Cyber Security in Cloud Computing + Microsoft Azure Labs

Why Cloud Security?

Breaches can or do happen in cloud, in fact breaches are happening in cloud. In Marriott Starwood Hotels data breach some 327 million guest records were compromised that contained information such as name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest accounting information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date, and communication preferences.

Note sure if you have heard about the below attacks

Capital One Data Breach wherein New York Times reported the damage at over 80,000 account numbers, 140,000 Social Security numbers, 1 million Canadian Social Insurance Numbers.

Who did it ?

A former Amazon software engineer from Seattle (CSP –Cloud Service Provider Employee )who had been operating online under the handle “Erratic” was arrested after hacking Capital One using a Server-Side Request Forgery attack (SSRF). Former Amazon Employee used the technique to obtain credentials for a role that had access to sensitive information stored in S3.

In cloud Security, we will learn certain best practices in regards to securing data; organizations stand a much better chance of ensuring their data is safe.

Another Breach in Hotel management systems

Autoclerk, a hotel reservations management system, had an unsecured Elasticsearch database hosted in AWS that exposed hundreds of thousands of booking reservations.

The system was heavily utilized by military personnel, and the exposed data revealed sensitive information about travel by military, including high ranking officers and troops being deployed.

Current Scenario

More and more companies are migrating their applications and infrastructure to the cloud, shifting operational aspects to service providers such as Microsoft and Amazon. However, cloud computing is a shared responsibility, especially when it comes to keeping your data, users, and systems safe.

• In this course, you will major forms of cloud technology, its benefits and risks, and the cybersecurity standards and body of knowledge required to mitigate those risks. 
• Learn concepts such as software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
• Different deployment models available in Cloud

What is Cloud Security?

Cloud security, also known as cloud computing security, consists of a set of policies, controls, procedures and technologies that work together to protect cloud-based systems, data and infrastructure.

You will learn Core Cloud Computing Concepts which essential to understand before digging to Cloud Security.

This course has divided in below 8 Major Sections.

1. Cloud Computing Fundamentals

2. Contracts and Agreements in Cloud

3. Vulnerability management and Secure Configuration in Cloud

4. Handling Security Incidents with Cloud Service Provider

5. Key Risks in cloud and their Mitigation

6. Securing Azure Storage

7. Logging and Monitoring in Azure

8. Compliance In Cloud

This is not a complete list; one can check for recommendations by NIST, CSA STAR and implement security in organization as per organization requirements.

What you will learn

1. Cloud Computing Fundamentals

• What is Cloud Computing
• Details about all 5 Cloud Characteristics in Detail
• On Demand Self Service
• Broad Network Access
• Resource Pooling
• Rapid Elasticity
• Measured Service
• Cloud Deployment Models ( IAAS, PAAS and SAAS)
• Cloud Service Models ( Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud)

2. Understand Cloud Agreements/Contracts

In this section, you will learn importance of Contracts. How you can negotiate with Cloud Service providers for items to cover in contract to avoid future penalties. You will learn major artifacts for CSA (Cloud Service Agreement). You will learn important concepts like SLA in CLOUD, Acceptable use policy in Cloud.

3. Cloud Assets and Secure Configuration Management

In this section, you will learn assets discovery issues in cloud, how to have complete asset discovery in cloud for effective security and compliance. You will learn Challenges in Cloud Asset Discovery, SecDevops and secure configuration. You will vulnerability and patch management in cloud.

4. Handling Security Incidents with Cloud Service Provider

In this Section, you will learn what to check in CSP incident response and Security Notification process, Incident response process in a cloud. You will also learn what kind log data / Support can be obtain from CSP during forensics investigations.

5. Key Risks in cloud and their Mitigation

In this Section, you will learn various issues you can consider to protect un-authorized access of data in cloud. You will learn various concerns like Cloud Deployment Model and Security Concerns, Location of data, what kind of Data Sensitivity and Legal Obligations would be there in cloud. How to do Media Sanitization in Cloud. Key management in cloud and many more.You will learn about IAAS, PAAS and SAAS Security issues.

6. Securing Azure Storage

In this section you will learn about the below topics

• Azure Storage account overview
• Methods for Securing storage accounts
• Concept of Management  and data Plane
• Azure storage Data plane Security.
• Limitation of using storage account Keys
• Security using SAS Keys

7.  Logging and Monitoring in Azure

In this section you will learn about below topics

• Azure Security Center Overview
• What is Azure Monitor
• You will be well versed with all the features of Azure Security center.
• Detailed overview of Azure Security center Options
• Recommendations and Alerts
• Maintain Regulatory compliance using Azure Security center

8. Compliance In Cloud

In this Section, you will learn Information Management Legal Responsibilities, what are different types of legal issues in cloud. E-discovery issues in Cloud, What Regulations to follow in Cloud and Jurisdictional and Location issues in cloud environment.