DSPM Best Practices for Data Protection in Hybrid Cloud

By Josh Breaker-Rolfe

In the past few years, cloud adoption has skyrocketed. Today, modern organizations of all shapes and sizes leverage cloud infrastructure to store and backup data, host applications, facilitate collaboration, and more. However, despite the benefits, cloud adoption comes at a cost, especially in hybrid cloud environments. The complicated and diverse nature of these environments often results in security teams overlooking sensitive data, poorly enforced security policies, and misconfigurations. Data security posture management (DSPM) helps prevent this from happening.

Why Hybrid Cloud is King

Organizations seeking to adopt cloud infrastructure have one of three options:

1. Public Cloud: A cloud environment operated by a third-party provider, offering scalable resources like storage and computing power over the Internet. Resources are shared among multiple users, making this model cost-effective and accessible.
2. Private Cloud: A dedicated cloud infrastructure used exclusively by a single organization, either on-premises or hosted by a third-party provider. It offers greater control, customization, and security, ideal for sensitive workloads.
3. Hybrid Cloud: A combination of private and public clouds, allowing data and applications to move between environments. It provides flexibility, enabling organizations to optimize costs and manage security requirements effectively.

In most cases, hybrid cloud environments are by far the best option, offering organizations the advantages of both public and private cloud infrastructure. Hybrid cloud models are also extremely popular, with research published in Security Magazine revealing that 40% of organizations use hybrid cloud.

Security Challenges in Hybrid Cloud Environments

Hybrid cloud environments are inherently complex, and security challenges arise out of this complexity. With organizations storing and accessing data across multiple cloud platforms and on-premises systems, it’s relatively easy for security teams to lose or overlook sensitive data and leave it unprotected. Similarly, shadow IT – the use of IT systems, devices, or software without the IT department’s approval – can also result in data being left unprotected.

Moreover, enforcing security policies and maintaining compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR in these environments can be difficult. Storing data in many disparate areas means that ensuring each data store complies with security policies and regulations is often extremely time-consuming and prone to errors.

Using DSPM to Protect Data in Hybrid Cloud Environments

DSPM tools help organizations overcome the security challenges inherent in hybrid cloud environments and protect sensitive data. By using DSPM solutions to carry out the following best practices, security teams can monitor, improve, and maintain their security posture even in the most complex IT environments.

• Data Discovery: Discovering all data in a hybrid cloud environment is crucial to protecting it. DSPM has data discovery capabilities that provide organizations with visibility into where data resides and how it flows across multiple environments, including cloud platforms (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and on-premises systems.
• Data Classification: It’s not enough merely to discover data; businesses must classify it, too. DSPM tools have AI-powered capabilities that leverage contextual information – such as where data originated, how it was accessed, and who interacted with it – to classify data based on its sensitivity so security teams can apply appropriate protections.
• Risk Assessment and Mitigation: DSPM tools help security teams assess risk by identifying vulnerabilities and threats, scanning data across cloud and on-premises environments, and prioritizing assets based on their level of risk so security teams can allocate resources more effectively, focusing on areas with the highest potential for harm.
• Configuration and Policy Management: Organizations should also use DSPM tools to ensure security policies and configurations align with best practices and regulatory standards. In complex cloud environments, this would be difficult to achieve without DSPM’s scanning capabilities.
• Actionable Insights: DSPM tools don’t just find and alert security teams to issues; they provide actionable advice to remediate them. Organizations should heed this advice to improve their security posture.
• Integration with Existing Security Frameworks: A DSPM solution should work in tandem with other cybersecurity tools such as Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP), and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) systems. This integrated approach helps to address different aspects of data protection while providing holistic security across the entire cloud ecosystem.

Conclusion

While the increasing adoption of hybrid cloud environments has brought about unprecedented opportunities for collaboration, cost savings, and sustainability, it has also massively complicated data security. DSPM tools are indispensable for overcoming this complexity, providing security teams with unparalleled visibility into and control over these complex cloud environments.

By leveraging best practices like data discovery, classification, and risk mitigation, organizations can strengthen their security posture and maintain compliance with evolving regulations. With DSPM, businesses can ensure that their hybrid cloud environments are not only cost-effective but also secure, facilitating long-term success and innovations without compromising data security.

Josh is a Content writer at Bora. He graduated with a degree in Journalism in 2021 and has a background in cybersecurity PR.

He’s written on a wide range of topics, from AI to Zero Trust, and is particularly interested in the impacts of cybersecurity on the wider economy.