Network security

All providers support NACLs or network security groups (NSGs) for filtering network traffic at the subnet level. Additionally, they offer distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection to safeguard against attacks.

By considering these network design principles and cloud provider-specific features, organizations can create robust, secure, and scalable network architectures to support their cloud-based applications and services effectively.

Network security is a critical aspect of cloud computing, ensuring the protection of data, applications, and resources from unauthorized access, cyber threats, and data breaches. Each major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, and GCP) offers a set of network security features and services to safeguard their cloud environments. Let’s explore network security considerations specific to each cloud provider:

• AWS:
  • NACLs: NACLs act as stateless firewalls at the subnet level, allowing or denying inbound and outbound traffic based on user-defined rules. They provide an additional layer of security to control traffic between subnets in a VPC.
  • Security Groups: AWS Security Groups are stateful firewalls that control inbound and outbound traffic for EC2 instances and other resources within a VPC. They allow fine-grained control over traffic by specifying rules based on protocols, ports, and IP addresses.
  • AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF): AWS WAF helps protect web applications from common web exploits and attacks, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and more. It integrates with AWS CloudFront and Application Load Balancer for effective application-level security.
• Microsoft Azure:
  • NSGs: Azure NSGs provide inbound and outbound traffic filtering at the subnet and network interface level. Administrators can define rules based on source/destination IP addresses, ports, and protocols to control network traffic.
  • Azure Firewall: Azure Firewall is a fully managed, cloud-based firewall service that protects Azure resources and virtual networks. It provides centralized security policy enforcement and includes features such as application rules, network rules, and NAT rules.
  • Azure DDoS Protection: Azure DDoS Protection Standard provides enhanced DDoS mitigation capabilities for Azure resources, protecting against volumetric, protocol, and application layer attacks.
• GCP:
  • Cloud Firewall rules: GCP offers Cloud Firewall, allowing users to create and enforce stateful firewall rules to control traffic to and from instances. Firewall rules can be applied at the project or instance level.
  • Cloud Armor: GCP Cloud Armor provides WAF capabilities to protect HTTP(S) load balancers against application-layer DDoS attacks and common web vulnerabilities.
  • VPC Service Controls: GCP’s VPC Service Controls allow users to define security perimeters around GCP resources, enabling granular control over data access and preventing data exfiltration.

The following are some common network security considerations across cloud providers:

• Encryption: All cloud providers offer encryption options for data at rest and data in transit, ensuring data confidentiality and integrity
• Identity and Access Management (IAM): IAM services provided by cloud providers enable granular control over user access to resources and ensure the principle of least privilege
• Monitoring and logging: Cloud providers offer various monitoring and logging solutions to detect and analyze security events and anomalies within the network
• Compliance and certifications: All major cloud providers comply with industry standards and certifications to ensure a secure environment for sensitive workloads, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, and ISO

By leveraging these network security features and best practices from cloud providers, organizations can build robust and secure network architectures that protect their cloud resources and ensure data confidentiality and integrity.