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Securing Multi-Cloud Applications with MongoDB Atlas

 

Multi-cloud applications are on the rise and offer both teams and users more versatility and flexibility as a result. A developer can take advantage of the strengths of different cloud providers, such as greater availability in certain regions, improved performance and reliability, and a wider selection of features for an array of use cases such as machine learning and events.

In order to move from a private, multi-cloud environment to a public, multi-cloud environment, however, organizations also need to change their mindset and workflows – especially when it comes to security. In order to prevent security breaches when working with multiple cloud providers, teams must understand the different security policies, and take extra precautions.

Our objective in this article is to examine three security challenges associated with multicloud applications, and to explore how MongoDB Atlas can contribute to mitigating or reducing the risks associated with them.

Challenge 1: More clouds, more procedures, more complexity

The security protocols that cloud providers use, such as authentication, authorization, and encryption, vary from one provider to another. There is no doubt that in the coming years, cloud providers will continue to update their features in order to remain competitive and current with the market, adding more complications to multi-cloud environments.

Although AWS, Azure, and GCP have many similarities, there are also many subtle differences between them as well. Identity and Access Management (IAM) in AWS is based on the concept of root accounts and identities, such as users and roles. In essence, root accounts are basically administrative accounts that have unlimited access to resources, services, and billing information. In AWS, users represent credentials for humans or applications that interact with the service, whereas roles represent temporary access permissions that may be assumed by users as required.

The role-based access control (RBAC) implemented in Azure and GCP differs in terms of the way it is implemented and the way it is implemented. The Azure Active Directory allows administrators to nest different groups of users within one another, forming a hierarchy of sorts – and allowing them to easily assign permissions to each group of users. It should be noted that GCP uses roles, which include both preset and customized permissions (e.g., editor or viewer) as well as scopes, which are allotted to a specific identity with regard to a specific resource or project. As an example, one scope can be a read-only viewer on one project, while on another it could be an editor.

As a result of these differences, keeping track of security permissions across various cloud providers can be a bit of a challenge. Therefore, teams may fail to grant access to key clients in a timely manner, or they may accidentally authorize the wrong users, which could result in delays or even security breaches as a result.

Challenge 2: Contributing factors

I feel that security isn’t something that exists in a vacuum, and certain factors (organizational and otherwise) can make the job of security teams more difficult. The lack of time can make implementing or adhering to security policies more difficult, for example, because of time constraints.

As a result of turnover, there can also be security concerns associated with it, such as lost knowledge (for example, a team may lose its AWS expert) or stolen credentials. It is important for organizations to immediately revoke access privileges of departing employees and to grant credentials as quickly as possible to new employees in order to avoid the latter problem. A study found 50% of companies took three days or longer to revoke system access for departing employees, while 72% took one week or longer to grant access to new employees.

Challenge 3: Misconfigurations and human error

According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, nearly 13% of breaches were caused by human error. 82 percent of security incidents were caused by the human element (phishing and stolen credentials).

The majority of data breaches occur as a result of misconfigurations due to the fact they are such common mistakes. AWS, for example, governs permissions and resources through the use of JSON files, which are called policies. If you are not an expert in AWS IAM, it’s very difficult to understand what a policy actually means, unless you are an expert yourself.

Where does MongoDB Atlas come in?

Due to the fact that MongoDB Atlas is secure by default, there will be minimal configuration required, and it has been verified by leading global and regional certifications and assurances. Among these assurances are some of the most critical industry standards, such as ISO 27001 for information security, HIPAA for the protection of healthcare information, PCI-DSS for the security of payment cards.

With Atlas, you can centralize and simplify multi-cloud security controls by abstracting away the details of policies, roles, and other protocols. In addition to providing a regional selection option to control the data residency, Atlas provides a default virtual private client (VPC) for resource isolation, RBAC for fine-tuning access permissions, and more. 

There are a number of tools that support security across an entire environment, which means you simply need to configure them as needed without having to worry about the nuances of each cloud provider.

Atlas is also compatible with many of the leading security technologies and managers, such as Google Key Management System, Azure Key Vault, or Amazon Web Services Key Management Service, making it possible for users to either bring their own keys or to secure their clusters with the software of their choice.

It is also important to note that data is always encrypted during transit as well as at rest. Queryable Encryption, for example, allows you to run rich queries on encrypted data, allowing you to extract insights without compromising the security of the data. It is only when the results are returned to the driver – where the key is located – that the data is decrypted – otherwise, encrypted fields will display as randomized ciphertext what is not what it should be.

An example of a real-world data breach that occurred at a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom in 2013 involved a disgruntled employee gaining access to the personal information of nearly 100,000 employees by exploiting a security flaw. Queryable Encryption would have prevented the perpetrator from downloading any cipher text if it had been available and in use at the time of the attack.

As a result of MongoDB Atlas, the process of securing multi-cloud environments is simple and straightforward. An easy-to-use interface makes it simple for teams to manage their security needs in a streamlined manner. There is no need to balance different security procedures and structures, or to keep track of different tools such as hyperscalers and key management systems in order to ensure proper security.

 

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