Cloud computing is a $136 billion industry, and it continues to grow. As consumers become more technology-savvy, individual use of cloud services enters the realm of convention. Cloud migration is picking up speed because it introduces cost-effective and flexible services into a previously expensive technological sphere. However, cloud computing also gives rise to new security challenges.

This article explains the composition of the cloud security perimeter, reviews the top cloud security threats, and provides popular cloud security practices.

What Is Cloud Security?

The Cloud Perimeter

Cloud security is the process of protecting computing ecosystems and resources that reside in the cloud, such as:

Sponsorships Available

Sponsorships Available

Sponsorships Available

• Computing environments—the location of your computing resources. You can host your computing resources in a public cloud, where you share computing power and space with other companies. Cloud providers also offer private cloud environments, where you can rent computing power and space for private use. If you’re well versed in cloud computing, you can combine public and private clouds into a customized hybrid architecture. If you want to integrate a number of third-party cloud vendors into your overall cloud computing ecosystem, you can try the multi-cloud model
• Infrastructure—virtualized computing workloads such as virtual machines and servers
• Platforms—application development resources such as operating systems
• Software—cloud-based software such as Google Docs and Google Calendar
• Databases—database resources such as storage, recovery, and backup

The Cloud Security Composition

Cloud security enforces security controls in cloud environments through the use of:

• Policies—a cloud security policy (Read more...)