Book Image

Cloud Auditing Best Practices

By : Shinesa Cambric, Michael Ratemo
5 (1)
Book Image

Cloud Auditing Best Practices

5 (1)
By: Shinesa Cambric, Michael Ratemo

Overview of this book

As more and more companies are moving to cloud and multi-cloud environments, being able to assess the compliance of these environments properly is becoming more important. But in this fast-moving domain, getting the most up-to-date information is a challenge—so where do you turn? Cloud Auditing Best Practices has all the information you’ll need. With an explanation of the fundamental concepts and hands-on walk-throughs of the three big cloud players, this book will get you up to speed with cloud auditing before you know it. After a quick introduction to cloud architecture and an understanding of the importance of performing cloud control assessments, you’ll quickly get to grips with navigating AWS, Azure, and GCP cloud environments. As you explore the vital role an IT auditor plays in any company’s network, you'll learn how to successfully build cloud IT auditing programs, including using standard tools such as Terraform, Azure Automation, AWS Policy Sentry, and many more. You’ll also get plenty of tips and tricks for preparing an effective and advanced audit and understanding how to monitor and assess cloud environments using standard tools. By the end of this book, you will be able to confidently apply and assess security controls for AWS, Azure, and GCP, allowing you to independently and effectively confirm compliance in the cloud.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
1
Part 1: The Basics of Cloud Architecture and Navigating – Understanding Enterprise Cloud Auditing Essentials
4
Part 2: Cloud Security and IT Controls
8
Part 3: Executing an Effective Enterprise Cloud Audit Plan

Device management

For a company, a necessary part of users connecting to resources is having devices that can successfully connect, and this holds true even for cloud environments. Although many companies have adopted bring your own device (BYOD) policies for accessing some or all company assets, in most cases, those devices require some form of device registration and security policy and posture management to prevent the risk of unauthorized or compromised devices from gaining access (Figure 3.12):

Figure 3.12 – Example Microsoft Azure device policy overview

Figure 3.12 – Example Microsoft Azure device policy overview

There may be some default features within the portal environment for managing devices; however, in most instances, additional applications or specialized licensing for endpoint and mobile device management (MDM) is required to enforce and gain full visibility into device health and security compliance.

Important things to note for each cloud provider are assessing which administrators can...