What Is Cloud Data Encryption?
The cloud is one of the technological marvels of the world, as it enables you to upload, store, and retrieve your files through internet access, no matter where you are. Besides, there is no risk of losing your data–unlike physical, removable media devices. Not all cloud services are fully secure, but the major operating systems and large storage vendors certainly offer data encryption solutions that ensure full data protection.
Cloud data encryption is the process of encoding or enciphering the data before it’s moved to cloud storage. Usually, cloud service providers offer a range of encryption services from encrypted connection to limited encryption of sensitive data. These services prevent unauthorized free access to your system or data without encryption/decryption keys.
Two Types Of Cloud Encryption And How They Work
There are mainly two forms of data encryption used in the cloud, namely data-in-transit and data-at-rest.
- Data-in-transit: This type of encryption is managed natively in web browsers and FTP client software connecting to secure websites. The most widespread cloud data-in-transit encryption is the HTTPS protocol. HTTP and HTTPS add a security wrapper–known as SSL (secure sockets layer)–around the internet communication channels based on the standard IP protocol. Therefore, if a third party intercepts the data stream between the user and the cloud, they would see only encoded, apparently meaningless data.
- Data-at-rest: This form of cloud encryption applies when the data is stored on a disk or other storage device. Here, the encoding and decoding of the data are handled by key exchanges between the user and the device. The keys are only granted to the users with authorization and trust certificates. Again, if an unauthorized user tries to copy or open the encrypted files, it will appear as a useless jumble.
Data Encryption Methods to Secure Your Cloud
The security of your sensitive and critical information should be the prime concern of your organization, given that cyberattacks have become increasingly sophisticated and dangerous. Hence, taking a few preventive measures around data encryption can assure you extensive security of your cloud data. Here are some data encryption methods to lock down your information in the cloud.
1. Pre-Upload Data Encryption
This is one of the most basic yet crucial data encryption methods. While HTTPS provides a high level of data protection to and from the cloud, it may not satisfy the more demanding data security requirements. In such cases, users may want to encrypt data before uploading it to the cloud.
Several third-party encryption tools are providing strong disk encryption at different levels– user, network, and cloud. These tools even apply encryption to the files when you’re done with modifications so they are encrypted before it reflects on the cloud.
2. Secure Access With Cloud Cryptography
Cloud cryptography is another data encryption solution to secure your cloud computing architecture. Many cloud service providers offer a layer of information security enabling secure access, particularly in the cases of shared cloud services. This layer of cloud cryptography is based on the Quantum Direct Key system, which is an advanced version of symmetric encryption keys. This method can also help reduce network congestion.
3. Protect Data With Cloud Access Security Broker
You could also encrypt data and control your keys by using CASB. Cloud Access Security Broker is a cloud-hosted, on-premises software that acts as an intermediary between enterprises and their cloud providers.
They have the capabilities to detect unsanctioned cloud applications and sensitive data in transit. They also can tokenize data, and control access to data. The security teams also benefit from the CASB systems as it helps them determine the risk of unapproved cloud solutions, gain visibility into compliance risk, and enhance threat detection capabilities.
4. Encryption Through Your Cloud Service Provider
You may also rely on your cloud service provider for data encryption solutions. Many cloud providers offer encryption services to safeguard your data while using their cloud storage. This works as an added layer of security at the local level (data at rest) and during transit as well.
5. Deploying Cloud Data Encryption Software
Cloud service providers offer standard security for client-to-cloud communications. However, users may need to implement additional measures to ensure secure operations all the time. Cloud data encryption software can help you realize the following benefits:
- Prevention of data exfiltration, theft, and corruption
- Prevents another cloud “tenant” from accessing your data
- Meet regulatory requirements
- Protection against outside threats
Whether your cloud is private, public, or hybrid, the data encryption software can be deployed at several physical points in the cloud-based architecture. You can deploy it on storage media through the operating system, in the cloud application, or transit over the network.
Conclusion
As demonstrated, there are a lot of ways in which you can secure your cloud data. It may seem difficult to determine which method will work best for you, but you can simply do so by mapping your cloud security needs. Furthermore, maintaining organization-wide awareness around data security can make the task a lot easier.
