Cloud Security Factors to Look for in 2017

Cloud Security Factors

You’ve finally got all of your databases locked down tight in the cloud so hackers can’t get in. It’s time to breathe easy and stop worrying about security. Or is it? The truth is, you can never truly relax when it comes to securing sensitive information. Hackers are always looking for a way in, and you need to be on guard at all times to keep up with them. Hackers evolve their methods, and your defenses against them also need to evolve, especially when you store data remotely. Following are a few security factors to keep an eye out for in 2017.

Micro-Segmentation

Micro-segmentation is the practice of putting people into groups and giving them their own secure spaces in the cloud. Their files are accessible only to them. It’s a change from the wide-open server setups where almost anyone could get files from the database without needing authorization. Isolating information to the level where only a few people have access removes the risk of accidental deletions and unauthorized access by other users. It also allows IT to control who gets in and who doesn’t.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication is nothing new, but it’s gaining in popularity because of how difficult it is to get past. This type of authentication requires a physical key, device, or authenticator in addition to a password. Requiring this additional information renders a user ID and password useless on their own. An authenticator generates random numbers for a specified number of seconds or minutes, and the user has to enter the numbers before the timer counts down. Not entering the numbers in time or not entering them at all results in the system rejecting the user’s attempt to get in.

Using an external authenticator does add extra work to the act of accessing the database, but it’s a small effort to make when it comes to keeping hackers out.

Security Automation

Keeping an eye out for hackers is a big job. IT has to be on top of any strange activity that may occur within the network or from the outside. Your IT team needs to monitor everything, and if members have to walk away to take care of a user, there may be no one around to catch an intrusion. Setting up software to detect and send a message when something’s not right is a far more efficient way to keep an eye on network traffic.

Automation allows IT workers to go about their regular routines without having to sit and monitor things at all times. Instead, the IT professional gets pinged with a message from the server, whether it’s local or in the cloud, that an unauthorized user is trying to get in, allowing the IT worker to take appropriate action quickly.

It’s important to always be alert and aware of who’s accessing the network. Fine-tuning access and automating security routines goes a long way towards locking things down and making it more difficult for a hacker to get in.

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