Cloud Security Audit Checklist

Make sure that security controls are in place to safeguard data, systems and applications against vulnerabilities. This should include implementing a penetration testing program and vulnerability management system.

Locate all dependencies upon which the assessed cloud service platform depends. Provide details regarding any ISM control objectives inherited, implementation guidance from dependency sources and any variations that affect existing controls.

1. Access and permissions
As a CISO, SecOps engineer or DevOps professional, your primary responsibility should be access management. However, all employees should take ownership for it: from regular staffers to interns and temporary workers. According to Verizon’s Data Breach Investigation Report (DBIR), 61% of data breaches involve credential theft.

User Access Review (UAR) is a security process to ensure only authorized individuals have access to specific systems and data within your organization. It does this by periodically (monthly or quarterly) reviewing privileges, permissions and accounts as well as when roles change.

User Access Reviews help create an environment of accountability, decreasing risks of unauthorized access, stolen data or compromised identities. They also assist you with meeting regulatory requirements while strengthening cloud security posture.

2. Multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication should be implemented when accessing your cloud environment, to reduce risks related to data breach and theft. You also must establish an effective mechanism for granting and revoking access on an ongoing basis.

Create clear policies to outline which data should move to the cloud and which should remain on-premise, aligned with your business goals and industry regulations. Encryption can also help protect your information; this process converts it to a format only accessible to people with a decryption key.

Passing a cloud security audit is a significant achievement, as it demonstrates your organization’s dedication to strong security hygiene and regulatory compliance, while potentially saving your organization from costly fines for noncompliance.

3. Encryption
As your customers transfer more data into the cloud environment, a thorough security assessment becomes increasingly important. A proper evaluation should include password policies (with regard to strength and frequency of changes), multi-factor authentication, managing SaaS access permissions, encryption (both transit and at rest), creating clear data-sharing permissions that meet least privilege and need-to-know principles, safeguarding private keys for certificates and public keys, creating backups with audit trails, as well as installing monitoring tools.

No matter if you are an IT professional or business owner, these best practices will ensure your cloud environment is safe and compliant – giving stakeholders peace of mind that sensitive customer data is being safeguarded while they focus on how the cloud can drive their success.

4. Backups
As schools and districts adopt cloud applications such as Google G Suite or Microsoft Office 365, it becomes necessary to conduct risk analysis and audits in order to address security concerns. These can include password policies, multi-factor authentication, managing SaaS access permissions, anti-phishing protections, external sharing standards, message encryption capabilities and mobile management policies; plus security health/score audits.

Data breaches in the cloud can be costly in terms of regulatory fines and compensation payments as well as reputational damage. Therefore, having backup and recovery plans with physical storage locations, access controls to server facilities and contingency plans in case of natural disasters is vitally important to protecting data assets in an emergency situation.

An effective cloud security checklist must include these items and be reviewed frequently in order to keep your cloud protected against cyberattacks and allow it to operate smoothly despite potential threats.

5. Monitoring
Cloud security audits are an indispensable way of ensuring the protection of digital infrastructures, revealing misconfigurations, unauthorized access and other potential risks that are difficult and time consuming to conduct manually. Sprinto makes this process more manageable while decreasing errors.

Monitoring is key for cloud security, including password policies, data loss prevention, and more. Passwords should be complex yet regularly changed for maximum protection of sensitive information from leakage. Furthermore, monitoring data flows helps keep an eye on where sensitive data goes while tools like data classification engines assist.

Conduct regular cybersecurity and compliance audits. This will ensure that your security responsibilities align with policies, and help identify any changes to network and cloud security policies that need to be addressed.