Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is soaring in popularity. IaaS promotes resilience and scalability, enables friction-free remote working, and reduces costs. But such advantages come with security implications. Managing cloud exploitation at the edge allows the workforce to remain focused on their jobs. As the technology matures, customers will enjoy faster services with foolproof security. 

Today, most cloud networks have thousands of data-generating devices connected to the infrastructure. The edge locations remain spread out in employee homes, remote warehouses, and other places. Most of these points have weak security and are rife with vulnerabilities. For instance, many cloud-edge devices have default passwords, making them easy prey for attackers. Many others have built-in faults or configuration mistakes. 

Cybercriminals exploit such shortcomings and target infrastructure, services, and application vulnerabilities. They exploit compromised credentials, misconfigurations, or other vulnerabilities to access cloud accounts. Once inside, they:

• Steal data to commit identity theft, financial fraud, or violate intellectual property rights. They may also modify the data or encrypt it for ransomware. The 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report attributes 95% of cloud attacks to financial gain. 24% of all cyber-attacks involve ransomware.
• Launch further attacks. Attackers compromise legitimate accounts through phishing, social engineering, or other means. Once inside, they gain control over cloud resources attached to such accounts. They abuse such resources. For instance, they may use compromised accounts to launch DDoS attacks or host malware. They may also host malware in compromised cloud platforms and distribute it to unsuspecting users. 

Most cloud applications today have deep and tight integrations with other enterprise assets. Such a setup increases the blast radius in the event of a security breach.

Here are the best approaches for managing cloud exploitation at the edge in such a state of affairs:

1. Understand the shared security model

The basic cloud security approach is a shared responsibility model. Here, the cloud vendor and the user divide the security responsibilities. The security and compliance framework clarifies the systems under the cloud provider’s responsibility. The customer often remains responsible for the data and applications utilising the cloud. 

Clarity on the shared model is important to protect data, applications, and cloud workloads. Ambiguities or improper understanding could leave gaps in protection, rendering the network vulnerable.

2. Devise a simple but powerful and comprehensive strategy

Ambiguous security policies weaken security by taking focus away from security. A simple but powerful strategy guides IT teams to take active steps to prevent cloud exploitation at the edge. The workforce also becomes aware of the security risks and tries implementing these policies. 

To develop a simple and comprehensive strategy:

• Adopt a security-by-design approach to integrate security measures upfront.
• Test to ensure the code is free from vulnerabilities. One of the biggest entry points for attackers is code vulnerabilities. Open-source code from untrusted sources poses the biggest danger. 
• Automate routine security tasks such as vulnerability scanning and patch management. Automation ensures accuracy and prevents the risk of delay-induced vulnerabilities.
• Segment the network edge to isolate different components and services and reduce the potential impact of a breach. Apply micro-segmentation to control communication between edge devices and services.
• Train the workforce on security risks, best practices, and cyber hygiene. Offer reinforcement of training. A cultural shift where security becomes the central focus. Remind the workforce to remain ever-vigilant against threats.

Often, the deployed technology is not mature enough to detect and thwart the latest threats. Several start-ups with no track record or established credentials compound the difficulty. Multiple vendors offer various hardware and software services, making standardisation difficult. To overcome such issues, only onboard vendors who can show their products have gone through extensive security testing. 

3. Apply consistent policies

Applying consistent policies across tools and devices makes the cloud edge more secure. To overcome the lack of comprehensive industry-wide security standards, develop in-house standards. 

• Use centralised Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems to enforce policies and roles. Cloud security posture management (CSPM) solutions identify and remediate security misconfigurations.
• Ensure compliance with relevant industry regulations and data protection laws. Track the changing compliance requirements and adjust strategies. Such an approach enables safety by default.

4. Monitor the network 

Effective cloud edge protection requires advanced threat detection and mitigation capabilities. 

• Track the cloud environment and make regular security assessments. Deploy intrusion detection and protection systems to monitor the environment for suspicious activity. 
• Analyse the traffic flow. Establish a normal baseline. Track data flows for abnormalities. Machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques help. 

Machine learning and behavioural signature fingerprinting detect threats early. Enterprises using AI and automation in threat detection and mitigation save up to $3 million compared to enterprises that do not use AI.

5. Implement robust access controls

Access control complements network monitoring to secure the cloud edge.

Put in place robust access controls. Adopt a zero-trust security model. Co-opt multi-factor authentication, role-based access control, and least privilege principles.

Encrypt to protect the data in transit and at rest. Also, apply data anonymisation and data masking techniques to protect sensitive information.

6. Implement WAAP

Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) has emerged as a powerful weapon in the cyber security war. WAAP is a set of security services that combine Web application firewall (WAF), API protection, bot management, DDoS mitigation, encryption, data loss prevention (DLP) and real-time threat intelligence. It offers rapid threat detection and mitigation and is an invaluable tool for DevSecOps teams to detect threats rapidly and enforce solutions. WAAP helps enterprises implement an optimised “Observe-Orient-Decide-Act” (OODA) loop that improves mean times to detect and mean time to respond.

WAAP solutions protect web applications and APIs from known and emerging attacks. It protects against API abuse, botnet attacks, Cross-site scripting (XSS), data exfiltration, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and SQL injection. 

Leading WAAP vendors include Akamai Technologies, Cloudflare, F5 Networks, Imperva, NGINX, and Radware. These global WAAP security platforms have hundreds of Points of Presence (PoP) globally. They also have huge capacities to help enterprises build, secure and deliver amazing app experiences with top-grade security. 

WAAP reduces the threat of data breaches and lessens the risk of financial losses and reputational damage. The spillover benefits include:

• Automating security tasks improves efficiency and frees IT staff to focus on other priorities.
• Meeting compliance obligations, such as GDPR, PCI DSS, and HIPAA.

7. Keep abreast of developments

Network security is a never-ending story. Threat actors and cyber security teams engage in a continuous look of one-upmanship. As soon as cyber security mitigates the latest threat, the threat actors launch newer, more sophisticated attacks. 

The latest innovation is the “Dual WAAP.” Dual WAAP capability enables DevSecOp teams to test new rules in audit mode against production traffic. Such an option allows the security team to roll out WAAP with full confidence and integrate it with existing CI/CD workflows. Security teams can push effective virtual patches faster. Dual WAAP also does away with downtime while updating rulesets. The new rules deploy across the global network as fast as under 60 seconds.

Managing cloud exploitation at the edge allows the workforce to remain focused on their jobs. As the technology matures, customers will enjoy faster services with foolproof security.