Cloud and Virtualization Security

Cloud and Virtualization Security #

Exploring the Cloud #

  • oversubscription - allocates more virtual resources than physical resources actually available, betting that not all customers will use their full allocation simultaneously.
  • multitenancy - Different users share resources in the same cloud infrastructure.

Benefits of the Cloud #

  • On-demand self-service computing
  • Scalability (vertical & horizontal) - rapidly increasing capacity
  • Elasticity - expand and contract capacity as needed
  • Measure Service - You pay for waht you consume
  • Agility & Flexibility

Cloud Roles #

  • Cloud Service Providers - offer the cloud computing
  • Cloud Consumers - ones that consume the cloud computing
  • Cloud Partners/brokers - Resell supplementary products or services in regards of the cloud
  • Cloud Auditors - independents that audit cloud services and operations
  • Cloud Carriers - The network service provider that delivers connectivity between cloud consumers and providers.

Anyone can take multiple roles, like neptune was a Cloud consumer and service provider.

Cloud Service Models (XaaS) #

  • IaaS - Customer does full config
  • PaaS - Run apps that customer developed themselves, but without granualr network/infrastructure responbilities
    • Example FaaS upload just the code and it will execute on an event without further overhead.
  • SaaS - Customer only does config in the “application”, see ERP, CRM, ..
  • Managed Service Providers (MSPs) - service organizations that are responsible for all tech infrastructure for a customer.
    • If they offer security, they are Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs)

Cloud Deployment Models #

  • Public Cloud - Default - Shared infrastructure for the general public/anyone
  • Private Cloud - provisioned for a single customer
    • Build/deployed by either a 3th party or the organization itself.
    • More excess resources, so less cost efficient
  • Community Cloud - Like Public multitenant, but all tenants are from the same community that share same needs or mission (e.g. regualrity needs, compliance, etc..)
  • Hybrid Cloud - catch all of blending public, private and/or community
    • Requires technology to unify the different clouds into single coherent platform

Note: The intelligence community uses “Private Public” cloud. The infrastructure resides in a CIA facility, but provides (for example) decicated AWS services. Azure Arc allows to use Azure platform but on hardware/infrastructure you manage yourself. So it is a private cloud, but it uses the functinality/platform layer from a public cloud.

  • Public Cloud bursting- You use only public cloud to expand capacity when necessary, but by default use private/on-prem

Shared Responsibility Model #

Your security responsibilities fall in the “customer responsibilites”, the vendor area secuirty is for, the vendo ing

Cloud Standards and Guidelines #

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  • NIST Cloud Computing Reference Architecture
    • This shared understanding helps to also talk about cybersecurity.
  • Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) - industry organization focused on best practices in cloud security.
  • Edge Computing - Push some of the (pre-)processing to the edge/sensors before shipping it back to the central server/cloud.
  • Fog Computing - Local gateway devices close to the sensors that does the preprocessing before sending it to the central server/cloud.

Virtualization #

Is made possible by hypervisors, virtual machines don’t know they’re in a virtual environment.

Hypervisors #

  • Hypervisior is a special OS that mediates access to underlying hardware resources.
  • Primary responsibility : Enforce vertical isolation between the VMs.
    • Gives the VM the illusion that its a single independent physical device.
    • VM’s are not able to access/information/resources assigned to another VM.
  • Types
    • Type I Hypervisor AKA Bare-metal hypervisor - Operate directly on underlying hardware
      • Most efficient and default for datacenter virtualization
      • THIS IS the OS
    • Type II Hypervisors - Run as an application on top of an OS (e.g. Parrallels, VirtualBox)
      • THIS IS AN APP installed on another OS
      • More for personal computers, hobby, but less efficient.

Cloud Infrastructure Components #

Cloud Compute Resources #

  • Virtual Machines - OS level virtualization
    • Specify assigned hardware, OS, pay on consumption, SSH/RDP for access.
  • Containers - Application level virtualization
    • Same security concerns as VMs, isolation of access and resources

Cloud Storage Resources #

  • Block Storage - for VMS
    • Preallocated, so you pay for that.
    • Most expensive
  • Object Storage - S3
    • You pay for how much actually used
    • Cheaper
  • Security Considerations
    • Set permissions Properly
    • Consider high availability and durability
    • Use encryption to protect sensitive data

Cloud Networking #

  • Software defined networking (SDN)
  • Software defined visibility (SDV) offer insights into the traffix of the virtual networks
  • Security Groups -
    • kind of the Firewall feature
    • work at network and transport layer
    • WAF works on higher levels (application layer for example)
    • Usually no cost
  • Virtual Private Cloud (VPC/VNET)
    • Segmentation - Different security levels on differenet subnets.
      • Similar grouped systems can talk to each other, others not.
      • On hardware level they would use VLAN (Virtual LAN) instead of virtual subnets.
    • VPC endpoints - CSP backbone that allows to connect VPC with each other
    • Cloud transit gateways is to connect a VPC with your on-prem network directly and securily
      • Requires physical actions and efforts.

Cloud Security Issues #

Availability #

  • Baselevel services don’t always provide High Availability, you need to configure/architect accordingly.

Data Sovereignty #

  • Data is subject to legal restrictions of any jurisdiction where it is collected, stored or processed.
  • you might be subject to laws that you don’t have much to do with, just cause your data is hosted there.
  • Encrypt data, to keep control of your data, even when it goes over different jurisdictions, but understand what your situation is.

Virtualization Security #

  • Virtual Machine Escape Vulnerabilities - most serious, it breaks the isolation between VMs in data and/or resource access.
  • Virtual Machine Sprawl - When user creates IaaS VM and forgets about it and it accrues cost and security issues
  • Resource Reuse When hardware resources assigned to one customer is reassigned to another, and there was no proper cleanup, like old data still there.

Application Security #

  • See Application Security
  • API Injection Technology - inspect API requests for security issues (e.g. WAF)
  • Secure Web Gateways (SGWs) - monitors egress web requests and evaluates agains security policies.
    • in other words, an egress firewall/WAF
    • mostly work on application layer
    • Some do Network and transport layer

Governance and Auditing of Third-Party Vendors #

Auditiability of a CSP is important.

Hardening Cloud Infrastructure #

  • Cloud native controls
    • Have direct integrations and are more cost effective
  • 3th party solutions
    • more costly, but integrate with various CSPs
  • or combined

Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs) #

Software tools that serve as intemediaries between cloud service users and cloud service providers. This allows for monitoring user activity and enforce policy requirements, 2 different approaches:

  • Inline CASB solutions - physically/logically reside in connectio path between the user and service.
    • Requires configurtion of network and/or endpoints.
    • Allows to see and block requests before they arrive at cloud service.
  • API-Based CASB solutions - Interacts directly with CSP’s API
    • No real changes/reconfigurtion to be done
    • Unable to block requests
    • More limited to monitoring and reporting
    • Fixs policy violations after the fact.

Resource Policies #

Policies to limit actions or users can make. (eg. you can only deploy in region x)

Secrets Management #

Offer Hardware Security Modules (HSM) for internal key usage but also for customers. Keys are generated and never exposed externally.

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