CLOUD SECURITY ASSESSMENT

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Cloud security encapsulates the policies, procedures, controls, and technologies that together deliver secure cloud-based systems, data, and infrastructure. These security measures are vital for protecting cloud-based services and the information that they manage. The advantages of cloud-based solutions in the globalized and dispersed nature of today’s working environments drive the need for the implementation of adequate security measures to protect cloud-stored data and manage user access.

Cloud application security testing assesses the integrity of the virtual platforms that host the cloud-based services to identify potential vulnerabilities associated with the cloud services and recommend remediation measures. Effective cloud application security testing will provide a benchmark for the security configuration of the hosting environment.
Methodology
WCS’s experts are proficient at providing expert advice on the implementation of security controls for cloud-based solutions and for providing test and audit services to demonstrate the efficacy of the controls. The cloud security testing methodology is based upon best practices as established and defined by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Cloud Security Project guidelines.

Our expert test team uses both automated cloud security testing tools and manual techniques to identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities that may threaten the security integrity of the cloud platform. Typical issues identified include misconfiguration errors, unnecessary services, missing critical security patches as well as server build and application code errors.

As one of the leading cloud security companies, WCS’s cloud security assessment services include coverage of:
Our expert test team holds the best cloud security certification available to provide assurance of their capabilities in protecting our client’s cloud-based solutions.
Discovery
Cloud services and their hosting infrastructure are assessed through the review of service level agreements and security certification evidence. The analysis confirms the scope of any testing requirements, the prerequisite authorization requirements, rules of engagement, and the technical access information, including target IPs, URLs, APIs, login credentials.
Vulnerability Scanning
The vulnerability scanning employs a broad range of vulnerability assessment tools to identify vulnerabilities in configuration settings as well as logical and physical security weaknesses associated with the target environment. This information is correlated with known vulnerability information to compose a picture of all potential weaknesses that may exist on the cloud infrastructure.

Vulnerability scanning is undertaken externally from the host environment to expose any weaknesses that are available for an internet-based attacker to exploit. It is essential that vulnerability scanning is conducted by trained and experienced staff. Aggressive scanning techniques can impact system performance and potentially adversely compromise the hosting environment itself, leading to loss of services or loss of data for all clients of the hosting environment. For this reason, WCS recommends using its trained team of experienced and knowledgeable consultants to deliver effective results with minimal risk of a system compromise, and who can advise in the event of the performance or stability of the systems being affected.
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability analysis collates the results of the scanning. It establishes the threat level for each in terms of the impact of threat realization, the age of the vulnerability and availability of exploits, the availability of patching solutions, and any other factors that may affect the risk level.

One of the drawbacks of using vulnerability scanning tools is that they can generate an overwhelming list of identified vulnerabilities where the critical weaknesses get lost in the long list of minor issues. WCS’s skilled team of experienced and knowledgeable consultants are adept at bringing critical issues to the forefront and delivering intelligent results that can be readily interpreted and evaluated by the client.

WCS’s highly experienced team will be on hand to advise of the best solutions, delivering pragmatic product-agnostic advice that you can trust. We will also offer to retest the system to verify that any remedial actions taken were both effective and have not introduced new vulnerabilities.