Dec 20th, 2024
Cloud App Security: How to Ensure Your Apps are Hack-Proof
App security concerns are nothing new. As an app developer, safeguarding your users’ data is perhaps one of your most significant duties. Nonetheless, numerous companies are questioning whether and in what ways app security has evolved with the widespread adoption of cloud-based development. With the increasing demands on cloud app security, developers have started to rely on cloud service providers to protect their applications and infrastructure from any external threats.
The ubiquity of cloud services in app development has changed security concerns somewhat. Applications are now composed of many different cloud services, linked together by APIs and network requests, and each link in that chain creates a new security concern.
What is Cloud App Security? Why do we need it?
Cloud app security is the set of processes and procedures used to secure applications that operate primarily in the cloud. Modern applications are spread across a variety of cloud platforms, from things like Google Workspaces to AWS instances, to hybrid systems that combine both on-premises resources and multiple cloud services.
Cloud app security strives to protect every potential weakness in a multi-cloud environment, at every stage of the development lifecycle. Apps need to be protected not only while transferring data in production, but also while running automated tests in hosted environments and deploying via online repositories. User permissions need to be limited, and developer permissions also need to be limited.
5 Tips to Lock Down Identity Management and Prevent Identity Threats
Identity management and tightly controlled user permissions is the first step in securing a cloud-based application. Tiered permissions hierarchies ensure that the number of people able to access an application at any point is limited to only those that need access.
1. Require Secure Passwords
Enforcing strong passwords is the most important thing you can do to ensure proper identity management. Automatically generating strong passwords and using password managers to store those passwords is the most effective way of protecting users and your organization from data leaks.
2. Implement Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) Everywhere
Multi Factor Authentication is crucial, especially for developers and other organization members who work on an application. Nearly all major cloud platforms require MFA these days, and enforcing MFA use among your employees will go a long way in protecting weak points in an application.
3. Create Least Privilege Roles
The Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) is a security concept that grants users the lowest necessary level of access. Only give users access to resources they absolutely need. Cloud storage makes it very easy to overshare resources via URLs, but this opens up more potentiality for bad actors to access those resources.
4. Disable Inactive Accounts
Zombie accounts that sit unmonitored for extended periods of time are vulnerable to attack. Hackers might seize these accounts and use them to get behind security walls, send phishing emails to both users and employees, and more.
5. Monitor for Suspicious User Behavior or Compromised Credentials
Data leaks and compromised credentials are a major source of security concern. It is very easy to monitor user activity these days with click tracking and other data-collecting methods. As well as using this data for business analysis, you should also be monitoring it for possible security breaches.
Tips to Improve Cloud App Security
Beyond those foundational measures, there are further strategies organizations can implement to ensure cloud applications don’t fall victim to online attacks.
1. Use reCAPTCHA to Reduce Malicious Traffic
Implement reCAPTCHA to minimize harmful traffic. This free service can be employed at different stages of the authentication process to lessen the impact of malicious traffic. At a minimum, it should be used on web forms, particularly username and password forms, or forms that contain other sensitive data like credit card information.
2. Use Authorization and Authentication Effectively
The terms authorization and authentication are frequently confused, but they actually refer to different concepts. Authentication is the process of confirming a user’s identity, ensuring that they are who they claim to be. This can be achieved through methods such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), entering a password, answering a security question, or a combination of these approaches.
Authorization determines what the authenticated user has access to. This is managed by permission controls and the Principle of Least Permission. Authenticated users should have access only to those resources granted by their permission level.
It is critical to understand the difference between authentication and authorization and to use both procedures in tandem to effectively secure a system.
3. Minimize and Monitor Attack Surface Area
Minimizing the attack surface area is not always possible, as in a multi-cloud environment there are many entry points that can introduce weaknesses to the system. The easiest way to minimize the attack surface area is to use as few services as possible and keep as much traffic as possible behind secured routes.
Monitoring the attack surface area can be done via something like Crowdstrike, which can be deployed to cloud environments and containers to continuously watch for suspicious activity. This makes it more difficult for attackers to hide, and also more costly for them to launch an attack.
4. Encrypt Sensitive Data
It should go without saying that all sensitive user data should be encrypted in your databases and while in-transit on your network.
5. Develop a Strong API Strategy
All of these methods together will serve to reinforce security on your system and strengthen your API. This is particularly important if you plan to make your API public or expose certain endpoints. These days, opening your API and charging other enterprise customers for access to your functionality is a big part of online business – but before you can think about doing that you must ensure that all parts of your system are secure.
6. Hire a Security Testing Company
As cybersecurity threats are on the rise, the importance of security testing grows ever more crucial. Security testing companies are essential in uncovering vulnerabilities and potential issues within applications. They employ methods like security audits and penetration testing to reduce risks and safeguard against reputational harm.
To keep cloud applications secure, developers must continuously implement strong security measures, including cloud app security. Protecting user data is crucial in today’s cloud-centric environment. Utilize cloud provider security features, enforce strong identity management, and monitor for vulnerabilities. Enhance security with encryption, API protection, and professional security testing. As digital threats evolve, adapt your cloud app security strategies to maintain user trust.
