools are among the components, while users will only have to deal with data, apps, runtime, and middleware. AWS EC2 is an example.

A brief explanation of who is responsible for what in these kinds of service models is provided in Table 2.

Table 2: Share of responsibility between CSP and user across IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.

What does a cloud security architect do?

They are the go-to people for all queries regarding cloud security. As the name suggests, a cloud security architect is the one who ensures the compliance and security of the cloud infrastructure. Their responsibilities include:

• Evaluating the business requirements, designing cloud architecture, identifying the security requirements and solutions that can fulfill all their needs, and implementing them.
• Working with the IT teams and monitoring the network, identifying security vulnerabilities, and trying to resolve them.
• Creating security best practices for organizations to follow.
• Ensuring performance optimization with respect to security measures.
• Conducting capacity planning to ensure scalability.
• Handling documentation of configurations, policies, and security procedures.
• Performing cost management for proper implementation of security tools.

These are just a few of the responsibilities of a cloud security architect. Since this is a dynamic field, cloud security architects need to stay updated, be proactive, and stay vigilant about the changes happening around them.