How CyberArk Enhances Security in the Cloud

• September 30 2024

How CyberArk Enhances Security in the Cloud

CyberArk Cloud Security is a suite of solutions designed that enables organisations to secure their cloud environments and protect sensitive data and applications. As organisations across the world adopt cloud services increasingly, they face serious challenges around securing access to managing identities, critical assets, and ensuring compliance with security policies. CyberArk Cloud Security steps up to addresses these challenges by providing the right tools and technologies that focus on the key areas pertaining to security of cloud environments.

In a nutshell, CyberArk Cloud Security helps organisations safeguard privileged access, protect sensitive data, enforce security best practices, and ensure compliance in dynamic cloud environments.

Know the Key Features of CyberArk’s Cloud Security Solutions

1. Centralised Privileged Access Management
    
2. CyberArk Cloud Security undertakes the centralised management of privileged accounts and access across cloud environments. It specialises in managing and securing privileged accounts, credentials, and secrets across cloud environments. Privileged access is a primary target for cyber attackers, and securing it in cloud environments is crucial. It also provides a unified view and control over privileged access, reducing the risk of unauthorised access.
    
3. Automated Discovery and Onboarding
    
4. CyberArk Cloud Security permits automated discovery of cloud assets and onboarding of new resources. This feature ensures that all cloud resources are accounted for and secured without manual intervention.
    
5. Real-Time Monitoring and Analytics
    
6. CyberArk Cloud Security has a process of continuous monitoring and analysis of privileged activities and access. Through this feature, detection of suspicious activities in real-time is possible, allowing for prompt responses to potential threats.
    
7. Secure Remote Access
    
8. CyberArk Cloud Security creates secure, controlled access to cloud resources for remote users. This feature protects against unauthorised remote access at all times and ensures secure connections for remote work.
    
9. Granular Access Controls and Policies
    
10. CyberArk Cloud Security creates granular controls and customizable policies for managing access to cloud resources. This provides precise control over who can access what, reducing the risk of privilege abuse.
     
11. Integration with Existing Security Infrastructure
     
12. CyberArk Cloud Security provides seamless integration with other security tools and platforms. It enhances the overall security posture by complementing existing security measures.
     
13. Multi-Cloud Support
     
14. CyberArk Cloud Security supports multiple cloud providers, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and hybrid environments. This enables consistent security policies and controls across different cloud infrastructures.

Also read: Top 7 Vulnerability Assessment Tools

What are the Benefits of Using CyberArk for Cloud Security

Enhanced Security Posture - CyberArk addresses key vulnerabilities in an organisation by focusing on protecting privileged access, managing secrets, securing identities, and reducing misconfigurations. These areas are critical for preventing attacks that exploit weaknesses in systems, applications, and cloud environments. Essentially, CyberArk addresses key vulnerabilities by securing privileged access, managing secrets, enforcing least-privilege access, and providing continuous monitoring and auditing. Its solutions help organisations prevent credential theft, mitigate insider threats, secure remote access, and ensure compliance, all while reducing the overall attack surface across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

Given below is an outline of how CyberArk addresses the various vulnerabilities:

Privileged Access Misuse

1. Vulnerability: Privileged accounts, such as admin or root accounts, have elevated permissions and are often targeted by attackers. If compromised, they can lead to full control over critical systems.
    
2. CyberArk’s Solution:  Privileged Access Management (PAM): CyberArk secures privileged accounts by enforcing strong authentication, least-privilege access, and session monitoring. It limits the number of privileged accounts and provides granular access control, reducing the risk of misuse.
    
3. Session Isolation & Monitoring: CyberArk isolates privileged sessions, records activities, and provides real-time monitoring, helping detect suspicious actions and preventing unauthorised actions during sessions.

Credential Theft and Abuse

Vulnerability: Attackers often steal credentials through phishing, brute-force attacks, or exploiting password reuse to gain unauthorised access.

CyberArk’s Solution: Credential Vaulting: CyberArk stores sensitive credentials (passwords, API keys, certificates) in a secure vault, encrypting them and restricting access to authorised users or applications.

Automatic Credential Rotation: CyberArk automates password rotation, ensuring credentials are regularly changed, reducing the risk of them being compromised or reused by attackers.

Zero-Trust Security: By implementing least-privilege access and requiring verification for every user, device, and system, CyberArk limits access to only trusted entities, making credential theft less effective.

Hardcoded Secrets in Applications and Scripts

Vulnerability: Developers often hardcode secrets, such as API keys, passwords, and database credentials, in code repositories or configuration files, which can be easily exposed.

CyberArk’s Solution:  Secrets Management: CyberArk provides secure storage and management of secrets for cloud-native applications, microservices, and DevOps tools. This ensures that secrets are not hardcoded but dynamically retrieved from a secure vault.

Integration with CI/CD Pipelines: By integrating with DevOps pipelines, CyberArk automates secret injection into applications during runtime, avoiding the need to expose them in code or configuration files.

Over-Provisioned Permissions and Entitlements

Vulnerability: Users, applications, or services are often granted excessive permissions, leading to potential misuse or unauthorised access to sensitive resources.

CyberArk’s Solution: Cloud Infrastructure Entitlements Management (CIEM): CyberArk helps organisations identify and reduce over-provisioned permissions across cloud environments. It ensures that users and applications have only the minimum privileges necessary (least-privilege access).

Continuous Monitoring: The platform continuously monitors for changes in access entitlements, flagging excessive privileges and ensuring that users do not retain unnecessary permissions.

Unsecured Remote Access

Vulnerability: Remote access to critical systems without proper security controls can be exploited by attackers, especially with the rise of remote work.

CyberArk’s Solution: Secure Remote Access: CyberArk provides a secure method for privileged users and third-party vendors to remotely access critical systems without needing a VPN. This access is secured through multi-factor authentication (MFA) and session monitoring, reducing the risk of unauthorised remote access.

Privileged Session Monitoring: Every remote session is monitored, recorded, and audited to detect suspicious activities and prevent data exfiltration or system abuse.

Lack of Visibility into Privileged Activities

Vulnerability: Without clear visibility into who is accessing privileged accounts and what they are doing, organisations can miss early signs of an attack.

CyberArk’s Solution: Session Recording and Auditing: CyberArk Cloud Security records all privileged user sessions, providing full visibility into actions taken by privileged users. This helps organisations detect and investigate potential malicious activities.

Real-Time Monitoring & Alerts: The platform generates real-time alerts when suspicious behaviour or deviations from normal patterns are detected during privileged sessions, enabling security teams to respond quickly.

Cloud Misconfigurations

Vulnerability: Misconfigured cloud services (e.g., public S3 buckets, open ports) can lead to data leaks, unauthorised access, or exposure of critical assets.

CyberArk’s Solution: Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM): CyberArk continuously scans cloud environments for misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. It provides automated alerts and recommendations for remediation, ensuring cloud services are properly configured to reduce the risk of exposure.

Automated Policy Enforcement: The platform enforces security policies consistently across cloud environments, preventing misconfigurations from being introduced in the first place.

Insider Threats

Vulnerability: Malicious or negligent insiders, including employees or contractors, can misuse privileged access to steal data or disrupt operations.

CyberArk’s Solution: Least-Privilege Access Controls: By enforcing least-privilege access and providing just-in-time (JIT) access, CyberArk limits the ability of insiders to misuse privileged accounts.

User Behavior Analytics (UBA): CyberArk analyses privileged user behaviour to detect abnormal activities or deviations from typical behaviour patterns, helping to identify potential insider threats before they cause harm.

Compliance Gaps

Vulnerability: Organisations are often required to comply with regulations and industry standards (such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS), and failing to do so can result in fines or legal consequences.

CyberArk’s Solution: Compliance Auditing and Reporting: CyberArk generates detailed audit logs and reports on privileged access activities, helping organisations meet compliance requirements for data protection and access control. 

Access Governance: The platform ensures that access controls are aligned with regulatory requirements, making it easier to demonstrate compliance during audits.

Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks

Vulnerability: Phishing attacks are a pretty common means used to steal credentials or trick users into granting access to attackers.

CyberArk’s Solution: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): CyberArk Cloud Security enforces MFA for privileged access, making it much harder for attackers to use stolen credentials to gain access.

Adaptive Authentication: The platform can detect unusual login patterns, such as access attempts from unknown devices or locations, and trigger additional authentication steps to verify the user’s identity.

Other than this, here are some other benefits that are worthy of consideration:

Compliance and Risk Management: CyberArk Cloud Security solutions support a range of compliance with regulations and manage security risks.

Operational Efficiency: CyberArk Cloud Security benefits of automation and centralised management in reducing administrative overhead and improving efficiency.

Scalability: Being scalable, CyberArk Cloud Security solutions are capable of being adjusted in accordance to an organisation’s growth and changing cloud infrastructure.

Real-World Use Cases of CyberArk Security Services

Case Study 1.

Asian Paints, India’s leading paint manufacturer, uses CyberArk Security’s Privileged Access Manager controls across the entire enterprise, enhancing its security and auditing.  As the IT infrastructure of the company expanded and evolved, managing privileged access rights for the amassed collection of devices and applications had become an increasingly important responsibility. For Asian Paints, enhancing visibility into privileged user activity was vital to addressing potential vulnerabilities across the environment. Post a thorough investigation, solutions provided led to the following benefits for Asian Paints, which was duly acknowledged by the Solutions and Information Security teams of the company. The key benefits were - 

1. Fortified overall protection of critical company systems and data
    
2. Hardened attack surface by reducing privileged accounts by over 75%
    
3. Enhanced security and business continuity with multi-tier vault architecture
    
4. Improved incident resolution relating to privileged user activities
    
5. Streamlined regulatory compliance efforts with detailed audit logs

Case Study 2.

CyberArk Security plays a pivotal role in Identity Security in RBL Finserve’s Empowerment of Communities. In the digital age, where any compromised user, whether it be workforce, IT admin, third-party vendor, or developer, can be the trigger for a devastating security breach, RBL Finserve continues to represent a beacon of resilience and innovation. This dynamic financial institution, with its noble mission to empower economically vulnerable and underserved communities, has always taken a proactive stance in keeping its digital landscape secure. In a mission to enhance its security posture and simplify audit and compliance, RBL Finserve realised that making identity security the centre of its cybersecurity strategy would dramatically mitigate the attack vector present in most attacks involving compromised credentials and abused privileges. By partnering with CyberArk, the company has been successful in fortifying its digital landscape with innovative identity security solutions. The key benefits were -

1. Elevating cybersecurity, safeguarding customer data and business continuity against evolving threats.
    
2. Customer trust was reinforced, to secure RBL Finserve’s reputation as a secure financial service provider.
    
3. Achieving operational efficiencies maintaining an exemplary audit record through advanced security measures.

How to Get Started with CyberArk for Cloud Security

Initial Steps: These consist of providing guidance on how organisations can start using CyberArk’s cloud security solutions, including evaluating needs and selecting appropriate tools. The process starts first and foremost with a detailed investigation of the company’s security landscape to understand the unique challenges it has. Thereafter, a thorough roadmap is created which details goals for developing and implementing enhanced security measures. The time frame is of varying durations based on the nature of challenges.

Implementation Tips: This stage involves the crucial implementation of the solutions working closely with the company’s own security team. In order for organisations to implement CyberArk’s solutions effectively, it offers best practices and common pitfalls to avoid.

Resources: CyberArk’s Resources consist of tools, materials, and information from the company’s end for the use of its customers. Services and support include CyberArk’s authorised documentation, customer support, and training programs.

Conclusion

CyberArk’s multi-cloud solutions developer access and cloud workloads by making use of the cloud provider’s native capabilities. It discovers and obtains insights on vaulted secrets and provides extensive controls while giving developers secure native access to each layer of cloud environments, including cloud native services.