Cloud Security Monitoring [Solutions + Best Practices]

There is a large shift of data from storage devices to the cloud. It provides not only data storage but automated tools for monitoring as well.

Cloud security is gaining popularity because of its large-scale usage in organizations and businesses. Cloud security monitoring has many solution tools and gives perfect results with some best practices.

 What is Cloud Monitoring?

Cloud monitoring is a process to review, observe and manage the workflow of IT infrastructure based on the Cloud. In simple words, when one uses the cloud for infrastructure and operational workflow, so one must monitor it.

One can monitor using an automated tool or through a manual approach depending on the requirements. Every part of the cloud should work for an optimized system, and that one can achieve only when all parts perform parallel. The primary function or types of cloud monitoring are:

• Database Monitoring:

  This monitors the queries, requests, connections, and data integrity in the database. It facilitates updating and handling challenges in the future. Database security is quite essential in order to prevent sensitive information from getting into the wrong hands.

• Virtual Machine Monitoring:

  VM monitoring includes tracking traffic, connected users, and how it works. It operates in a combination of IT infrastructure and cloud monitoring.

• Virtual Networks Monitoring:

  Cloud monitoring has a key role in network elements that analyzes the behavior of network load and recommends necessary upgrades

• Cloud Storage Monitoring:

  Cloud storage is a central point for multiple virtual storage devices. Cloud storage monitoring helps in analytics along with tracking databases, storage, and processes.

• Website Monitoring:

  Cloud allows one to host his site over it and facilitates monitoring as well. Website monitoring includes traffic on the website, user experience, and time.

What is Cloud Security Management?

Cloud security management refers to the set of strategies to avoid threats and vulnerable attacks while using cloud applications and networks.

Large organizations or IT firms rely on many cloud-based services and use cloud security management tools to track owned cloud computing services at a centralized platform. Security management of Cloud depends on the following schemes:

• Choosing Appropriate Cloud Service:

  Choose the right cloud product or service for your organization that serves beneficent in the future as well.

• Handling Services:

  Once you choose a service or application, now it is upon the security team that how they are managing security settings. Try to take full advantage of the application with the best privacy policy.

• Data Encryption:

  To avoid data loss, most companies use data encryption methods as it safeguards data integrity.

• Device Management:

  Although all your data and application are on a cloud, also there are some physical devices used for data accessing. Now it’s your responsibility to oversee these devices to avoid intruder interruption.

Cloud Monitoring Challenges

One can implement a manual, semi-automated, or automated cloud monitoring process. There are some monitoring tools as well but with the ease of performing a task they have some challenges too, that are:

• Complexity:

  Organizations prefer multi-cloud services as they find them flexible and scalable, but it makes the system complex and hard to understand sometimes. So, the increase in complexity of cloud systems makes cloud monitoring difficult.

• Skills Gap:

  It is easy to find a cloud service provider and implement it, but it is quite difficult to handle with a lack of skills. Firms should target candidates having strong profiles in cloud security management tools.

• Usage of Incompatible Tools:

  Some organizations were already using data monitoring tools and after shifting to the cloud they are still using the same tools. Not every tool is for everything, so the in-house data center tool does not work for cloud monitoring

 Cloud Security Monitoring Use Cases

Use cases are the real-life situations that how the system will respond in what manner. Cloud security monitoring use cases are:

• Account Access:

  When every information, application, and data is on the cloud, then account management is the most crucial thing. You should try to provide privileges to the least persons you can. With more people’s access to the cloud, less will be security and difficult will be monitoring. It is the most important use case and has a wide scope that one can divide into further use cases.

• Unsecured Storage Container:

  Allowing data buckets in the cloud from untrusted resources can cause data breaching. When there is in and out of an extensive amount of data, then there must be a scanner to scan the attacker.

• Unknown Network Connection:

  Along with cloud monitoring, network security monitoring is a must. There are high chances of attacks through the network. So, it is quite important to monitor RAT communication, remote and local files. In a broader view, organizations must monitor the whole data activity by using an intrusion detection tool.

Also Checkout IDS vs. IPS: What’s the Difference?

Cloud Monitoring Solutions and Tools

Cloud security monitoring comes with several automated tools that are:

• CloudWatch:

  It is an Amazon monitoring tool that allows checking the overall performance of the cloud system.

• AppDynamics:

  This tool is for network security monitoring.

• Microsoft Cloud Monitoring:

  Microsoft has a monitoring solution through Azure. It is easy and gives a complete monitoring infrastructure.

Cloud Monitoring Best Practices

To ensure the best out of the cloud monitoring services, there are some best practices that an enterprise should follow:

• Select and monitor key performance indicators.
• Track the services, fees, and usages of the cloud monitoring tool.
• Store all the data in a centralized place.
• While working on the cloud, always use the up-to-date tool.
• It is difficult to observe trends individually when you are using cloud services for any application or website. So, it is better to integrate them.
• Always keep a close eye on the end-user experience.
• Automating tasks is way much productive than manual. Less risk of human errors and better results.

Difference Between Cloud watch and Cloud Trail

• CloudWatch monitors operational performance while CloudTrail is for audit changes services.
• CloudWatch provides scalability to applications, and CloudTrail helps you to check who is doing what to the application.
• Simply, CloudWatch is to oversee performance and CloudTrail is for actions.

Conclusion

Cloud storage implementation in IT infrastructure along with its monitoring is a perfect combination for best outcomes and to avoid mistakes. Enterprises and businesses must administer cloud security monitoring in their systems.

Also, Read What Are the Different Types of Firewalls?