Guard Your Data Security: 5 Clever Concepts to Protect Your Cloud Analytics.

Have you ever visited a website or an application that appears to be aware of your interests, maybe by suggesting items that match your interests? This is possible due to a wonderful tool called analytics. Big corporations like Amazon and Google, among many others, use advanced “cloud-based analytics” to mine useful data from huge data collections. They do so by using powerful computing systems and safe storage software which are kept online, commonly called “the cloud.” Secure cloud analytics ensures that your valuable data is protected from threats.

Just like you protect your computer or cell phone from the bad guys, we have to protect this important information. Protecting information is very important! If important customer or business information gets into the wrong hands, it can be serious trouble.

“Data is like oil. It is valuable, but if it is not cleaned and guarded, it can’t be used.” – Clive Humby. Let’s not forget that the real potency of data is that it is beneficial and safe.

How can we make our cloud analytics incredibly secure? How do we build a digital fortress to protect our precious data? These are five best practices, five layers of armor, that will protect your data in the cloud:

Use Access Control to Limit Visibility of Information.

Imagine your precious business data as a huge treasure chest, filled with gold coins, treasure maps, and papers. Would one give the key to such a box to some stranger selected from the street, no?

Access control is making sure that only the right people view or access some data stored in that treasure chest.

What to do:

• Provide individuals with only the “keys” they absolutely require to do the job, nothing more. For instance, a person who just reads reports has no need for the key to alter financial records. This intelligent rule is referred to as “least privilege.” It’s similar to giving a guest only the key to the living room, not the house.
• Whenever an individual’s job changes or when they quit, delete the previous “keys” immediately. This prevents any chance or deliberate access to areas they are not supposed to.

Why it is important: “The weakest link in the chain is always the human.” – Kevin Mitnick. Humans must ensure they are not inadvertently leaving the door to the treasure chest ajar by having too many keys, or unused keys that nobody uses anymore. For secure cloud analytics, a straightforward step like this prevents many problems before they can begin.

Lock Your Data with a Secret Code (Encryption)

Think of encryption like the method of writing a hidden message that can only be decoded by a person who has a certain decoder ring or secret code. Even if a sly thief manages to steal your data, it will appear to be a random, jumbled collection of letters and numbers. As such, they won’t be able to decode or use it.

What to do:

• It is imperative to consistently encrypt your data, regardless of its location or activity.
• This entails encrypting information “at rest” (when it is not moving, that is, on a cloud server). It is similar to locking one’s diary in a safe.
• It also applies to encrypting information “in transit” (when it is on the move, such as when one is moving it from one location to another through the internet). This is a metaphor just like sending a secret message through a highly guarded tunnel.

Why it matters: “Encryption is the defense against the dark arts in the digital world.” – Edward Snowden. It’s our best magic spell to shield us from snoops, spies, and cyber thieves. Even if they steal our stuff, it’s useless to them without the secret code.

Build Firm Barriers to Safeguard Your Information (Network Security)

The cloud analytics and related data are stored on a network, much like an infrastructure of roads connecting different cities of information. A city needs strong walls and guards to repel unwanted visitors, so it is important that we have strong firewalls and adopt other security practices to prevent unwanted guests from passing through our cyber corridors.

What to do:

• Use specialized software that works like security gates for every piece of information trying to enter or leave your cloud network. These “firewalls” examine each piece of data.
• Block the unwanted material and allow the trusted connections only. It is similar to the bouncer at the club, letting in only the right people.
• We also employ special techniques of connecting, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which are like secret, private tunnels for our information, which makes it more difficult for anyone to look inside.

The significance of the issue is captured in the words of Abhijit Naskar: “No internet-connected technology is unhackable.” While it is not feasible to become fully unhackable, it is feasible to make it highly impossible for hackers to breach. Good network security creates a solid wall around the information we have, making it highly undesirable for hackers to attempt to breach it.

Know Who’s Responsible (Shared Responsibility)

When a decision is made to host data and services with cloud providers, e.g., Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud, it is on a shared basis. To make this clear, take the following analogy: these providers provide and maintain the vast infrastructure and the vast central computing resources that are contained within it. But it is the responsibility of the user to ensure the security of their own particular data and applications within that infrastructure.

What to do:

• Understand very clearly what the cloud provider has a responsibility to protect and what you have a responsibility to protect. The cloud provider has a responsibility to protect security of the cloud (the underlying power, cooling, physical security of their data centers). You have a responsibility to protect security in the cloud (your data, your applications, and how you configure your access controls).
• It is like they are acting as guards for the whole apartment complex, making sure that the main doors are locked and the electricity works well; however, it is still necessary for the residents to lock the door of their own apartment and to secure their valuables inside.

Why it’s important: Understanding who is in charge of what prevents surprises and stops dangerous security holes. “Security is always too much until it’s not enough.” -Robbie Sinclair. Don’t wait for someone else to protect your side of the cloud. Being clear about responsibilities means no one is blaming someone else when something goes wrong, and everyone knows their role in protecting data.

Monitor All Activity with Scrutiny (Monitoring and Auditing)

In spite of unbreakable locks, secret codes, and invisible barriers, one still needs to look for any deviation from the norm constantly. This is accomplished by using specialized equipment that scans constantly for abnormal behavior or malfunctions, day and night, seven days a week.

What to do:

• Utilize systems that notify you immediately if somebody is attempting to login from an unexpected location. Also, if data is being transferred in large quantities without your anticipation. Such alarms are the smoke detectors of your data.
• Check regularly who has looked at specific data and the corresponding time of viewing. This is referred to as “auditing,” and it assists in identifying any unusual activity or misuse of rights of access. Look for suspicious patterns, like a user repeatedly trying to log in with an incorrect password. It can be the data being passed towards unknown destinations.

Why it matters: “Good incident response depends on two things: information and organization.” – Robert Davis. The sooner you notice something is amiss, the sooner you can fix it and prevent damage.

In the end,

Real-time monitoring allows us to detect issues. It can promptly shut down whatever cyber attack is underway before it is a catastrophe. By following these important steps, one can protect cloud-based analytics and establish a good foundation for data management.

This way, companies can develop secure cloud analytics securely while leveraging robust insights without fear. Are you ready to get your data working for growth while offering more security? Stop by cloudester.com to see how we can assist in making your cloud analytics robust and incredibly secure.