Building Trust through Risk and Controls

Building trust through risk and controls involve establishing transparency, reliability, and accountability in all the actions that we perform.

We would cover the following in this topic:

1. Common risks in multi-Cloud environments
2. Some countermeasures that can be implemented to mitigate risks.
3. Understand when it is the right time to think about security and controls during a large business and technology transformation.

To start with, we need to first understand risks around cloud applications. Implementing the digital trust around Cloud applications is a major step and to continuously monitor the risk becomes the key for success.

When it comes to Cloud, it is a shared responsibility across the delivery models. As organizations increase their dependence on cloud-based solutions, they often struggle with adapting to the nuances that come with governing and protecting their environments. The cloud introduces a paradigm shift in technological possibilities, requiring organizations to evolve their compliance and security models. 77% of executives globally agree that new solutions exist to secure cloud infrastructures better than they have ever been in the past. 99% of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault.

When it comes to SaaS environment

1. 35% fail rate against configuration of security best practice settings
2. 30% Compliance violations
3. Over 95% of companies over-provision external users.
4. 55% of companies have sensitive data exposed on the Internet.

Leveraging cloud technologies presents new and different risks requiring the organization to understand the compliance. To manage unique risks, we need to know ‘Who’ you are; ‘What’ you do; ‘What’ applications, platforms and infrastructure are in the Cloud, ‘What’ Cloud provider(s) and provider technologies are used.

Cloud environments break the mould with dynamic new possibilities. This potential brings unique challenges, risks, and threats.

The below are some of the common risk and threats in cloud environments:

1. Improper protection of cloud credentials
2. Misconfiguration of cloud storage services
3. Weaknesses in the cloud’s perimeter, and improper configurations in cloud environments
4. Inadequate hardening of cloud infrastructure services
5. Improper or insufficient tagging of cloud resources
6. Failure to architect and engineer infrastructure and applications to meet resiliency needs.

It is important to develop and implement robust controls and safeguards to mitigate these risks. This could include policies, procedures, security measures, and compliance mechanisms.

• Communicating openly and transparently about the risks and the controls that are in place.
• Assigning responsibilities and accountability for risk management and control implementation is a key step.
• Continuously monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of the controls. This involves regular audits, reviews, and evaluations to ensure they are working as intended.
• Keeping the stakeholders informed about the results of risk assessments and control evaluations.
• Being adaptable and responsive to changing circumstances.
• Demonstrating consistency in our approach to risk management and control implementation. This consistency builds trust by showing that we take these matters seriously over time.
• Ensuring our controls are aligned with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
• Maintaining a thorough documentation of the risk assessments, control measures, and compliance efforts. This documentation can serve as evidence of our commitment to managing risks effectively.
• Ensuring we do invest time in training and awareness programs to ensure that the team understands the importance of risk management and the controls in place.
• Finally, creating a feedback loop for stakeholders to provide input and express concerns about risk and control measures. This demonstrates the willingness to listen and improve.

By consistently implementing these steps, we can build trust by showing that we are proactive in managing risks and ensuring that effective controls are in place to protect against them. Trust is essential for any organization that wants to succeed. By building trust, we can create a more secure and resilient environment for our customers, partners, and employees.