Cloud Security and SOC Operations

Summary

Cloud computing has transformed how businesses use information technology over the past decade. This chapter discusses key cloud computing models and the benefits they provide, as well as look at common security risks faced in cloud environments. It examines different techniques and best practices that security operations teams can use to gain visibility and protect resources deployed across hybrid cloud infrastructures. Leveraging cloud access security brokers (CASBs) introduces a critical layer of security that augments monitoring and incident response capabilities when properly integrated into a security operations center. CASBs provide centralized policy management, activity monitoring, threat protection, and compliance auditing across numerous cloud services and platforms. Drift detection creates configuration change audit trails to inform when and how workloads deviate from compliant baselines. Proper encryption serves as the last line of defense to protect sensitive cloud workloads and data against compromise.