Best Practices for Protecting Your Data in a Multi-Cloud Environment
As businesses attempt to innovate and scale, the multi-cloud environment has become a necessity rather than a choice. Yet, with this transformation comes an often-overlooked imperative—cloud security. For those managing today’s IT sectors, ensuring data security is not just a technical challenge but a strategic one. Deciding on cloud adoption can no longer hinge merely on short-term benefits but, instead, take a stride in creating a secure infrastructure to tackle ever-increasing threats.
Cloud Security Breaches
According to a 2023 Cybersecurity Readiness Index, only 15% of organizations globally have a cybersecurity framework resilient enough to defend against threats from a hybrid world.
A report by IBM Security revealed that the average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million in 2024. This also shows the financial implications of not having trustworthy cloud security measures in place.
The Leadership Dilemma in Multi-Cloud
The multi-cloud model—using multiple cloud services providers (CSPs) to optimize flexibility, innovation, and cost—is no future trend but today’s reality. Indian companies, alongside global counterparts, are accepting this shift to avoid vendor lock-in and drive faster business outcomes. However, with each cloud provider operating under different architectures and policies, the risk of data security vulnerabilities grows highly. This is where proactive leadership steps in.
While cloud environments offer immense potential, they also open doors for sophisticated cyber threats. Gone are the days when businesses could rely on standalone security measures. The very nature of multi-cloud environments demands a holistic approach—one that includes robust identity management, data encryption, and real-time threat detection across all platforms.
Simply put, as businesses use cloud services more, they need to be even more careful about security. Companies must take steps for data protection across all the different platforms they use. Here, leadership plays a crucial role in making sure this is done effectively.
Taking Control in a Multi-Cloud Environment – Data Security Best Practices
Merely delegating this responsibility to IT teams is not enough. Data is the new currency, and protecting it is our responsibility to our organizations and stakeholders. The question is no longer why we should secure our cloud infrastructure but how we can do it with foresight and precision.
Let’s understand what are the best practices for data security in a multi-cloud environment.
First, cloud environments are dynamic, with users accessing systems from different locations and devices. Traditional identity management cannot be used in such a scenario. Identity management must therefore go beyond traditional methods by using a well-architected Identity and Access Management (IAM) framework that uses multi-factor authentication (MFA) and zero-trust policies.
Additionally, data is never truly at rest. It’s always on the move. Many organizations make a common mistake in assuming that native encryption from their cloud provider is sufficient. It is not. The question arises–how to secure data in cloud? We must demand end-to-end encryption with the use of AES-256 or more advanced standards and take control of our encryption keys.
Actually, flexibility is the real value of a multi-cloud environment. However, with that comes fragmentation. Different cloud platforms mean different security protocols. This is where unified security governance comes into play. We must demand a platform-agnostic approach to security to ensure a unified policy is applied across every cloud environment. That way, we close the gaps that fragmented policies can leave open gaps that attackers are quick to exploit.
Lastly, no organization today should wait for a quarterly security review to identify vulnerabilities. But AI/machine learning can automate this, which makes real-time threat detection and mitigation possible. We must invest in technologies that monitor every corner of their cloud infrastructure and detect anomalies long before they have a chance to turn into threats. Automating security response not only saves time but can dramatically reduce human error–a leading cause of breaches.
The conversation around cloud security needs to mature. In the multi-cloud world, security is no longer just an IT issue. It has become a business differentiator for organizations. This is particularly true for organizations demonstrating the capability of having robust security protocols. Essentially, in emerging countries such as India, with its regulatory environment.
Adoption of a forward-looking approach to cloud security would then ensure that our data is protected. This would, thus, retain the security of businesses in a digital environment filled with ever-increasing threats.
The Author is M P Somanna, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, RLabs