We have looked at the hidden dependencies around upgrades (Cloud Dependency: Automated Upgrades) as well as the hidden dependencies around networking (Cloud Dependency: Ubiquitous Networking). Now, we will look at the hidden dependencies on visibility. Or more to the point, the lack of visibility within the cloud. With regard to visibility, the question most often asked is, “Do we know what is happening behind the scenes within our tenancy?”
There has been quite a bit written about Code Spaces and how unauthorized access to its ITaaS console granted enough permissions to delete everything out of Amazon, including backups. There are lessons here not only for tenants, but also for those vendors who create ITaaS consoles, such as VMware (vCHS, vCD, vCAC, vCenter, Orchestrator, etc.), Virtustream (xStream), OpenStack, and many others. These consoles need better controls and security so that such behavior is prevented, logged, and monitored, and the proper authorities are informed. Now, we may think this is a cloud-only attack, but we use these tools within our own environments day in and day out. For anyone using virtualization, private, or hybrid cloud consoles and automation tools, it is time to take a good long look at role-based access controls (RBAC). The steps we discussed at the end of my other lessons article still apply.
Recently I have had the pleasure of discussing security with a number of cloud providers. Specifically, we talked about what security they implement and how they inform their tenants of security-related issues. In other words, do they provide transparency? I have come to an early conclusion that there are two types of clouds out there: those that provide additional security measures and work with their tenants to improve security, and those who do not. On the Virtualization Security podcast we have discussed this many times, with the conclusion being drawn that many clouds do a better job at security than the average organization does, but that there is no way to know what is implemented, as there is no transparency.