In recent years, multi-cloud adoption has become a dominant strategy for organizations looking to enhance their flexibility, optimize workloads, and avoid vendor lock-in. By leveraging services from multiple cloud providers (such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud), businesses can benefit from a diverse range of tools, scalability, and performance. However, as organizations expand their use of multiple cloud environments, the complexity of managing security also increases.
While multi-cloud environments offer distinct advantages, they introduce a unique set of security risks. In this blog, we’ll explore the most common security challenges faced by organizations in multi-cloud environments and provide actionable strategies to mitigate these risks and strengthen cloud security posture.
Security Risks in Multi-Cloud Environments
As organizations diversify their cloud infrastructure, they must address several key security concerns to maintain a robust defense strategy. Below are the primary risks associated with multi-cloud environments.
Increased Attack Surface
A multi-cloud environment expands an organization’s attack surface by distributing data and applications across multiple cloud providers, each representing a potential entry point for attackers. This increases the number of security controls required, as each provider has its own tools and models. Misconfigurations or overlooked controls in any platform could allow unauthorized access to sensitive data or systems.
Complexity in Visibility and Control
Managing multiple cloud environments can complicate monitoring, threat detection, and response. Different cloud providers have distinct security management consoles, tools, and interfaces, making it challenging to maintain centralized visibility into security posture. Without a unified view, organizations may miss critical threats or vulnerabilities lurking across their environments.
Misconfigurations and Inconsistent Policies
One of the most common security vulnerabilities in multi-cloud environments is misconfiguration. A small error in setting permissions, improperly configuring APIs, or failing to segment networks can expose sensitive data or services to unauthorized access. Furthermore, as each cloud provider has its own security best practices and settings, inconsistent configurations across platforms can create gaps in security.
Data Residency and Compliance Challenges
When organizations store data in multiple cloud environments, they may unintentionally violate data residency and compliance regulations. For example, GDPR requires that personal data of EU citizens be stored and processed within the EU, while other jurisdictions may have different data protection laws. Ensuring compliance across multiple cloud platforms can be a complex and time-consuming task, especially when cloud providers store data in various regions with different regulatory requirements.
Best Security Strategies for Multi-Cloud Environments
To mitigate the risks inherent in multi-cloud environments, organizations must adopt a proactive, holistic approach to cloud security. Below are some key strategies and best practices for securing your multi-cloud infrastructure.
Centralized Security Management
To avoid fragmented visibility, organizations should implement centralized security management tools. A Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution can help provide real-time monitoring and correlation of security events across multiple cloud environments. Additionally, using Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools can automate the detection of misconfigurations, non-compliance, and other risks, ensuring that your cloud environments maintain a strong security posture.
Unified Identity and Access Management (IAM)
A consistent and robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) system is essential for securing access to cloud resources. In a multi-cloud environment, managing user identities and permissions across different cloud providers can be challenging, so it’s crucial to standardize your access controls. Identity Federation allows you to unify authentication mechanisms, enabling seamless and secure access across platforms.
Native Cloud Security Tools
Each major cloud provider offers a suite of native security tools designed to help organizations secure their resources in the cloud. These tools can automate security checks, detect anomalies, and even respond to threats. For example:
- AWS GuardDuty can identify potential threats such as unusual network activity or unauthorized access.
- Azure Security Center offers continuous assessment of your cloud environment for security vulnerabilities.
- Google Cloud Security Command Center provides centralized security management and real-time threat detection.
Leveraging these cloud-native tools helps ensure that your multi-cloud environment is equipped with the best possible security infrastructure, tailored to each cloud provider’s services.
Penetration Testing and Red Teaming
Regular penetration testing is essential to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in your multi-cloud infrastructure before attackers do. A robust penetration testing program simulates real-world attack scenarios to test the effectiveness of your security defenses.
Use Case: Taking Over a Multi-Cloud Environment
Here’s an example of how to successfully secure multi-cloud environments. As part of an assessment, CYE’s team began with the privileges of a standard, unprivileged domain user. During their exploration, they discovered plaintext credentials stored in a text file on SharePoint. These credentials belonged to a user in a separate, internal legacy domain. Because this legacy domain was outdated and its domain controller lacked critical patches, it was vulnerable to the well-known NoPac exploit.
Leveraging this vulnerability, the team successfully compromised the domain, performed a “DcSync” attack, and extracted all password hashes of domain users. Using offline password-cracking techniques, they uncovered the credentials of the Azure Global Administrator due to weak password policies within the domain.
The team then identified a critical security gap: the absence of conditional access enforcement and two-factor authentication (2FA) for logins originating from the internal organizational network. Exploiting this weakness, they successfully accessed Azure using the compromised Global Administrator account, gaining full control over the Azure environment.
After compromising the Azure environment, the team extended their access by taking control of the Azure Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) application. This allowed them to infiltrate the organization’s AWS environment, as authentication to AWS was managed via ADFS.
Additionally, through the Microsoft 365 Admin panel, the team was able to reset passwords and disable two-factor authentication (2FA) for privileged Google Cloud users. This was possible because organizational Microsoft accounts were used for logging into Google Cloud Platform (GCP) via Microsoft SSO.
As a result, the team achieved full control over the organization’s on-premises domain, Azure, AWS, and GCP environments.
Conclusion
As organizations embrace multi-cloud environments, the need for robust security strategies becomes crucial. While the flexibility and scalability offered by multiple cloud providers are beneficial, they also introduce significant security challenges. By adopting a comprehensive, proactive approach to multi-cloud security—incorporating centralized management, automated configuration, encryption, IAM, and regular testing—you can significantly reduce the risks associated with multi-cloud environments.
Remember, security is an ongoing process. As cloud technologies evolve and cyber threats become more sophisticated, your security strategy must continuously adapt to stay ahead of potential risks. By focusing on these best practices, you can achieve a more secure, compliant, and resilient multi-cloud environment that supports your organization’s goals without compromising on security.
Want to learn more about how to protect your multi-cloud environment? Contact us.
