Privacy and Security compliance in Cloud Access Control

Transitioning from on-premise to adopting Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) over the public cloud brings its own set of doubts and inhibitions among the organizations. Security compliance is one of the vital factors when it comes to making this decision. Most organizations anticipate risks over the benefits of ACaaS. This blog examines all the major concerns of an organization and various global compliances that help mitigate these apprehensions.

What are the primary concerns of an organization before switching to ACaaS? 

1. Data Security & Privacy – A recurrent threat of data breach exists on the cloud. The client’s sensitive data may get accessed and distributed for unethical use by the service provider itself.
2. Hijacking Account Privacy – Attackers may get remote access to the user’s credentials to hijack sensitive information stored on the cloud and gain control over the Access Control Services. Methods like buffer overflow, phishing, keylogging, scripting bugs, reused passwords & man in cloud attack are some of the most common threats in this category.
3. APIs remains Unsecured – Though APIs help the businesses and programmers to interface with the software as per the organization’s requirement, it may leave the security at risk.
4. Device-related Security – ACaaS is essentially an IoT system. In devices such as controllers that continuously communicate with cloud services, communication protocols, and internal device-related security pose a significant concern.
5. Injecting Malware – Hackers can inject malicious codes in the cloud-based software, which appears valid in the cloud services but can be used to eavesdrop and steal data.
6. Attacks of Service Denial – In contrast to other cyberattacks, the security breach which occurs under “Service Denial Attack” makes the servers & website inaccessible to authorized users.
7. Losing Data – There are always chances of losing data on the cloud due to unforeseen circumstances such as natural calamities, unethical attacks, or data erase by the service providers, leading to a massive business setback for the organization.
8. Threats from within – Authorized employees may use their right to access an organization’s sensitive information accessible on the cloud from anywhere, creating a greater possibility of data misuse than traditional on-prem systems.

What are the various security compliances available to make these challenges ineffective?

To reprimand these challenges, organizations refer to a set of several compliance laws that ensures the credibility of service providers and eliminates all the possibilities of facing any of these potential challenges. Let’s look at some of these compliances and security propositions.

What is ISO-27001? 

ISO-27001 – This is an international information security standard that provides specifications to implement, maintain and improve an organization’s information security management system (ISMS) ¹. All the technical, physical & legal controls required for its IT risk management processes comprise ISMS. The standard enables the organization to address any security risks, protect the data, and identify the scope & limitations of their security programs¹. It covers the majority of the technical challenges described in this blog.

What is GDPR? 

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – This compliance standard focuses on strengthening data protection of an organization. It applies to EU members, comprising rules about protecting & handling data with the user’s consent, and it is valid for the EU zone.

Is ISO-27001 compliance enough to meet all Privacy and Security concerns?

Even though ISO-27001 offers the best practices for ensuring information security, it doesn’t specialize in data privacy. It is the expertise of GDPR that provides a strategic vision to the organizations to maintain data privacy. Overall, some of the covered issues under GDPR, unlike ISO-27001 encompass consent, data portability, and international transfer of personal data¹.

GDPR stimulates the implementation of ISO-27001 to ascertain that the organization follows the best data protection practices at par with international standards². In conclusion, GDPR regulates collecting personal data, while ISO 27001 ensures that the collected data stays secured².

Are there any other significant privacy protection & information security compliance?

There are certain other compliances which are specifically applicable to US-based organizations or those operating in the US. Let’s have a look at them:

SOC 2 – Auditing & reporting compliance designed for service providers who store client data over the cloud. In other words, it applies to every SaaS company. It ensures that the company security measures adhere to the unique parameters designed as per cloud requirements. Most of the US-based service organizations follow this compliance.

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP): It is a US government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services.

Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 – It is a security standard that sets forth requirements for cryptographic modules, including hardware, software, and firmware, for US federal agencies.

NIST 800-171 – It protects Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), i.e., it defines the set of standards for distributing and safeguarding unclassified sensitive data.

Security Propositions 

To formalize a safer and better environment for cloud ACaaS, the service provider should localize data storage and services. It also implies that a particular country’s cyber-laws apply to the service provider, ensuring inviolable adherence. If the localization is not possible, the service-provider should host the instance in countries that offer a safer cloud infrastructure. According to a study, some of the top-ranked countries that provide a secure cloud environment are Japan, Australia, United States, Germany, and Singapore.

Most importantly, ensure that the service provider is at least ISO-27001 & GDPR compliant.