In the present-day world, an increasing number of businesses and organizations are opting to store their operations and data in the cloud. Therefore, safeguarding your data in the cloud is of paramount importance in this heavily reliant cloud environment.
According to a cloud security report from Venafi in 2022, it stated that there are 81% of enterprises have been through Cloud security incidents, and nearly half of them have at least four incidents. Many of our clients are troubled by phishing emails, unauthorized access, data leakage, and other cloud security crises before migrating to Google Workspace and Google Cloud.
In this article, we will share how to enhance data security with Google with the best cloud security practices. We will delve into the zero trust model of BeyondCorp and Google Workspace security to better understand how to strengthen your cloud environment.
Zero Trust Model in Google Cloud
Traditional security models heavily rely on perimeter defenses and assume trust within the network. Google noted that the key to security is never to give your trust, so it comes to the revolutionary implementation – BeyondCorp, which is a zero trust solution built on Google’s global network. BeyondCorp offers integrated threat and data protection, and enables users to secure work from virtually any location without the need for a traditional VPN by shifting access controls from the network perimeter to individual users.
In the Zero Trust model, every request to access resources is treated as if it comes from an untrusted network until it has been inspected, authenticated, and verified. Below are some key components of the Zero Trust Model adopted in Google Cloud:
- Identity and Access Management: Implement robust identity and access management to ensure that only authorized users can access resources. Utilize Google Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM) to define specific access controls based on the principle of least privilege.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Enable MFA for all user accounts to add an additional layer of verification and reduce the risk of credential leaks.
- Network segmentation: Segment networks create secure zones and enforce access controls between these zones. Utilize Google Cloud VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) to establish isolated environments for different workloads.
- Continuous monitoring and threat detection: Deploy robust monitoring and threat detection solutions such as Google Cloud Security Command Center and Cloud Monitoring to gain real-time visibility into your environment and promptly detect suspicious activities.
Safeguard your Google Workspace
As increasing numbers of businesses and organizations are choosing to migrate their operations and data storage to the cloud, Google Workspace as one of the leading providers, has become the first choice for many businesses and organizations. Google always puts your data security and privacy as the first priority, here are some practices that highly recommends for your Google Workspace deployment:
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): By enabling 2FA, add an additional layer of security to protect user accounts and prevent unauthorized access.
- Implement Strong Password Policies: Implement robust password policies, including password complexity, expiration, and lockout thresholds, to mitigate the risk of attacks.
- Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Utilize Google Workspace’s DLP features to detect and prevent accidental or intentional leakage of sensitive data, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
- Train employees on security awareness: Educate employees on practices for security, including phishing prevention, identifying social engineering tactics, and secure file sharing, to foster a culture of security awareness.
Security Controls on Google Workspace
Google Workspace provides various security controls to enhance data security and privacy, including:
- Encryption: Enable data encryption at rest and in transit to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.
- Device management: Utilize Google Workspace’s mobile device management capabilities to enforce security policies such as device encryption, screen lock, and remote wipe, ensuring secure access to company data.
- Application access control: Use Google Workspace’s access control feature to manage and control permissions for third-party applications, reducing the risks of data leakage and unauthorized data access.
Getting started with BeyondCorp
Master Concept noticed many organizations adopted cloud technology, and prioritizing cloud security becomes crucial. We are now supporting various solutions for you to build the zero trust ecosystem by implementing BeyondCorp, here are some key steps:
- Understand your users and device
- Create secure access levels, and get granular of your security by setting up context-aware access level controls
- Identify a POC application(s) that have a common group of users, make a simple place to start
- Strengthen user authentication to practices like second-factor authentication
- Protecting internal systems including administrative tools
