Cloud Storage Security — Iron-Clad Data Defense

Excerpt:

In this blog, we discuss what organizations can do to protect their data from cyber-security risks, what challenges they might face with cloud storage security, and how StoneFly can help.

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Modern organizations are challenged with increased risks to its most vital asset: data. From phishing emails to ransomware, attacks on a business can wreak havoc, if unprepared. In order to overcome these challenges, organizations have put greater importance onto their cyber security defense.

An attack by ransomware, for instance, can not only cause damage to important data directly by encrypting it, but also causes crippling downtime and data loss for the organization. Businesses or organizations, big or small, often look to cloud storage security solutions as a measure to eliminate risks and avoid such attacks. These unique, modern and advanced solutions for data protection can range from cloud based backup to disaster recovery in the cloud.

What is Cloud Storage Security?

First, let’s define what cloud storage security is. Increasing numbers of users are using cloud platforms for storing data on inter-connected servers instead of local hard drives or tapes. We can say that any system or solution that is used to secure cloud storage data can be called cloud storage security.

The data stored in these cloud storage accounts have dual protection. The Cloud Service Provider (CSP) ensures protection of the physical server whereas the data owner secures the soft copy of the data.

Features used to ensure security for the data stored in the cloud include snapshots, encryption, WORM storage, anti-virus, threat scans and several others.

Integral Components of Cloud Storage Security

Cloud storage security can use the following components to ensure data protection.

• Monitoring Data: There are AI algorithms in the storage environment that keep track of system behavior. Any deviation from this creates an alarm which is then monitored by the administrators or concerned officials. Only after establishing the potential of the threat or problem in the system, countermeasures can be initiated.
• Gaining Visibility: Admins have to understand the source of the problem. Therefore, the security management software or tools offer the experts the capacity to investigate and look into the data to find the cause of the alarms.
• Managing Access: Once confirmed, these tools pinpoint the source that triggered the alarm and admins can take steps to neutralize those users. One tool they use to do this is the access management feature which can modify user access permission levels or terminate them if necessary.

Cloud Storage Security Challenges

Controversially, people have referred to the most secure computers as those that are not connected to the internet and are shielded from any interference. While “off-grid” or completely offline systems have their merits, the measures implemented by CSPs are not to be taken lightly. However, homegrown services or inexperienced third party service providers can lead to several cyber-security risks.

Setting up secure cloud storage is not an easy task, there are several challenges involved. Let’s briefly discuss the challenges to securing cloud storage volumes:

• Protection: Industries where massive data is generated by the second, the digital work environment needs to be kept safe from any kind of threat to data. Computers connected to an infected network with a virus will transfer it to other connected resources in the same network.
• Centralized Management: Cyber security threats may pose greater risks to data in organizations where key functions are not protected by authorized personnel. The lack of centralized management is becoming a great cause for data loss as viruses attach themselves to shared data from a single system, then spreads across and infects the entire network.
• Scalable Storage Solutions: One reason for increased cyber security threats can be linked to the lack of scalability in the data storage of organizations. An organization setting up its own data center finds itself in a difficult position when the amount of data storage is not large enough for the amount of data generated. They are forced to use other forms of storage which can be exposed to threats.

StoneFly Cloud Storage, Backup & Disaster Recovery Solutions

Verily, cloud storage technology is the logical step up for organizations that have reached exhaustive levels of storage.

Say hello to StoneFly! Thousands of organizations, ranging from fortune 500 to local nonprofits entrust StoneFly with their cloud storage security needs.

StoneFly offers a diverse range of cloud-based services including secure cloud storage, cloud backup, and cloud disaster recovery that reduce storage costs and ensure offsite data protection of critical workloads.

Here’s a brief list of cloud-based services that use StoneFly technology to deliver secure cloud storage in public clouds (Azure, AWS, other S3 clouds) and StoneFly’s private cloud.

StoneFly & Microsoft Azure: Secure Cloud Storage, Backup & Direct Restore

StoneFly offers secure storage and data protection services in partnership with Microsoft Azure.

As an Azure marketplace partner, StoneFly offers the following services:

· Cloud Storage in Azure — Highly secure, cost-effective and super scalable blob storage in Microsoft Azure cloud. Users can store NAS (NFS or CIFS/SMB), SAN (iSCSI), or unified NAS + SAN volumes in Azure cloud. The Azure cloud storage is secured using advanced features such as snapshots, WORM storage, advanced encryption, and threat scan.

· Veeam Cloud Connect to Azure — Secure mission-critical volumes with Veeam availability suite v10 and store backup data in Microsoft Azure cloud. Users can setup advanced data protection using the innate data security features of StoneFly cloud storage in Azure as listed above. Users can choose to bring their own Veeam licenses or purchase Veeam licenses and Azure cloud storage from StoneFly.

· Direct Restore to Azure — Backup critical files, folders and Virtual Machines (VMs) with Veeam software and restore directly to StoneFly storage in Azure. This service comes particularly handy if you need to create dev and test environments in Azure or restore in the event of hardware failure.

For users looking to integrate Azure cloud storage with their servers and virtual environments, StoneFly also offers cloud gateway solutions that include hardware chassis and virtual storage appliances.

StoneFly & Amazon AWS: Secure Cloud Storage, Backup & DR

StoneFly is also an Amazon AWS technology partner. This partnership enables us to offer robust, secure, and affordable S3 object storage services in AWS cloud. Here’s a brief list of said cloud-based services:

· Cloud Storage in AWS S3 — Secure cloud object storage in AWS S3 cloud with features like WORM storage, snapshots, and encryption. Users can safely store redundant copies of critical workloads or backup data copies for offsite data protection. The S3 cloud storage is cost-effective, secure, and compliant to a number of industry regulations.

· Veeam Cloud Connect to AWS — As a Veeam Cloud Service Provider (CSP) partner, StoneFly enables users to store their Veeam backup data in the AWS S3 cloud ensuring advanced cloud storage security and data protection. Users can choose to bring their own Veeam license, or purchase the complete package with Veeam and AWS S3 storage from StoneFly.

With their data in the AWS cloud, data owners can benefit from the wide array of AWS cloud-native features to truly leverage their cloud-based infrastructure and ensure a greater level of cloud storage security. Here’s a brief list of AWS cloud storage security features:

· Oversight: AWS allows user account tracking of activities happening in the entire environment. A service known as “CloudTrail” allows logging the history of API calls.

Say a hacker gets access to a system; the service will help in the identification of the location from where the system was accessed. It can help to isolate the problem and in pin-pointing user accounts with the log maintained.

· Monitoring: CloudWatch, an AWS service, is a cloud monitoring tool that allows the user to monitor infrastructure resources. CloudWatch gives the users the added ability to create alarms. The alarms allow the user to instantly track the deviations from normal system behavior by highlighting the event and alerting the user of the deviation.

· Handling Access: AWS “IAM (Identity and Access Management)” is a service that enables management of access to resources. Users can create, manage, or remove AWS accounts. It can also be used to assign roles and permissions to deny or allow AWS resource access. The roles of users are determined policies that dictate what users can or cannot do in AWS.

StoneFly Private Cloud: Secure Storage, Backup, Replication & Spin Up

StoneFly also offers users the option to store data in StoneFly’s private cloud. The StoneFly cloud infrastructure is powered by high performance storage clusters and arrays built to deliver low latency, best costs, and compliant data storage and retention experience.

StoneFly private cloud services include:

· Storage in StoneFly Private Cloud — Store redundant copies, files, folders, relational database data in highly secure cloud storage repositories. As opposed to the public domain, the private cloud is only accessible to the data owner with the right credentials; making it suitable for a variety of enterprise use-cases such as medical record storage, financial data storage, legal information storage, and the likes.

· Veeam Cloud Connect to StoneFly Private Cloud — Besides the ability to store Veeam backup data in a secure and affordable repository, the private cloud offers the ability to configure real-time replication and spin up Virtual Machines (VMs). Besides secure cloud storage, StoneFly private cloud can also be leverage to setup cloud disaster recovery with short RTO and RPOs.

Conclusion

With increasing risks to data, cloud storage security has become a critical need in today’s world. Organizations need solutions that can secure their data in the cloud and prevent data loss.

StoneFly, through its partnerships with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Veeam, provides reliable, affordable, and secure cloud storage, backup and disaster recovery solutions that guarantee high availability, recoverability, and data security for critical enterprise data.