Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of computing resources—including servers, storage, databases, networking, analytics, and software—over the internet. Instead of owning and operating physical infrastructure, organizations can rent access to these services from cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This approach enables businesses to innovate faster, scale flexibly, and reduce capital expenditures, all while shifting to more agile IT operations.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is a model that provides scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities as a service using internet technologies. At its core, it abstracts the underlying hardware and infrastructure to offer services in a way that is flexible, cost-effective, and user-centric. The three primary service models include:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Delivers fundamental compute, storage, and networking resources. Customers manage the OS, applications, and data while the provider manages the infrastructure.
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): Offers a development platform and tools to build, test, and deploy applications without managing infrastructure.
• Software as a Service (SaaS): Provides access to ready-to-use software applications via the web, eliminating the need for local installation or maintenance.

Deployment models vary based on how services are provisioned:

• Public cloud: Services are delivered over the internet and shared across multiple organizations.
• Private cloud: Cloud infrastructure is used exclusively by a single organization, either hosted on-premises or by a third party.
• Hybrid cloud: Combines public and private clouds to enable data and application portability.
• Multi-cloud: Uses multiple cloud providers to improve resilience, reduce vendor lock-in, and optimize workloads.

Why cloud computing matters

Cloud computing is central to modern digital transformation strategies. Businesses use cloud services to:

• Accelerate innovation by provisioning infrastructure and services in minutes.
• Optimize IT spending through pay-as-you-go pricing.
• Scale operations globally without infrastructure constraints.
• Enhance availability and disaster recovery through built-in redundancy.
• Facilitate remote work and distributed collaboration.

Security and compliance are key drivers for mature cloud operations. As companies shift workloads to the cloud, they must adapt their cybersecurity posture to account for new architectures, dynamic workloads, and distributed services.

Key benefits of cloud computing

• Cost savings: No need to invest in physical hardware or long-term facility costs.
• Elastic scalability: Dynamically scale resources up or down based on demand.
• Speed and agility: Rapid deployment of applications and services.
• Global reach: Access cloud resources from anywhere with an internet connection.
• Automatic updates: Cloud providers manage and update services, reducing operational burden.

Security risks and challenges

While cloud computing brings many advantages, it also introduces significant security challenges:

• Misconfigurations: One of the most common causes of cloud breaches. Exposed storage buckets and improperly configured IAM roles can lead to data leakage.
• Identity and access management (IAM): Managing access permissions across services and users becomes complex at scale.
• Limited visibility: Traditional on-prem tools may not offer insight into dynamic cloud environments.
• Shared responsibility confusion: Cloud providers secure the infrastructure, but customers must secure applications, data, and user access.
• Data sovereignty and compliance: Sensitive data may be stored in regions with different regulatory requirements.
• API vulnerabilities: Poorly secured APIs can provide attackers with entry points into cloud services.

Best practices for securing cloud environments

To effectively secure cloud environments, organizations should:

• Implement the principle of least privilege for all identities and services.
• Use infrastructure as code (IaC) to standardize and audit cloud resource configurations.
• Encrypt data at rest and in transit and manage encryption keys securely.
• Adopt continuous monitoring through cloud-native telemetry and threat detection platforms.
• Perform regular security assessments including penetration tests and vulnerability scans.
• Integrate security into DevOps workflows for early detection of issues.
• Establish incident response plans tailored to cloud-specific scenarios.

Guidance from NIST, CIS Benchmarks, and the CISA Cloud Security Technical Reference Architecture can help shape a strong cloud security strategy.

Compliance considerations

Regulatory requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and SOC 2 increasingly apply to cloud-hosted data and applications. Organizations must:

• Maintain audit logs and monitoring for access and data handling.
• Define and enforce data residency policies.
• Validate security controls implemented by cloud providers.
• Map cloud architectures to regulatory controls.

Failure to address these requirements can result in fines, reputational damage, and business disruptions.

How Orca Security helps

Orca Security delivers agentless-first, comprehensive cloud security for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and more. Its platform scans across workloads, containers, VMs, identities, and configurations to detect vulnerabilities, malware, exposed secrets, excessive privileges, and other risks.

Key benefits of using the Orca Cloud Security Platform include:

• Unified visibility: Gain a single-pane-of-glass view across all cloud assets and risks.
• Dynamic risk prioritization: Surface critical issues by correlating threat data with asset value, internet exposure, and blast radius.
• Continuous compliance monitoring: Automatically check configurations against standards like NIST 800-53, PCI DSS, and CIS Benchmarks.
• Integration with existing workflows: Feed findings into SIEM, SOAR, and ticketing systems for streamlined operations.
• Rapid time to value: Orca’s agentless approach enables full coverage within hours, not weeks.

By delivering full-spectrum cloud security without operational friction, Orca empowers security teams to protect dynamic cloud environments at scale.