What is IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)?  

Unlike traditional on-premises environments, cloud security is a shared responsibility between service providers and their customers. 

With IaaS models, the CSP secures the resources and other hardware that support the underlying infrastructure, including compute, storage, patching, and the physical network. As a customer, you will be responsible for securing your data, applications, virtual network controls, operating system, and user access. 

While security is often cited as one of the disadvantages of IaaS and cloud computing in general, the truth is that cloud is no more or less secure than on-premises environments. In fact, it can offer more comprehensive protection against threats. 

Reputable cloud service providers also offer secure-by-design infrastructure and robust cloud security services on their platforms that often exceed what you can accomplish on your own. They are constantly investing in advanced technologies and highly skilled experts, enabling them to provide the latest security capabilities and solutions to help protect every layer of computing. 

In other words, IaaS security is only as secure as your cloud service provider makes it. Therefore, it’s extremely critical that you carefully evaluate providers and thoroughly understand their security capabilities and responsibilities before making a decision.