We are planning a Hybrid Cloud rollout, but I’m concerned about the expanded attack surface. How do you maintain consistent security policies between local servers and AWS/Azure? Specifically, how do you handle identity federation and ensure that a breach in the public cloud doesn't lead to lateral movement into our sensitive on-site databases through the VPN or Direct Connect?
3 answers
The most critical step is implementing a Zero Trust Architecture. You cannot rely on a "crunchy shell" perimeter anymore. In a hybrid setup, you must treat every request—whether it originates from your on-prem data center or a public cloud instance—as potentially malicious. Use a centralized Identity and Access Management (IAM) system that supports SAML or OIDC for seamless federation. To prevent lateral movement, implement micro-segmentation at the network layer. This ensures that even if a web server in the public cloud is compromised, the attacker is "boxed in" and cannot jump to your private SQL servers over the dedicated connection without further, highly specific credentials.
Are you planning to use a third-party Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) to get unified visibility, or are you hoping to rely purely on native tools from your cloud provider?
Don't forget about encryption in transit. Ensure you're using MACsec or similar high-speed encryption for your Direct Connect links to protect against physical wiretapping.
Great point, Patricia. Many people assume a private line is safe by default, but encrypting that data in transit is a mandatory compliance requirement for us in the finance sector.
Robert, we are currently looking at a mix. To answer your question, we found that native tools are great for their own environment, but they lack a "single pane of glass" for the on-prem side. A CASB seems like a necessary investment if we want to enforce DLP policies across the entire hybrid estate without constant manual syncing.