How DSPM Supports Data Security In Hybrid Cloud Environments

Hybrid cloud adoption has revolutionized enterprise IT environments. Research from IBM even found that 77% of business and IT professionals have adopted a hybrid cloud approach. While the hybrid cloud offers enormous scalability, flexibility, and efficiency benefits, it also has complicated data security. Data security posture management (DSPM) solutions help organizations overcome this complexity. Let’s look at how.

What Is A Hybrid Cloud Environment?

Hybrid cloud environments are IT architectures that combine private cloud (on-premises data centers) with public cloud services so organizations can share data and applications between them. By adopting hybrid cloud environments, organizations gain the benefits of both public and private cloud infrastructure: scalability and flexibility from public cloud environments alongside control, security, and regulatory compliance benefits from private infrastructure.

Public cloud environments typically involve third-party cloud service providers (CSPs) like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud. Private cloud environments are usually either on-premises centers or a dedicated space within a third-party provider. Organizations then link these environments, typically storing more sensitive, critical data in the private cloud environment for increased security and less sensitive data in the public cloud to gain accessibility and collaboration benefits.

Hybrid Cloud Data Security Challenges

Although hybrid cloud environments have brought about huge benefits for the organizations that have adopted them, they have created a major headache for already overstretched security teams. Hybrid setups increase complexity and create new vulnerabilities as data flows between private and public clouds, resulting in data becoming lost or overlooked and introducing new compliance challenges. The data security challenges of hybrid cloud environments include:

• Data Visibility and Discovery: Data is dispersed across both private and public clouds, making it difficult to track and monitor. Sensitive data may be improperly stored, creating compliance
• risks.Data Access and Control: Managing access rights and permissions for data in both public and private clouds can be complex, leading to excessive permissions and unauthorized access.
• Data Movement and Tracking: Data frequently moves between environments in a hybrid setup, increasing the number of exposure points where data can be intercepted, altered, or leaked.
• Risk Assessment and Vulnerability Management: Security configurations can vary between clouds, leaving vulnerabilities in data security and compliance gaps.
• Compliance and Data Governance: Hybrid cloud environments must meet diverse compliance requirements across both public and private infrastructures, which can be challenging to monitor and enforce consistently.
• Threat Detection and Response: Detecting data threats in a hybrid cloud is complex due to the varying security controls and monitoring capabilities across different clouds.

What Is DSPM?

DSPM solutions have emerged in part to address the data security challenges inherent in hybrid cloud environments. They offer organizations visibility into where data is stored, who has access to it, and what the security posture of the data store or application is. To achieve this visibility, they assess the existing state of data security, identify and classify potential risks and vulnerabilities, implement security controls to mitigate them, and monitor the security posture to ensure it is robust.

How Does DSPM Solve Hybrid Cloud Data Security Challenges?

Let’s circle back to the data security challenges of hybrid cloud environments. DSPM supports data security in hybrid cloud environments by solving these problems.

Data Visibility And Discovery

DSPM tools offer continuous visibility into an organization’s security posture by automatically discovering, classifying, and cataloging sensitive data across cloud environments. They ensure security data is stored in the appropriate locations – sensitive data in the private cloud, less sensitive data in the public cloud – and meet compliance requirements.

Data Access And Control

DSPM tools enforce data access policies by monitoring access patterns, identifying excessive permissions, and alerting administrators to unauthorized access while supporting role-based access control (RBAC) and least-privilege principles.

Data Movement And Tracking

DSPM solutions track data movement, alerting security teams to unusual transfer patterns so they can investigate and remediate potential threats.

Risk Assessment And Vulnerability Management

DSPM continuously assesses data security posture by checking configurations, identifying gaps, and enforcing consistent security controls across environments. When they find misconfigurations or poorly enforced security policies, DSPM tools alert security teams and offer recommendations for remediation.

Compliance And Data Governance

DSPM helps streamline compliance by automatically mapping data assets to compliance requirements (such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS) and by generating audit trails, monitoring for policy violations, and supporting data governance policies across cloud platforms.

Threat Detection And Response

DSPM tools detect anomalies, unauthorized access attempts, and potential breaches across all environments. They alert security teams and automatically respond to potential threats, helping reduce the time to respond and contain security incidents.

Is DSPM Right For You?

If you struggle with managing your data security due to the complexity of your hybrid cloud environment, DSPM might be the right solution for you. To find out more about the DSPM market and the top DSPM providers, check out the Gartner Peer Insights page for reviews and ratings.

Also Read: The Role of Identity and Access Management in Strengthening Cybersecurity