Microsoft Azure, launched in 2010, has displayed significant growth in recent years. According to a Statista report on public cloud adoption, in 2020, 44% of organizations were running their workloads on Azure. However, with the increasing acceptance of cloud technologies, environment security is a challenge that companies globally have to deal with.
Azure security provides various tools and features to keep security risks at bay and run your cloud system effectively. But, with cyberattacks improving in sophistication, it has become essential for companies to integrate Azure with third-party models to strengthen security further, gain visibility, and better protect and govern cloud entities.
Challenges to Azure Security in Your Cloud Infrastructure
Cloud Misconfiguration
Every cloud system has multiple settings to be configured. In the case of large organizations running in a multi-cloud environment, the complexity of cloud configurations increases manifold. A few misconfigurations resulting from lack of attention or experience could prove costly to your business.For example, open storage buckets are a common cloud misconfiguration. Any attacker can gain access to the data stored in the buckets. As a result, your system might get interrupted; you could lose money and credibility. An integrated security approach can help identify misconfigurations at the earliest, and you could correct them before they become threats.
Identity Security
Identity-based attacks are among the top security risks that cloud environments have to be protected against. Azure does provide tools such as two-factor authentication and privileged access management for identity and access management. But as an organization, you cannot solely depend on these features for protection.You need to move beyond user account access and understand additional permissions inherited through privilege assignments, how individual entities in the cloud environment interact, and the scope of access. With an integrated security solution, you can take Azure security to the next level and be prepared for the new age of cyberattacks.
Compliance Enforcement
With the addition of new users, applications, and data to the environment, the Azure infrastructure will grow in complexity. As a result, maintaining security policies across all layers and entities becomes a challenge.You will have to comply with federal laws, rules, and regulations as a business. In addition, you might have company-specific security objectives to meet, which would require customized security frameworks.
With a third-party security product, you can leverage the built-in frameworks available and the flexibility to create tailored frameworks. In addition, with capabilities such as continuous monitoring and drift detection, you can establish security baselines and ensure your system remains compliant with the controls put in place.
Data Governance
Data is one of the critical aspects of any business. Therefore, you need to ensure you do not compromise data integrity and provide protection during transport and storage.In the Azure environment, data is spread across the cloud. For example, you could have production data lying in development for testing purposes, or sensitive data could be left open to the public. Unfortunately, such activities can leave data vulnerable to malicious attacks.
Regular monitoring and auditing are required to understand who and what can access data and if it is appropriately classified and meets established guidelines. You could create custom configurations for your unique data models with an additional security solution.
Monitoring
The typical Azure environment is divided into subscriptions, resource groups, management while running workloads. Tracking and monitoring every resource, its permissions, and how it behaves in the system are extremely difficult using traditional security structures.Integrating Azure security with a third-party solution can provide you with a comprehensive view of the environment. For example, the solution can monitor trust relationships and inherited permissions for every resource in the system. It can also help identify risks such as privilege escalation or toxic combination.
Automated monitoring ensures you know what is happening in your system at all times. In addition, alert generation and remediation ensure effective management of risks.
Why is Intelligent CSPM Required?
Intelligent CSPM provides organizations with improved visibility, risk identification, alert and remediation, and a centralized dashboard to optimally perform administrative tasks. In addition, it offers built-in and customizable frameworks that you can utilize to apply a consistent level of security across the cloud environment.Continuous monitoring and audit checks ensure effective controls are in place and working as expected.
Azure provides a range of features such as automatic encryption, identity, and access management, smart access management, and a centralized Azure security center. However, with the rising magnitude of cyberattacks, Azure presents security challenges like cloud misconfigurations, identity security, data integrity, and compliance enforcement, among others.
An integrated security approach that leverages Azure security tools and provides you with an in-depth view and control of the cloud environment is what your organization needs today.