Securing cloud infrastructure can seem complex and overwhelming, especially in the face of the long list of cloud security challenges. Cloud security includes the entire ecosystem of people, processes, policies, and technology that protect data and applications that operate in the cloud. The Security section of the AWS Well-Architected Framework outlines five main areas of focus for cloud security: Identity and Access Management: Cloud deployments are accessible from the public Internet, making access management essential for security. A cloud deployment should be configured based on the principle of least privilege, which limits users to only the access and permissions required to do their jobs. Detection: Before a security team can respond to a potential threat, it needs to know that it exists. An organization’s cloud deployment should include solutions that monitor applications and data for indications of anomalous and potentially malicious activity. Infrastructure Protection: Infrastructure protection is based on the principle of defense in depth. A cloud deployment should have solutions in place to help detect and block unauthorized use of and threats against the cloud environment. Data Protection: Data storage is a common application of cloud infrastructure. Organizations should use data security controls - like encryption - to protect the data stored in the cloud. Incident Response: No security is perfect, and security incidents can happen in any environment, including the cloud. This means that organizations must have tools and processes in place to support incident response activities such as threat investigation and remediation. The different categories of cloud security controls are the same as what would be required to protect a traditional, on-prem data center. However, the cloud is a very different environment from on-prem systems and requires solutions and security strategies that are specifically designed to meet its needs.