What is Cloud Identity Security?

What is Cloud Identity Security?

Cloud Identity Security is the collection of processes, policies, and tools that organizations use to manage and secure user identities, permissions, and access to resources in cloud-hosted IT environments. As organizations migrate more operations and business processes into cloud-based environments, Cloud Identity Security helps them ensure that only authorized users and systems can access specific resources. Organizations must implement effective user access control across all cloud, multi-cloud, and hybrid environments to protect data, applications, and infrastructure from unauthorized access and identity-related security breaches. Cloud Identity Security is an integral element of modern Identity Governance Administration (IGA) solutions.

Principal Elements of Cloud Identity Security

Identity and Access Management (IAM)

IAM is a security approach designed to help the right people or machines get access to the assets they need when they need them to perform their roles. IAM enables organizations to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems, applications, and data. It enables organizations to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements and helps to mitigate cybersecurity incidents like insider threats and data breaches in on-premises and cloud environments.

Authentication

A process that verifies the identity of users or systems attempting to access cloud resources. Common methods include Single Sign-On (SSO) that allows users to log in once and access multiple services securely, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) that requires users to go through additional verification steps beyond a password, and passwordless authentication which relies on methods like biometrics or security keys to replace traditional passwords.

Authorization

Ensures users or systems only have access to resources and actions they are explicitly permitted to use, adhering to the Principle of Least Privilege.

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Privileged user accounts, such as system administrators, database administrators, and network engineers, often have elevated permissions to resources. This creates an environment in which there is significant potential for security concerns that could lead to identity theft and costly breaches of an organization’s IT infrastructure. PAM focuses on controlling and auditing access to resources or systems, enabling organizations to secure, monitor, and manage access to critical systems, applications, and sensitive information by privileged users (e.g., administrators).

Identity Federation

This method enables users to access multiple systems, services, or organizations using a single set of credentials. It allows different organizations or systems to establish trust relationships, enabling seamless access across different cloud platforms or on-premises environments without requiring users to maintain separate credentials for each system.

User Provisioning and Deprovisioning

Automates the process of creating, managing, and revoking user accounts to ensure timely access and minimize the risk of orphan accounts.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC)

In RBAC, permissions are assigned to roles rather than directly to individual users and users are assigned to one or more roles based on their job functions or responsibilities. The role assignment policy that RBAC drives enables administrators to define and manage permissions at the role level and simplifies permission management across cloud environments.

ABAC makes access control decisions by evaluating various attributes of users, resources, and the current context. These attributes can include user roles, user attributes (such as department or location), resource attributes (such as sensitivity or type), and environmental factors (such as time of access or network location).

Zero Trust Security

Organizations adopt this framework in cloud identity security to enforce the Principle of Least Privilege when managing identities, access, and permissions within an organization’s entire IT ecosystem. Using the Principle of Least Privilege, also known as the principle of minimal privilege, helps organizations ensure that critical cloud-based systems give user accounts and devices the minimum access they require to perform their tasks.

Monitoring and Auditing

Tracks user activity, login attempts, and permission changes to detect potential security incidents in cloud platforms and provides audit trails for compliance and forensic analysis.

Identity Threat Detection and Response

Uses tools and analytics to detect compromised identities, suspicious behaviors, or privilege misuse. Integrates with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems for centralized visibility into on-premises and cloud environments.

Challenges in Cloud Identity Security

Complexity Across Multi-Cloud Environments

Managing identities and permissions across multiple cloud platforms without centralized visibility and connectivity presents is problematic.

Shadow IT

Development, operations, and other teams within an organization may use unauthorized cloud applications or services that bypass organizational security policies.

Misconfigurations

Overly permissive access or improper identity security settings in individual cloud platforms can expose sensitive data.

Insider Threats

Malicious or negligent actions by employees can exploit identity vulnerabilities.

Credential Compromise

Stolen or weak credentials are a primary attack vector in cloud environments.

Best Practices for Cloud Identity Security

Adopt the Principle of Least Privilege

This practice grants users, devices, and processes only the minimum access or permissions required to perform their tasks. This reduces the attack surface and mitigates the potential impact of cloud security breaches or unauthorized access to sensitive applications and data.

Enable MFA for All Accounts

This approach adds extra layers of verification and requires users to prove their identity using two or more independent authentication factors. It enhances security by making it more difficult for unauthorized users to gain access to cloud-based resources, even if passwords are compromised.

Automate Identity Lifecycle Management

This enables an organization to efficiently manage a user identity lifecycle, starting as an employee, contractor, or partner and ending when a user leaves an organization. This includes all the steps throughout the user’s life in an organization including name changes, temporary leaves or absences, leaving and rejoining the organization, and more.

Monitor and Log Identity Activities

Continuously track access patterns across all cloud-based platforms and look for anomalies.

Implement Just-in-Time (JIT) Access

Grant temporary permissions to cloud resources when needed and revoke them automatically after use.

Use Centralized Identity Management

Integrate cloud and on-premises identity systems for consistent policy enforcement.

Regularly Review and Audit Permissions

Identify and revoke excessive or unused permissions.

Where to Learn More

Cloud Identity Security is integral to a modern IGA solution. A modern IGA like Omada’s SaaS-based Omada Identity Cloud supports a blend of modular IAM tools for hybrid and multi-cloud environments and supports all human or machine identities, provides advanced analytics, and supports standards-based identity integrations.

Omada Identity Cloud connects and integrates IGA and other IAM tools to enable any organization to extend identity security to any application and provide a seamless and frictionless user experience across diverse environments from on-premises, hybrid, and SaaS deployments. Learn more.