With more enterprise level businesses migrating to cloud based computing models everyday, the need to secure sensitive client data is becoming increasingly urgent. The same intense scalability that allows cloud computing systems to adequately serve thousands upon thousands of users in the same instant is a matter of great concern from a security standpoint. A breach into a cloud based computing system could allow intruders access to an inconceivable amount of personal user data.

Securing Virtual Clouds

Securing your business cloud is further complicated by the fact that some of the most trusted digital security methods, such as installing a physical firewall or high-quality antivirus program, do not directly translate to the world of cloud computing. Virtualized cloud computing systems, in being designed differently from the physically based single servers of yesterday, require specialized approaches to security.

Cloud computing experts recommend that companies looking to secure their virtualized machines take a varied approach to digital security that comprises four main areas of focus. The first task is to secure processes that fall under the category of compliance and auditing; processes that produce specifically formatted reports on command. Examples of such processes include reports of system access logs that display recent users, their original access points, and their usage metrics. Another important task within this category is the ability to produce a report on the system’s compliance with certain security standards.

Compliance

One of the most important of these compliance issues references credit card processing standards designed to decrease the chances that credit card information is intercepted or exploited. For example, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard prescribes 12 strict requirements to which all payment processing systems must adhere. Companies that accept online payments via credit or debit card must keep extensive transaction logs to protect their customers, yet doing so generates a security concern because of the amount of personal credit card data that is being stored as a result! Businesses migrating to cloud computing environments must make the protection of this critical data integral to their security operations.

Intrusion Detection

The next major consideration when securing cloud computing systems is intrusion detection, or the system’s ability to spot and clamp down on security breaches as they happen. This phase of securing your virtual machines can include the installation of firewall elements, though these measures take many different shapes in the world of cloud computing. For example, virtual firewalls, which monitor packets transferred between virtual machines to ensure they adhere to security policies, can be employed as one means of defending your cloud computing system against malicious commands.

Access Control and Malware

Access control is the next major security concern for cloud based computing systems. Administrators can define policies that determine which users can start and stop virtual machines and caution must be exercised in defining user roles to ensure that only the appropriate users have the ability to initialize and stop high level functions on the system. Finally, all virtual machines should be protected by anti-malware programs which monitor for, and prevent, potentially cataclysmic exploits within the system before they are able to cause massive damage or data loss.

Hypervisor Security (Virtual Machines, Private Clouds, IaaS)

Patching the hypervisor software is extremely important in protecting virtual machines and private clouds from vulnerabilities. The hypervisor, in simple terms, is basically the layer between the host system and the guest system in a virtual machine setup. The hypervisor is software, and as such needs to be patched and maintained accordingly. If a hacker gains control of the hypervisor, they can control the entire virtual environment. Malware and rootkits installed at the hypervisor level can be very difficult to detect by anti-virus programs running on either the host system or the guest system. The malware can then intercept traffic and operations running between the systems while remaining undetected.

Keeping Safe and Secure…

With all of these security issues to consider, it can seem daunting to provide reliable protection against common exploits and to shore up weak points in your cloud based computing system. Fortunately, computing security firms are rapidly responding to the market’s changing needs for comprehensive security suites that will address the new challenges presented by cloud computing. To name one example, Trend Micro has released a comprehensive virtual machine security dashboard, known as Deep Security, which allows administrators to see the system’s overall health in real-time, enabling fast responses to changing security conditions. As migration to the cloud continues, this market sector promises to evolve quickly to address the growing need for effective solutions to cloud based computing security.

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