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Cloud Security Solutions

Cloud Security Solutions Compared: 6 Solutions to Consider

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December 10, 2020

Topics: Cloud StorageStorage EfficienciesAdvanced6 minute read

What are Cloud Security Solutions?

Cloud security solutions are tools and utilities you can use to secure workloads, applications, and data in the cloud. These solutions can be used in public or private clouds and often have features for hybrid or multi cloud deployments.

These solutions come in a variety of formats depending on the level of management and coverage you need. The three main formats are:

  • Cloud workload protection platforms (CWPPs)—collections of security technologies that focus on security issues related to cloud architectures. These solutions typically provide features for monitoring, control, and auditing.
  • Cloud access security brokers (CASBs)—software suites that mediate between cloud services and users. These solutions provide features for monitoring and filtering traffic, authenticating and authorizing users, and securing connections.
  • Software as a service (SaaS)—cloud-based solutions that you can use to perform security tasks. Typically, these solutions focus on specific security aspects and integrate with other solutions to contribute to system-wide protections.

    This is part of an extensive series of guides about cloud security.

In this article, you will learn:

Must Have Cloud Security Solution Features

When evaluating security solutions, there are several features that you should prioritize. If solutions do not offer these features, you may want to look for alternatives. You might also consider solutions that specialize in one aspect and integrate well with your existing solutions.

Next-Gen Firewalls (NGFW)

Next-gen firewalls are firewalls that can inspect packets, provide intrusion prevention, and integrate threat intelligence. These tools provide more than the limited protocol or port inspection and filtering that traditional firewalls can.

NGFWs can detect threats that would bypass traditional firewalls because of the above features. When layered with other protections, these tools can help you identify threats before they enter your network and can prevent data leakage from the inside.

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) with Event Logging

IDS tools enable you to monitor your networks and systems for policy violations or suspicious activity. These tools use event and activity logging to create auditable tracks of user activity. When suspicious activity is identified, security teams are alerted. Some tools can also apply log information to protect against threats, such as suspicious IP addresses automatically.

Internal Firewalls

Internal firewalls can provide an additional layer of protection for attacks that make it inside your networks or systems. These tools specifically filter and monitor traffic for individual services, resources, or segments of your network. For example, you can apply internal firewalls to protecting storage of confidential data.

Data-at-Rest Encryption

At-rest encryption ensures that even if attackers can access your storage resources, they cannot use the data or understand its contents. At-rest encryption discourages theft and can grant additional response time to theft victims. For example, if encrypted passwords are stolen, users can hopefully change their passwords before attackers can break the encryption.

Native Integration Into Cloud Management and Security Systems

The shared responsibility models implemented by cloud vendors typically mean that you do not have full access to security controls or data. To gain access to the data relevant to your environments, you need to be able to integrate native solutions with any external tools you’re using. For example, you should be able to either export data to native solutions or import data from native utilities for comprehensive analysis and application.

Threat Intelligence Feeds

Threat intelligence feeds can supply you with information about the nature of threats, the techniques and tools that attackers are using, and how to protect systems against threats. Solutions should be able to ingest these feeds and apply gained intelligence automatically.

Related content: read our guide to cloud security threats.

Top Cloud Security Solutions

There are an increasing number of cloud security solutions available from both cloud vendors and third-parties. Below are some of the most popular third-party solutions that you can use to protect your cloud environments.

Sophos Central

Sophos Central is a solution that integrates endpoint and firewall protections. You can use it to secure web applications, mobile devices, web servers, and wireless devices.

Sophos Central includes features for:

  • Endpoint detection and response (EDR)
  • Exploit prevention
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Cloud management
  • Virtual private network (VPN)

Qualys

Qualys is a platform that you can use to secure on-premises, hybrid, multi, and pure cloud resources. It incorporates multiple solutions including tools for infrastructure, web app, endpoint, compliance, and DevOps security.

Qualys includes features for:

  • Automatic service and resource discovery
  • Real-time alerting and detection
  • Automatic patching and updates
  • Integration of threat intelligence and machine learning

Proofpoint

Proofpoint is a platform that provides multiple solutions to protect cloud environments, including:

  • Cloud App Security Broker—enables you to secure a variety of cloud applications using analytics and automation. It includes features to help you evaluate risks in third-party applications.
  • Proofpoint Meta—enables you to secure remote connections with a software-defined perimeter. It supports granular access controls and management, secure cloud migrations, secure access for contract or acquired employees.
  • Cloud Account Defense—enables you to detect and prevent unauthorized access to your cloud service accounts. It is compatible with G Suite and Office 365.

Check Point CloudGuard

CloudGuard is a platform you can use to secure private, public, multi, and hybrid clouds environments. It supports protections for both SaaS and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) resources.

CloudGuard includes features for:

  • Advanced threat protection
  • Security automation and scalability
  • High fidelity posture management (HFPM)
  • Centralized console for visibility and control across your environment

CloudPassage Halo

Halo is a platform you can use to automate security of private, public, hybrid, and multi environments. It includes support for IaaS and containers. Halo uses an agent to provide visibility across environments.

Halo includes features for:

  • Security posture management
  • Automatic asset inventories
  • Preconfigured policies for compliance
  • Advanced threat detection

Prisma

Prisma is a cloud-native platform you can use for public, private, hybrid, and multi cloud environments. It includes purpose-built solutions for the three major public cloud providers and OpenShift for on-premises clouds.

Prisma includes features for:

  • Centralized visibility, automation, and detection across resources
  • Preconfigured policies for governance and compliance
  • Integration with IDEs, SCM, and CI/CD tooling
  • Machine learning-based threat detection

Cloud Security Solutions with NetApp Cloud Insights

NetApp Cloud Insights is an infrastructure monitoring tool that gives you visibility into your complete infrastructure. With Cloud Insights, you can monitor, troubleshoot and optimize all your resources including your public clouds and your private data centers.

Cloud Insights helps you find problems fast before they impact your business. Optimize usage so you can defer spend, do more with your limited budgets, detect ransomware attacks before it’s too late and easily report on data access for security compliance auditing.

In particular, NetApp Cloud Insights provides a Dashboard Gallery that helps you create relevant dashboards instantly, or customize dashboards quickly to suit your needs.

Learn More About Cloud Security Solutions

Read more in our series of guides about cloud security solutions.

Cloud Security Threats
Failures in data security can have a significant impact on operations. Data breaches or abuses can lead to sizable compliance fines and loss of productivity, customer trust, and revenue. Because of these damages, it’s important to prioritize data security in your operations and take proactive measures to prevent security threats.

In this article you’ll learn what data security threats exist, how to distinguish between malicious and non-malicious user behavior, and how you can ensure data security with Cloud Secure by NetApp.

Read more: Do You Really Have to Deal with Data Security?

See Additional Guides on Key Cloud Security Topics
Cloud Insights Team