As multi-cloud is here to stay for the long haul -- Security has become a top-most concern for every organization lately. Traditional approaches that were used for privileged access and identity management do not hold true in the modern cloud-dominating DevSecOps ecosystem. DevSecOps teams struggle with individual issues that refrain them from having secure access to cloud resources and quickly resolving the challenges. It is critical to consider the management of privileged access as DevSecOps teams work with multiple clouds where each of them have their permission sets and usage models. To understand it in a little detail, this blog discusses 3 points to manage privileges and access in the multi-cloud environment.
Privilege includes the permissions that the given stakeholders have in the multi-cloud or hybrid cloud infrastructure system. It enables the end users and applications or system processes to access particular resources in the cloud environment. The new identity-defined perimeter has increased the significance of access privileges. Likewise, the privileged access and identity management practices that were best suited for on-premises setups aren’t applicable in the cloud-based CI/CD DevSecOps environments. The dynamic privilege platform supports Just-In-Time (JIT) privilege to allow DevSecOps teams to effectively maintain a Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP) security posture. Those platforms are combined with User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), advanced security information, and event management (SIEM) engines. DevSecOps teams can look into the events of cloud applications and user activity to identify threats to which the security teams have to take actions to safeguard critical information and cloud services from security breaches.
Cloud sprawl happens when an organization is unable to manage a cloud instance which could possibly lead to documentation issues, insecure environment, unwanted spendings or more. Multi-cloud environment is susceptible to cloud sprawl as monitoring tools from one cloud vendor do not work well in another vendor's cloud. For example, Amazon CloudWatch will not be able to effectively track the resources that run on Microsoft Azure. Cloud sprawl may lead to unnecessary costs or give rise to risks in the business landscape. Organizations should manage cloud usage, use cloud management tools, establish succinct user policies, and ensure seamless communication between business departments to mitigate cloud sprawl. For attack surface sprawl, JIT privilege grants that can minimize attack surfaces. JIT/ZSP solutions do not trust anything with access to accounts and data in the cloud.
Security teams need to focus on endpoint security, configuration, and patching tools, vulnerability scans, event collection, analytics, etc. The privileges change from cloud service to service which emphasises on learning every service individually. A unified cross-cloud access model helps in managing privilege sets in the cloud services. Centralized provisioning brings automation in privileged processes in the cloud resources. DevSecOps companies often rely on credentials that are externally stored or hard coded. It can cause challenges while managing privileges among the non-connected secure vaults. The requirements for central management and integration among security functions have increased now more than ever. As threats have become more sophisticated, it is crucial to coordinate an effective response keeping the capabilities where they need to be. It is good to follow a framework that supports authentication models used by different cloud providers and allows you to understand the environment in a centralized manner. To conclude, the security solutions providers are determined to increase privileged access solutions to bolster security across devices, data, and resources that are used by DevOps teams in the cross-cloud environments. DevOps and DevSecOps are evolving in the cybersecurity ecosystem. Dynamic privileging platforms through JIT privilege grants and ZSP principles can resolve security challenges.
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