What is hybrid cloud security?
Hybrid cloud security protects data, applications, and infrastructure across public and private cloud environments. These environments include public clouds from providers like Google Cloud, AWS, VMware, OCI, Azure, and Alibaba, as well as private clouds, which organizations typically use as exclusive data centers.
Hybrid cloud security includes key needs like complete layer visibility, vulnerability management, identity management, and threat detection. Regarding security, hybrid protection becomes increasingly vital as architectures that blend public and private IT infrastructures continue to grow.
Analysts project that the global hybrid cloud market will reach nearly $430.12 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 22.12%. This growing orchestration of public and private clouds will benefit organizations once they overcome the critical challenge of hybrid cloud security.
Take the Cloud Security Self-Assessment
Get a quick gauge of cloudsec posture to assess your security posture across 9 focus areas and see where you can do better.
Begin Assessment
Understanding hybrid cloud architecture
The nuances of hybrid cloud security become easier to navigate by understanding how hybrid clouds operate.
A hybrid environment features at least one public and one private cloud, although many organizations choose a mix of services and infrastructures from multiple providers.
Complex and interconnected hybrid cloud environments typically have three layers:
The physical layer includes in-house and third-party infrastructure like data centers.
The protocol layer contains a series of controls that protect enterprise architecture from various cyberattacks.
The organizational layer secures the hybrid cloud infrastructure against what experts widely consider the weakest link in cybersecurity: human error.
Security Leaders Handbook: The Strategic Guide to Cloud Security
This practical guide helps transform security teams and processes to remove risks and support secure cloud development.
dsad
Challenges of hybrid cloud
The most significant challenges of hybrid clouds are consistent visibility, control across multiple environments, and complexity for management and scalability. More hybrid cloud security challenges include:
Stewardship and governance
Data exposure
Supply chain protection
Identity and access management (IAM) oversight
Most importantly, organizations must manage all these critical components of hybrid cloud security from a single pane.
The most effective way to achieve robust security for a hybrid cloud is to choose a unified, cloud-native security solution and meticulously follow best practices.
Which is more secure—private or hybrid cloud?
A properly configured public cloud can be more secure than a private cloud because providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP offer built-in security features, automated updates, and advanced threat detection.
While a private cloud gives organizations more control and isolation, security is entirely their responsibility, meaning poor maintenance or misconfigurations can make it more vulnerable than a well-managed public cloud.
You may choose between the two infrastructures based on the following needs:
Choose a hybrid cloud if you need scalability and flexibility to access resources when and where they are needed while securing sensitive data.
Choose a private cloud to keep information off public-facing infrastructure (though access is more challenging). This model may be a priority if your organization works in government or a highly regulated industry.
The chart below outlines the advantages and disadvantages of each deployment model, including public cloud options, for a complete comparison:
| Categories | Public cloud | Private cloud | Hybrid cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership | CSP | Shared (enterprise and vendor) | Shared (enterprise and vendor) |
| Access | Everyone | Very few | Some |
| Cost | Low to medium | High | Medium to high |
| Customization and control | Lowest control | Highest control | Moderate control |
| Compliance | Weak to medium | Strong | Medium to strong |
| Data sovereignty and localization | Difficult | Easy | Moderately difficult |
| Ease of management | Easy | Difficult | Average |
| Performance | Low to medium | Very high | High |
| Resource sharing | Shared | Not shared | Partially shared |
| Security | Medium (depending on configuration) | High (with careful management and investment) | Medium to high(with careful management) |
| Sustainability | Low | High | Medium |
Hybrid cloud security best practices
Below are some best practices to get you started on your hybrid cloud security journey:
Map all resources and controls across your hybrid cloud
You can only unify what you can account for. The first and most important step in hybrid cloud security is identifying every IT resource and control across your public and private clouds.
This step is critical because IT resources, security controls, and configurations often come from different cloud service providers (CSPs) with varying approaches. Mapping all IT assets and controls also helps you pinpoint the critical intersections between your public and private clouds.
Focus on the four C’s of cloud native security
Every cloud native security approach should include the four critical “C’s”:
Cloud: CSPs typically manage the cloud and provide a mix of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS services.
Clusters: These secure workloads within your cloud environment.
Containers: Your infrastructure requires protection to eliminate vulnerabilities hidden in container images.
Code: Security requires advanced controls to limit exposure and secure communication.
Securing each component strengthens defenses around even the most complex hybrid cloud infrastructures.
Protect your VMs and storage buckets
One of the best ways to secure your infrastructure against data breaches is to protect your virtual machines (VMs). In order to do this, follow best practices like regular updates, constant monitoring, and multi-factor authentication.
To start, misconfigured storage buckets often serve as entry points for threat actors. To mitigate these risks, optimize controls and permissions and enforce granular policies based on zero trust principles.
One example of security gone wrong is the Capita data breach, which exposed more than 3,000 files. It occurred because an AWS bucket lacked a password. This incident serves as a clear reminder to prioritize storage bucket security.
Wiz introduces VMware vSphere support to provide a unified hybrid cloud security platform
Read more
Segment your network to limit potential damage
Security breaches may be inevitable, but network segmentation can limit damage to a small area.
Virtual private clouds and subnets divide networks, while network access control lists effectively regulate traffic. Together, they create strong barriers against threat actors attempting lateral movement.
For example, an organization might create employee workstations. These subnets offer segmented departments based on the teams’ roles, responsibilities, and security privileges.
Tighten your IAM posture
Optimizing access to human and machine identities is critical, especially in complex hybrid cloud architectures. Be sure to enforce the principle of least privilege at every juncture so digital identities can only access the assets that are essential to their functions.
You can also maintain IAM hygiene by rotating access keys, implementing service-linked roles, and monitoring access patterns for anomalies or suspicious activity.
Safeguard your supply chain
Protecting your hybrid cloud supply chain starts with understanding individual and shared responsibilities.
Your organization likely holds sole responsibility for securing private, on-premises infrastructure while PaaS and SaaS vendors manage different aspects of their security. With IaaS services, you must handle configurations, access management, data encryption, and security settings.
Carefully review the service level agreements from each vendor you use to clarify security responsibilities between your organization and theirs.
Building a Strategic Cloud Security Program
Why security is a C-level problem: a guide to making the case for cloud security.
Download now
Strengthen your incident response
Hybrid cloud security goes beyond building strong defenses against threats. You should have an incident response plan in place to ensure that your organization recovers quickly from an attack with minimal damage. It also enables swift postmortems to analyze how and why defenses failed.
Some ways to strengthen your organization’s incident response include:
Assigning clear roles to all stakeholders
Scheduling regular rehearsals of playbooks
Documenting the results of these rehearsals
Automating incident detection wherever possible
Elevate your data protection and governance
Protect your crown jewel—data—by implementing multiple layers of security. Data privacy should remain a top priority since compliance failures can lead to significant fines and reputational damage.
One of the simplest methods of protecting data is encrypting it all. Encryption prevents malicious actors from reading sensitive information, even if they gain access.
You can also generate regular compliance reports and calibrate compliance tools to meet industry or customized benchmarks. Be sure to maintain a strong threat intelligence ecosystem as well to stay informed about emerging threats to data and compliance.
Example: When Bridgewater implements effective hybrid security
The best security approach in a hybrid cloud is proactive security. By implementing stronger security measures before innovative threats come your way, you can build a resilient infrastructure for both today and tomorrow.
That’s the approach Bridgewater took when it needed a way to secure and manage its multi-cloud environment across AWS, Azure, and Kubernetes. With extensive manual inventory tracking and reporting, the company struggled to maintain cloud resources, security, and governance.
Since Bridgewater wanted to embed visibility into its full hybrid and multi-cloud environment (while maintaining high security), it chose Wiz.
The solution provided a clearer picture of its entire cloud infrastructure, with tools and features such as:
Automated cloud security visibility and response
Reduced reliance on manual reporting
Improved developer autonomy for integrated security workflows
Strengthened supply chain security and compliance
These proactive approaches, like adopting a cloud-native security platform, can prevent security issues, maintain data integrity, and provide access to the right people at the right time.
The optimal approach to hybrid cloud security
The quality of your hybrid cloud security posture can make or break your organization. These best practices can make all the difference—and it starts with visibility. A unified, single-vendor, cloud-native solution can bring your entire cloud security environment into focus so you can improve access, protection, and integrity for your data and resources.
With Wiz, our cloud security team gains a unified view of our security posture and knows what we need to cover across our entire interconnected environment.
Igor Tsyganskiy, President & CTO, Bridgewater Associates
Wiz’s cloud security platform defends any hybrid cloud architecture against a growing array of threats. The best part? You don’t need a long-term commitment to experience Wiz’s full capabilities.
Schedule a demo today to learn how Wiz can improve your cloud security—or get Wiz’s free Cloud Security Self Assessment to see where your security health is at now.
A single platform for everything cloud security
Learn why CISCs at the fastest growing companies choose Wiz to secure their cloud environments.
