Cloud Security Audit: Everything You Need to Know

Cloud security audits are necessary to ensure that cloud-hosted applications and data are kept safe from unauthorized access and theft. Cloud providers level the ground for businesses by allowing them to host their apps and data in the cloud.

But the agility comes with some security challenges. A cloud security breach can be expensive financially and reputationally and could result in losses that require a lot of manpower to mitigate.

This article will discuss everything you need to know about cloud security and the audits conducted to evaluate it. We will start by discussing a cloud security audit, why it is essential, and what steps are involved. Finally, we will examine some of the challenges involved in the cloud security testing process and how to choose the right audit provider.

What is a Cloud Security Audit?

A cloud security audit inspects an organization’s security controls to protect its data and other assets in the cloud. The audit is usually conducted by an external auditor who uses various test cases and checklists to determine whether the target security posture is up to the mark.

What Does “Security-in-the-Cloud” Mean?

Security in the cloud is based on a shared responsibility model between cloud providers and customers. Cloud providers are responsible for the security of their infrastructure, while customers are responsible for securing their data and applications. The following table will help you understand this better.

5 Reasons Why Cloud Security Audits Are Necessary

The cloud has become the new norm for businesses of all sizes. It offers many advantages in terms of cost, scalability, and agility.

However, the cloud also comes with some security challenges. For various reasons, it is necessary to evaluate the security health of your cloud environment and the data hosted on the cloud regularly.

1. Compliance With Regulations

A cloud security audit identifies compliance risks and provides recommendations for remediation. Companies can set themselves apart from competitors by complying with regulations and building brand credibility and trust.

2. Data Security

Cloud security audits can help ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. They enable organizations to understand their cloud environment and identify potential threats. They also allow them to develop appropriate controls to mitigate those risks.

3. Security Controls Effectiveness

Conducting cloud security assessments regularly assesses the effectiveness of your organization’s security controls. It enables you to verify that your security controls effectively detect and prevent unauthorized access to data.

4. Prevent Data Loss

Audits help assess your organization’s risk of data loss and how prone you are to it. You would need to identify potential sources of data loss and prioritize fixing those areas by using the results from a security audit.

5. Improve Security Posture

Identifying weaknesses in security controls enables an organization to analyze its cloud security posture and make necessary improvements to prevent data breaches and attacks.

Why is Astra Vulnerability Scanner the Best Scanner?

• We’re the only company that combines automated & manual pentest to create a one-of-a-kind pentest platform.
• Vetted scans ensure zero false positives.
• Our intelligent vulnerability scanner emulates hacker behavior & evolves with every pentest.
• Astra’s scanner helps you shift left by integrating with your CI/CD.
• Our platform helps you uncover, manage & fix vulnerabilities in one place.
• Trusted by the brands you trust like Agora, Spicejet, Muthoot, Dream11, etc.

Let’s Talk Get Started

How is a Cloud Security Audit Conducted?

A security audit within the cloud is conducted by an independent third-party, such as Astra Security. The auditor will assess the customer’s security controls and make recommendations for improvement. The security audit process typically includes the following steps:

Steps Involved in a Cloud Security Audit

Cloud security testing typically involves five steps:

• Planning and scope definition: This step involves defining the audit’s objectives, scope, and approach.
• Data collection: This step involves collecting data about the cloud environment. This data can be collected manually or through automated tools.
• Analysis and reporting: This step involves analyzing the collected data and preparing a report highlighting risks and vulnerabilities.
• Recommendations: This step involves providing suggestions on how to mitigate risks and vulnerabilities.
• Remediation: The recommendations received in the previous step are used to fix the security loopholes in the cloud.

10-Point Cloud Security Audit Checklist

Here’s a checklist followed by the best cloud security companies during an audit:

1. Identify the cloud provider(s) and service(s) used.
2. Understand the cloud provider’s security controls.
3. Identify who has access to the cloud environment and their access level.
4. Ensure that data in transit is encrypted.
5. Ensure that data at rest is encrypted.
6. Ensure that solid authentication and authorization controls are in place.
7. Implement least privilege principles.
8. Monitor activity in the cloud environment.
9. Use tools to detect unusual or suspicious activity.
10. Keep your cloud environment up to date with the latest security patches and updates.

Let experts find security gaps in your cloud infrastructure

Pentesting results without 100 emails,
250 google searches, or painstaking PDFs.

Talk to us now

Challenges Involved in a Cloud Security Audit

Significant challenges arise when conducting security audits in cloud environments, as these are complex, dynamic environments, and different cloud providers have different policies.

1. Constant Change

Cloud solutions are dynamic, and new services, features, and configurations are constantly released. This poses a problem for auditing since all these changes must be accounted for and appropriately incorporated into the audit.

2. Diverse Security Policies

Cloud services security policies vary between providers. When choosing a cloud provider, you must be very cautious about the security tests you are offered and ensure that the audited area does not conflict with the provider’s terms of service.

3. Complexity and Scale

Cloud structures are generally large and complex, involving several interconnected components. One major challenge of security auditing is that gathering enough data for an adequate audit may take a lot of time.

4. Varying Security Levels

Companies can receive varying degrees of protection from cloud providers—basic and enterprise-level. This variation may make it difficult to confirm all possible risks and threats in the system, especially when you’re using several providers or services from one provider.

Things to Look for in a Cloud Security Testing Firm

Cloud security testing can be a long, exhausting, and nerve-wrenching experience, considering how much depends on it. It would help if you enlisted support from auditors who best fit your needs. Here are specific properties of the cloud pentest providers that you should look into:

• The cloud security test provider should have automated and manual security testing abilities to conduct a wholesome security audit.
• The security audit provider should be aware of and compatible with the cloud security policies placed by your cloud service provider.
• Your security provider should provide guidance on the best cloud security practices, and your employees should undergo training.
• It makes your life much easier if the audit provider extends remediation support.
• The security audit firm should help you prepare for the security compliances you aim to acquire.

Cloud Security Testing With Astra Security 

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Pentest Capabilities: Continuous automated scans with 10,000+ tests and manual pentests 
• Accuracy: Zero false positives (with vetted scans)
• Compliance Scanning: OWASP, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, ISO27001, and SOC2
• Publicly Verifiable Pentest Certification: Yes
• Workflow Integration: Slack, JIRA, GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, and more
• Price: Starting at $1999/yr

Astra Security has created a benchmark in security testing with its combination of automated vulnerability scanning and pentesting. Astra Security is a comprehensive, accurate, and user-friendly security provider for optimized cloud vulnerability assessment and penetration testing for AWS, Azure, or GCP.

Our automated vulnerability scanner conducts 10,000+ tests to detect every single vulnerability proactively, while our security experts manually vet these scans and conduct hacker-style tests to cover all bases.

Your cloud setup is tested against CIS benchmarks, OWASP top 10, SANS 25, and other relevant industry standards. The pentest compliance feature, accessible from the vulnerability management dashboard, provides a clear picture of your compliance scenario.

Final Thoughts

While cloud providers offer many benefits, such as cost-effectiveness and scalability, they also introduce new security challenges. Partnering with the right security testing company can alleviate the risk of storing data in the cloud and the difficulty and expenditure associated with cloud security. 

Organizations can mitigate risks, protect sensitive data, and maintain compliance with industry regulations by prioritizing cloud security and conducting regular audits. Building a security culture at your organization is vital; the right security provider will enable you to do just that. Schedule a call with a security expert and have a fruitful discussion.

FAQs