Introduction to the cloud security analyst’s role
1. Introduction to the cloud security analyst’s role
Now is the perfect time to develop security skills. Cloud security is a growing field, with a wide variety of exciting jobs opening up every day in almost every industry. In this video, you’ll learn about some of the career paths you can pursue as a cloud security analyst. First, let’s explore some of the fields a cloud security analyst can work in. The first field is information risk management, which is the process of identifying, assessing, and minimizing potential threats to information assets. Information risk management has a lot of career options for security analysts. It’s used to develop strategies for securing cloud assets. Since an organization’s cloud environment may include thousands of assets, it’s important for risk managers to understand what their organization’s environment includes, such as by using cloud asset inventory software. This allows them to conduct research into potential threats, and put controls in place to make risks less likely. Information risk management can also be used to plan an organization’s security budget. Each organization has a limited amount of resources to spend on security. Information risk management plays an important role in prioritizing which tools an organization spends its money on, and which assets the organization focuses on protecting. The higher value an asset has to the organization, the more money they should invest to protect it. Another field cloud security analysts can work in is cloud security posture management, or the process of monitoring and configuring cloud assets for security and compliance with best practices, regulations, and organization policy. Analysts use cloud security posture management tools like Google Cloud Security Command Center as centralized places to find and analyze information about what’s going on in the cloud environment. Posture management involves using tooling to monitor cloud environments for misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. Using posture management strategies, cloud security analysts can also take steps to improve their organization’s security posture. You might be wondering, what is security posture? Security posture is an organization’s ability to manage its defense of critical assets and data and react to change. So, security posture management strategies often include regularly reviewing and updating security policies, ensuring that identity and access management services, or IAM, policies are configured correctly, and implementing and testing security controls. Cloud security analysts also review their organization’s security posture regularly with cloud service providers to make sure technology features are up to date. Analysts document these reviews and use them to improve their cloud assets’ security over time. As part of security posture management, analysts also communicate with non-technical audiences, including management and users. It’s important for analysts to have great communication skills so they can explain technical concepts to those who may not have a technical background. Analysts are often responsible for educating their colleagues about security best practices. A third field cloud security analysts can work in is threat intelligence. Threat intelligence includes the collection, analysis, and evaluation of cyberthreat information. Cyberthreats include the techniques malicious actors use to damage cloud resources or gain unauthorized access to data. Several cybersecurity organizations around the world work together to document and categorize cyberthreats. The information these organizations collect include details about known attack groups, the methods they use, which systems are vulnerable, and how to reduce the risk of being affected. Cloud security analysts use threat intelligence to stay ahead of potential attackers. By knowing which assets are most vulnerable to attacks, analysts can help direct resources and budget toward the areas that need it most. Threat intelligence also helps analysts respond to incidents. When a cyberattack, breach, or other incident occurs, cloud security analysts are responsible for minimizing the impact on the organization and supporting the recovery process. Now you know about some of the different specializations available to cloud security analysts. Consider your own interests and start to think about whether any of these might be a good fit for you!2. Let's practice!
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