Managing Malware in Multi-Cloud

Businesses choose the cloud for reasons ranging from flexible application and processing capacity to secure storage. At Cloud Storage Security, we are seeing growing interest among businesses looking to distribute digital assets and functions across multiple clouds. When they do adopt a multi-cloud strategy, it is essential to consider potential expansion of vulnerabilities impacts to cybersecurity. 

In its 2024 State of the Cloud Report, Flexera noted that not only are enterprises and SMBs continuing to move toward cloud services, as many as 89% of respondents reported having a multi-cloud strategy. Other interesting points made in the report include that adoption of cloud or Platform-as-a-Service capabilities was strongest in data warehouse (up 9% year-over-year to 65%), Container-as-a-Service (52%), and serverless or Function-as-a-Service (48%.) We are seeing these same trends across all verticals. Whether done to avoid vendor lock-in, as a disaster recovery strategy, or simply to maximize workflow efficiency, multi-cloud is here to stay.

Assuming Seamless Malware Protection

Multi-cloud can present some substantial technological challenges, especially in maintaining secure environments and preventing malware incursions and propagation. For example, AWS and Azure both provide excellent storage and processing capabilities, as one would expect. But they operate differently, expose very different APIs, and support a wide variety of third-party services and applications.

The transfer of data between clouds is common and simple. Files are files, and regardless of where they are generated, they can be stored on any platform. But in a distributed storage environment, platform operational differences can expose potential breakdowns in the administration of data organization. In addition, there is a risk of complicating the control of malware and ransomware scanning applications – some may not be available on all cloud platforms.

If you consider a malware scanning application to be similar to a microscope, you can dive down into the smallest level of detail when examining data in a container. However, your view and results are constrained by the capabilities of the specific microscope and container. If you must use a different tool on another cloud platform, you could receive different results because the conditions have changed. This is where multi-cloud scanning can offer a significant advantage.

Multi-cloud antivirus scanning, managed through a unified command and control console, offers operators a complete picture of all stored data. This approach manages the different API parameters while providing the user with a simple and consistent set of commands and reports regardless of the type of container or platform in use.

Multi-Engine Scanning

An additional layer of operational security and malware detection is afforded when multiple independent scanning engines can be utilized through this single command console. Malware, and particularly ransomware, is constantly being refined in response to detection and deterrence measures. Each threat engine producer takes a different approach and updates libraries on independent timelines. In this rapidly evolving landscape, it is certainly a best practice to use multiple scan engines to improve the overall performance of detection efforts.

Layering and Replication

Distributing mission-critical or confidential information across multiple storage locations and cloud platforms is part of everyday business. Challenges that hamper effectively maintaining a defense against ransomware and other malicious attacks across such a varied landscape can be mitigated through use of multi-cloud applications. When managed through a single unified management structure, the result is a far more robust and resilient cloud infrastructure. 

At Cloud Storage Security, we empower businesses to move forward freely and fearlessly by protecting data in the cloud. Our comprehensive malware detection and data loss prevention solutions address security and compliance challenges by identifying and neutralizing threats while minimizing risks and human error.

Contact us to learn more: https://cloudstoragesecurity.com/contact