Securing Access to Third-Party Cloud Providers

As organizations are transforming internal processes and customer experiences at what feels like lightspeed in the age of digital transformation, we’re seeing security gaps develop as infrastructures migrate to the cloud.

Like all digital resources, cloud solutions can have security pitfalls if they aren’t addressed timely and effectively. These weaknesses can expose sensitive customer and employee data, reveal valuable intellectual property, and lead to significant financial loss, costly legal action, and lasting damage to your brand.

To secure your email ecosystem and cloud providers, using layers of security is part of a holistic approach in locking down access to critical infrastructure. DMARC and its supporting technologies of DKIM, and SPF, as foundational domain safety, here are other best-practices to consider as we continue our journey in the fourth industrial revolution:

• Two-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) – Until we reach a passwordless future, it’s important to configure 2FA/MFA for all devices and applications and make its use mandatory. Password credentials are highly sought after by criminals and used to breach networks.
• CAPTCHAs (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) – Webforms, especially those integrated with an email autoresponder, continue to be a successful attack vector for cybercriminals. These attacks often combine social engineering and urgency with an initial phishing email, then cybercriminals side-step inbound email controls by using the Google forms email component. Protecting these tools with CAPTCHAs can help prevent these attacks.
• Content Delivery Network (CDN) – A CDN helps to deliver internet content efficiently and when configured accurately, it can help protect websites against exploits like Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS).
• Security Awareness Training – Enables you to gauge user-associated risks, empowers employees to understand cloud vulnerabilities, and drives culture shift to prioritize security.
• Advanced Threat Protection – Guides in-the-moment user behaviors, applies a fact-based approach to risk reduction, and leverages aggregated data to accurately detect emerging threats.
• Limited access – Cyberattacks are unrelenting, and many organizations are adopting a zero trust model that constantly monitors and validates user access to network resources.
• Update Software – make sure your software is current and up-to-date. Cybercriminals search for and use these vulnerabilities to gain network access to install ransomware and malware.
• Backups – do them regularly and often so you have reliable data to restore in case of a successful ransomware attack.

Because of a necessary layered approach to cloud security, it’s vital to put into place a management process so these efforts are regularly reviewed and integrated effectively and efficiently. Security breaches occur regularly because of misconfigured cloud services; those configurations must be revisited regularly.

We’re here to help people understand and deploy DMARC; you can start a complimentary trial and get assistance from our support and analyst teams.

Want to continue the conversation? Head over to the dmarcian Forum.