As cloud adoption continues to accelerate in APAC, organisations are facing increased pressure to modernise infrastructure — without compromising on security.
But cloud security isn’t just about installing a firewall or setting up MFA. It’s about implementing a structured framework that addresses every layer of your cloud stack — from identity to workload to compliance.
Here’s a breakdown of the six core pillars of a cloud security framework that every business should evaluate.
🔐 1. Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Controlling who can access what — and how — is your first line of defence.
- Enforce least-privilege access using IAM roles and policies
- Use short-lived credentials instead of static keys
- Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all accounts, including root
- Rotate access keys regularly and integrate with SSO/IdP like Okta or Azure AD
Tech tip: In AWS, consider using IAM Access Analyzer to identify risky access configurations across services.
🗃 2. Data Protection
Data breaches are rarely caused by poor encryption — they’re caused by misconfigurations and lax access controls.
- Encrypt all data at rest (e.g. using AWS KMS, Google Cloud KMS) and in transit with TLS 1.2+
- Use Object Lock for S3 or equivalent to prevent accidental deletion
- Apply Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rules to classify and monitor sensitive information
Common risk: Public-facing S3 buckets or misconfigured permissions are still a top source of breaches across APAC.
👁 3. Threat Detection and Monitoring
You can’t protect what you don’t monitor.
- Enable real-time logging across services using CloudTrail, GCP Audit Logs, or Datadog
- Use SIEM or CSPM solutions to correlate security events and alert on anomalies
- Activate managed threat services like AWS GuardDuty or Google Security Command Center
Pro tip: Correlate cloud logs with endpoint logs for better coverage of lateral movement attempts.
📋 4. Compliance and Governance
In APAC, businesses need to balance regional regulations (e.g. Singapore’s PDPA, Malaysia’s PDP, Vietnam’s Decree 13) with global frameworks like ISO 27001 or GDPR.
- Tag and classify data by compliance level
- Maintain detailed audit trails across workloads and cloud accounts
- Use frameworks like NIST CSF or CSA CCM to benchmark your security posture
Good governance = faster audits, lower risk, and better stakeholder trust.
🔒 5. Infrastructure & Network Security
You must treat your cloud infrastructure as code — not as static servers.
- Harden configurations using CIS Benchmarks
- Use VPC segmentation, security groups, and NACLs to control traffic
- Deploy WAF, DDoS protection (e.g. Cloudflare, AWS Shield), and private endpoints to reduce exposure
Security by design: Automate hardening using infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform or CloudFormation.
🤝 6. Understand the Shared Responsibility Model
Many cloud security failures stem from a misunderstanding of what’s yours to protect.
- Your cloud provider secures the physical infrastructure
- You are responsible for your data, identities, workloads, and configurations
- Document your responsibilities across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS setups
At Netron, we support organisations across APAC in building secure, compliant, and high-performing cloud environments — working alongside partners like AWS, Google Cloud and Datadog.
Want a simple way to evaluate how well your organisation is doing across these six areas? Contact us for a free 20-minute consultation now!
