Benefits of Security and Governance in the Cloud
Slide deck explaining the benefits of security and governance in the cloud, centralized visibility and controls, shared responsibility, governance guardrails, Azure Policy, and common scenarios and pitfalls.
Benefits of Security and Governance in the Cloud
Introduction to the benefits of security and governance in cloud computing, covering how cloud helps apply controls consistently and spot issues faster.
Benefits of Security and Governance in the Cloud
Introduction to the benefits of security and governance in cloud computing, covering how cloud helps apply controls consistently and spot issues faster.
Why cloud security + governance help
Cloud helps you apply controls consistently and spot issues faster. Centralized visibility across resources. Repeatable controls vs manual 'per-team' checks. Less configuration drift over time. Shared responsibility.
Security vs governance
Security protects; governance standardizes and enforces guardrails. Security: protect workloads and data from threats. Governance: define and enforce standards over time. Security controls do not equal governance controls. They overlap in real environments.
Centralized visibility and controls
Centralized security makes consistent baselines practical. One view across teams and resources. Consistent baselines reduce 'it depends' setups. Faster spotting of risky configurations. Less reliance on manual checklists.
Shared responsibility
Provider secures the platform; you secure what you configure and use. Provider: underlying cloud platform. You: deployed resources and configuration. Always yours: data. Always yours: identities, account, and access management.
Service types shift the boundary
More managed service equals provider manages more, but you still own key responsibilities. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): you manage more. Platform as a Service (PaaS): provider manages more platform. Software as a Service (SaaS): provider runs the app. You always own data and access decisions.
Governance = guardrails over time
Governance is a continuous loop that prevents drift and supports compliance. Define standards (regions, naming, tags, baselines). Enforce or assess consistently. Monitor compliance continuously. Remediate and improve over time.
Azure Policy (governance at scale)
Azure Policy helps enforce standards and assess compliance across resources. Enforce organizational standards. Assess and report compliance. Example: allowed regions only. Example: require tags (e.g., cost center).
Scenario: 'cloud handles security'
Cloud provider security does not remove your workload and access responsibilities. Mistake: stop reviewing identity and permissions. Provider: secures the platform. You: secure configuration, access, and data. Always review exposure and permissions.
Scenario: regions + tags
Enforcing standards across teams is governance, even if it supports security. Goal: prevent non-standard deployments. Rule: approved regions only. Rule: required tags (e.g., cost center). Tool example: Azure Policy.
Scenario: dev vs prod + auditing
Security limits sensitive changes; governance builds consistency and accountability. Security: restrict who can change production. Governance: consistent rules across environments. Governance: auditing for accountability. Overlap is normal in real setups.
Scenario: reporting without remediation
Governance needs a plan to correct existing drift—not only detect it. Reporting is useful, but incomplete. Old resources can stay out of standard. Governance loop includes remediation. Improve enforcement and follow-through.
Common pitfalls + practice
Use shared responsibility plus guardrails plus a compliance loop to stay consistent. Pitfall: 'provider does all security'. Pitfall: governance can wait. Pitfall: mixing security vs governance. Practice: define, enforce or assess, monitor, remediate.