In the original Top Gun movie, Tom Cruise famously declared the words, “I feel the need! The need for speed!” At Cato Networks, we also feel the need for speed, and while we’re not breaking the sound barrier at 30,000 feet, we did just break the SASE speed barrier (again!).

Cloud adoption has exploded in recent years. Nearly all companies are using cloud solutions, and the vast majority having deployments spanning the platforms of multiple cloud service providers. These complex cloud infrastructures can create significant usability and security challenges for an organization. If security settings are misconfigured, an organization’s cloud infrastructure, services and applications could be potentially vulnerable to exploitation.

Security risks within the IT infrastructure of global businesses are increasingly prevalent – and damaging. When swathes of data are separated in the hybrid or multi cloud, it can leave big open doorways for malware to walk right in. The message I want businesses to hear is that cloud and data are not separate. IT only exists to service the needs of a business’ data. Securing cloud services – and therefore your data – is a business-critical issue.

Cloud testing is the process of validating applications, services, and databases that are hosted on cloud platforms. It involves verifying configurations, scalability, workloads, security controls, etc., to ensure that they perform as expected under different conditions. Cloud testing also provides a platform for performance testing and load testing before and during production in order to monitor any changes made to the system.

Spending for software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications is projected to grow 17.9% to $197 billion in 2023, then grow another 17.7% to $232 billion in 2024. This rapid growth is being fueled by several factors including the desire to modernize IT environments and enable hybrid workers, who might login from a branch office one day and a hotel room the next.

In today's rapidly evolving cloud landscape, managing permissions and ensuring robust security controls are essential for organizations utilizing Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is crucial in managing permissions to access AWS resources. While IAM provides granular control over permissions, AWS IAM permissions boundaries offer additional security and flexibility for fine-tuning access controls.

Implementing the principle of least privilege at scale in AWS requires careful planning and a systematic approach. Here are some steps to help you achieve this.