Enterprises choose a Cloud Provider like Microsoft Azure due to many reasons like Efficiency, Cost, Data Security, and many other criteria. Efficiency and cost factors are important, agreed but Data Security is an equally pressing factor. Cloud applications are increasingly being used by enterprises to keep costs under control. But most often Data Security Concerns are not properly highlighted by most cloud providers. Seemingly minute data security issues can become momentous if enterprises don’t rely on a reliable Cloud Platform Provider like Nuvento which keeps data security on the top checklist. Make it a habit to consult with the world’s leading Azure Consulting Services.

Here are a few reasons why Cloud Data Security is Crucial

Remember, your business would lose critical data stored on Cloud if the platform is not Secure!

Lots of sensitive data is stored over the cloud. This data is primarily used by enterprises for sales and marketing purposes and for other departmental functioning. If this data is not secured on the cloud platform this will impact enterprise profitability in the long run. Primary data types are customer information which includes email, contact numbers, location, then there are enterprise employee details and payment information. These are very expensive data types which is why Cloud Data Security is even more significant. Choose Azure to secure your data!

Cyber Criminals are celebrating – Data Breach is a Fad!

Vulnerable data is stored on Cloud and this is what makes it a lure for Cybercriminals. This doesn’t mean on-premise is safe, it has its own issues, even worse than cloud storage. Data commutes non-stop over the internet and gets stored in remote locations. Another area of concern is the growing number of customers which get served by Cloud Providers which poses a threat in the form of growing breaches since the scale of exposure to cybercrime is high in such cases. So, there is no second thought about securing data over the cloud since breach incidents get reported on a daily basis which is alarming, and frightening.

How often do you get notifications about a data breach/cyber attack from your Cloud provider?

There are many Government Regulations which insist on protecting your customer/enterprise data and to safely transfer it to the third party which can be your cloud provider for any kind of processing. Huge fines are imposed on businesses which fail to notify the concerned about a possible data breach. As per GDPR, breach notification is mandatory, businesses once aware of the breach are supposed to notify the authorities within 72 hours. Then impacted customers are to be notified without any further delay.

How to protect your enterprise data stored on the Cloud?

Reliable Cloud providers like Azure prioritize security measures to be deployed in order to protect your enterprise cloud data.

Risk of data breaches can be mitigated with strong encryption algorithms. You must check-in which stage data is encrypted and decrypted (while data is in transit or being at rest). Then you have to see the type of encryption method used by your cloud provider. Also, check if access to encryption keys is managed well.

Make sure your Authentication/Access Controls are Pertinent. Prominent cloud providers deploy multi-factor authentication to make sure your data privacy and security concerns are addressed properly.

Access control and encryption options available in Azure:

You can rely on Azure Cloud Storage solutions because it is packed with a wide-ranging set of security capabilities:

• Role-Based Access Control

Role-Based Access Control makes sure your cloud storage account is safe. Necessary access rights /privileges are provided to groups and applications by assigning appropriate RBAC role.

• Delegated access to storage objects

Delegated access to resources in your storage account is provided using a shared access signature (SAS). This gives client limited permissions to objects in your storage account for a definite period. These permissions can be provided without sharing your access keys.

• Encryption in Transit and at Rest

Azure secures your data in Transit by using Transport-level encryption (HTTPS), Wire Encryption for file shares, and Client-side encryption. Azure provides encryption for data at rest using Storage Service Encryption (available for Azure Blob storage), Client-side encryption, and Azure Disk Encryption.

• Azure Disk Encryption

Azure Disk Encryption encrypts Virtual Machine disks using keys and policies which you can control in Azure Key Vault. It works for both Linux and Windows.

• Firewalls and Virtual networks

You can set firewalls for your storage accounts and configure exceptions to permit traffic. This secures your storage accounts to a specified set of networks.

• Azure Data Box

You can transfer huge amounts of data offline in an encrypted mode to Azure using Data Box, Data Box Disk, and Data Box Heavy devices. Data Box Edge and Data Box Gateway are online data transfer products and use artificial intelligence (AI) enabled edge computer to process data. 

• Advanced Threat Protection and Azure Key Vault

Azure provides an additional layer of security intelligence to detect and protect your storage account from cyberattacks/threats. Azure storage diagnostic logs are regularly monitored from Azure Security center for suspicious activities to blob storage. Azure key vault helps you control and manage disk encryption keys. You can use key vault to audit keys and policy usage.

Best practices for data security and encryption.  

The best practices mentioned here are based on current Azure platform capabilities and feature sets and is updated on a regular basis.

1.Data Protection: Data occurs in the following states and controls are available for each state:

2. At rest: Many types of data exists in storages, containers and on physical (magnetic/optical disk) media.

3. In transit: Data is being transferred between components, locations, or programs like transfer over the network, across a service bus (from on-premises to cloud and vice-versa, including hybrid connections such as ExpressRoute), or during an input/output process.

Following are the best practices for using Key Vault and managing with secure workstation:

• Provide access to users, groups, and applications mentioning the specific scope
• Control what users have access to.
• Store certificates in your key vault.
• Make sure you can recuperate a deletion of key vaults or key vault objects.
  
• Protect sensitive accounts, data and tasks using a secure management workstation.
• Ensure endpoint protection.

Protect data in transit and at rest by following these best practices:

• Apply disk encryption to help safeguard your data.
• Avoid unauthorized access to data by using proper encryption which helps mitigate risks.
• Secure access to Azure virtual network.
• Secure access from an individual workstation located on-premises to an Azure virtual network.
• Use a high speed WAN link to move large data sets
• Interact with Azure Storage through the Azure portal.

Secure your email, documents, and sensitive data which are shared outside your business using Azure Information Protection. This is a cloud-based solution that helps an organization to classify, label, and protect its documents and emails. Azure Rights Management (Azure RMS) can be used to protect enterprise data and applications.

Keep control over your enterprise data and choose Azure If you are considering a safe and secure cloud service. Your customer details and your own personal information is best protected with Microsoft Azure. Carefully review the terms of service or contracts and switch to Azure today.