Strengthening Database Security in a Federated Cloud Environment

Introduction

As businesses move to the cloud, they are increasingly adopting a federated cloud model. This model allows organizations to distribute their workloads across multiple cloud environments, making it easier to achieve high availability, redundancy, and disaster recovery. However, while federated cloud offers many benefits, it also introduces risks to database security. In this blog, we will discuss how businesses can strengthen their database security in a federated cloud environment.

Understanding Federated Cloud

Federated cloud is a type of cloud computing architecture that involves the distribution of computing resources across multiple cloud environments. These environments may be owned and operated by different cloud service providers, allowing businesses to choose the best provider for each workload. Federated cloud can be classified into three types:

1. Interoperable cloud: In interoperable cloud, multiple clouds interoperate with each other to share data and applications.
2. Hybrid cloud: Hybrid cloud refers to a combination of public and private cloud environments that work together to provide a common computing infrastructure.
3. Distributed cloud: Distributed cloud involves the distribution of cloud resources across different geographical locations.

Benefits of Federated Cloud

Federated cloud offers several benefits for businesses, including:

1. High availability: Federated cloud enables businesses to distribute their workloads across multiple cloud environments, ensuring high availability.
2. Redundancy: Federated cloud provides redundancy across multiple cloud environments, minimizing the risk of downtime.
3. Disaster recovery: Federated cloud enables businesses to distribute their data and applications across multiple cloud environments, ensuring disaster recovery.

Risks to Database Security in Federated Cloud

Federated cloud introduces risks to database security, including:

1. Data leakage: Data leakage can occur when sensitive data is transmitted between cloud environments without adequate security measures.
2. Unauthorized access: Federated cloud can increase the risk of unauthorized access to data and applications.
3. Insider threats: Insider threats can pose a risk to database security in federated cloud environments.
4. Data loss: Data loss can occur when data is transmitted between cloud environments without proper backup and recovery measures.

Strategies for Strengthening Database Security in Federated Cloud

Businesses can take several steps to strengthen their database security in a federated cloud environment, including:

1. Implementing Identity and Access Management: Identity and access management (IAM) enables businesses to control access to their data and applications across multiple cloud environments. IAM ensures that only authorized users can access sensitive data.
2. Encrypting Sensitive Data: Encryption can be used to protect sensitive data in transit between cloud environments. Encryption ensures that data is unreadable to unauthorized users.
3. Implementing Multi-Factor Authentication: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) can be used to strengthen database security in federated cloud environments. MFA requires users to provide additional forms of identification beyond just a password, making it harder for unauthorized users to gain access.
4. Using Firewall and Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems: Firewall and intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) can be used to monitor network traffic between cloud environments. These systems can detect and prevent unauthorized access to data and applications.

Best Practices for Database Security in Federated Cloud

To ensure the security of their databases in federated cloud environments, businesses should follow these best practices:

1. Regular Security Audits and Reviews: Regular security audits and reviews can help businesses identify potential security threats in their federated cloud environment. These audits can be conducted by internal or external auditors.
2. Updating Software and Patches: Businesses should regularly update their software and patches to ensure that their cloud environments are secure.
3. Monitoring Database Logs: Businesses should monitor their database logs to identify potential security threats. These logs can be analyzed using machine learning algorithms to identify abnormal activity.
4. Educating Employees and Contractors: Businesses should provide regular training to their employees and contractors on database security best practices. This training can help prevent insider threats and ensure that all users are aware of the security risks associated with federated cloud environments.​

Case Studies

Two case studies illustrate the importance of database security in federated cloud environments:

Case Study 1: Cloud Service Provider Data Breach
In 2019, a cloud service provider suffered a data breach that exposed the data of over 100 million customers. The provider’s federated cloud environment had weak security controls that allowed hackers to gain access to sensitive data. The breach resulted in significant financial losses and reputational damage for the provider.

This case study highlights the importance of strong security controls in federated cloud environments. Businesses should ensure that their cloud service providers have adequate security measures in place to protect their data.

Case Study 2: Inadequate Security Measures in Federated Cloud
In another case, a business adopted a federated cloud model to distribute its workloads across multiple cloud environments. However, the business did not implement adequate security measures to protect its data in transit. Hackers were able to intercept sensitive data as it was transmitted between cloud environments, resulting in a data breach.

This case study illustrates the risks associated with federated cloud environments and the importance of implementing strong security measures to protect data in transit.

Conclusion

Federated cloud offers many benefits for businesses, but it also introduces risks to database security. To ensure the security of their data and applications in federated cloud environments, businesses should implement strong security measures, such as identity and access management, encryption, multi-factor authentication, firewall and IDS/IPS systems. They should also follow best practices, such as regular security audits and reviews, updating software and patches, monitoring database logs, and educating employees and contractors. By following these steps, businesses can minimize the risks associated with federated cloud environments and protect their data from potential threats.

About Enteros

Enteros offers a patented database performance management SaaS platform. It automate finding the root causes of complex database scalability and performance problems that affect business across a growing number of cloud, RDBMS, NoSQL, and machine learning database platforms.​​​​​​​​