How can CISOs debunk common cloud security misconceptions

The cloud has revolutionised how businesses operate, offering unprecedented scalability, flexibility, and agility. However, many organisations lack confidence in the security posture of their cloud environment and are unsure whether their data is adequately secured and protected. Just last month, headlines reported a massive data exposure involving roughly 25–26 million CVs after a recruiting software provider left an Azure Blob Storage container publicly accessible. This wasn’t a sophisticated, zero-day attack. It was a fundamental oversight—a user mistake that laid bare sensitive personal information for anyone to find.

This incident serves as a stark reminder: While cloud providers invest billions in securing their own infrastructures, your cloud security is ultimately a shared responsibility. However, this critical concept is often clouded by persistent misconceptions. It’s time to clear the air and debunk the most common myths surrounding cloud security.

Myth #1: The Cloud Provider Handles All Security

Many organizations start their cloud journey before their teams fully understand the implications of storing their data and applications in the cloud. As a result, development teams often deploy applications without the knowledge of their security teams, under the false assumption that cloud providers handle all security.

The reality: Cloud security follows a shared responsibility model. While providers handle the security of the cloud, customers must handle security in the cloud. And those responsibilities can vary. With Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), for example, customers manage most controls. With Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), however, the provider takes on more of the stack, but customers still manage identities, configurations, and data. And even with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), where the provider covers more layers, customers still manage those same areas.

CISO recommendation: Train your teams on the cloud shared responsibility model and the differences between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. Ensuring that everyone understands the security implications of adopting cloud environments is crucial.

Myth #2: Cloud Visibility Is Simple and Easy

Cloud platforms make it easy to provision and deprovision accounts, resources, and applications, and offer basic built-in visibility tools that are straightforward to set up. However, this simplicity can lead to the mistaken belief that gaining visibility across cloud assets is easily achieved.

The reality: Cloud environments are highly dynamic, with resources constantly being provisioned, de-provisioned, and changed. And to complicate things further, most organizations use a mix of public clouds and on-premises infrastructure. The truth is, gaining visibility across these disparate environments is incredibly complex.

CISO recommendation: Implement and fully leverage a robust cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) solution to increase visibility through continuous monitoring of your cloud deployments. Choose a tool that provides your organization with single-pane-of-glass control for complete visibility across your multi-cloud environment.  

Myth #3: Cloud-Native Security Tools Are Sufficient

Many organizations, especially those new to cloud environments, assume that simply adopting the security tools provided by their cloud service provider (CSP), such as network security groups or the basic CSP-provided firewall, will adequately secure their cloud infrastructure.

The reality: Although cloud-native security tools can provide a strong foundational layer, relying solely on them leaves significant gaps and vulnerabilities. For example, security groups in AWS lack deep packet inspection capabilities and cannot protect against web-based vulnerabilities.

CISO recommendation: Do not rely solely on cloud-native security. Invest in third-party tools, such as an advanced next-generation firewall (NGFW) to inspect north-south and east-west traffic, and a web application firewall (WAF) to protect your web applications and APIs against malicious attacks (such as XSS and SQL injection). Also, consider deploying a network detection and response solution to detect anomalous network behaviour and increase visibility across your multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud networks.

Myth #4: The Cloud Is Less Secure Than Your On-Premises Environment

Organisational security teams feel they have complete control over their data and infrastructure when everything is on-premises. These teams believe that because they can see the servers, control physical access, and dictate every security measure, they have everything in hand.

The reality: Many organisations lack the resources, expertise, and continuous vigilance needed to maintain a truly robust security posture comparable to major cloud providers. Those providers have a vested interest in security, as their entire business relies on it. They can also afford to invest heavily in cutting-edge technologies and dedicated security teams at a level that most individual companies cannot match.

CISO recommendation: The potential to achieve a more secure posture in the cloud than on-premises is significant. But to do this, you must educate your security teams on cloud security and networking concepts and adopt a modern transformational security mindset that embraces automation, an API-first strategy, and continuous, rigorous monitoring.

Myth #5: Security Tools Offered by Cloud Providers Are Consistent

The fundamental concepts of cloud security (such as IAM, encryption, network security) are similar across providers. However, this often leads to the false impression that the tools implementing these concepts are identical. To blur the distinction further, CSPs often use similar terminology for their services, which can make it seem like their offerings are interchangeable.

The reality:  While each major CSP provides its own native security tools, their capabilities vary. Third-party solutions can certainly strengthen protection, but they only deliver full value when they integrate natively with each cloud platform and leverage platform-specific context to operate effectively.

CISO recommendation: Build a robust, effective cloud security strategy by adopting tools such as third-party CNAPP and NGFW solutions designed to operate natively within each platform environment while also providing end-to-end visibility and the ability to apply consistent security posture across your multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, and on-prem environments.

What CISOs Should Do Differently: A Proactive Approach

CISOs need to evolve their approach to cloud security. This requires shifting from a traditional, perimeter-based mindset to one that embraces the unique characteristics of cloud environments, including the challenges of multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud deployments.
Deeply understand and communicate the shared responsibility model: Educate each member of your organization, from executives to developers, about their specific responsibilities within the cloud security shared responsibility model.

Establish granular access policies: Significant cloud breaches often stem from over-permissive roles. Establish and adhere to the least-privilege principle to limit potential damage if an identity is compromised. Invest in cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM) tools to continuously monitor identity-related events. And establish automated workflows to respond to detected threats, such as revoking access and isolating compromised accounts.

Prioritise data protection: Implement strong encryption for data at rest and in motion. Enhance that protection by adopting data security posture management (DSPM) tools that leverage machine learning and AI to automatically discover and classify sensitive information.

Seek expert help to assess your cloud security and networking architecture: Cloud providers constantly add and update the networking and security services and features available to their customers. As a result, a network architecture that was considered a best practice design a few years ago might be obsolete today. However, many organisations lack the expertise to assess their cloud security posture on their own. Work with consulting firms that can effectively assess your cloud security posture, identify gaps, and make recommendations to address them.

Safeguard applications and APIs: Many organisations that deploy web applications in the cloud increasingly leverage APIs to enable seamless automation and integration with cloud services. Recent industry research shows API traffic now represents a substantial, fast-growing share of all web traffic. It is therefore paramount to invest in WAF solutions that can protect your applications and APIs against threats such as the OWASP Top 10 and evolving bot attacks.

Invest in cloud visibility tools: Misconfigurations are a leading cause of cloud breaches. Invest in tools that provide continuous visibility into your cloud environments, can identify misconfigurations in real time, and help automate remediation. This is about proactive hygiene and ensuring your cloud deployments adhere to security baselines.

Embrace CNAPP for Maximum Visibility: CNAPP is a critical tool for helping organisations gain visibility and unified security across their complex, dynamic, and often multi-cloud environments. It enables them to shift security left, address risks earlier in the development life cycle, and contextualise risks to prioritise the most exploitable vulnerabilities. Additionally, to implement effective cloud security, it is best to use a CNAPP that tightly integrates with your other cloud security tools, such as WAF, NGFW, and NDR solutions.

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