The concept of cloud shared responsibility refers to the distribution of security and management responsibilities between a cloud service provider (CSP) and its customers. This model is particularly relevant in cloud computing, where resources and services are delivered over the internet. The goal is to establish a clear understanding of who is responsible for securing and managing different aspects of the cloud environment.
Typically, the shared responsibility model is divided into two main components: the responsibilities of the cloud service provider and the responsibilities of the cloud customer.
- Cloud Service Provider (CSP) Responsibilities:
- Physical Infrastructure: The CSP is responsible for the physical security of the data centers, including access control, environmental controls, and hardware maintenance.
- Virtualization Infrastructure: The CSP manages the virtualization layer and ensures the proper isolation of customer workloads.
- Network Infrastructure: The provider maintains and secures the network infrastructure, including firewalls, routers, and switches.
- Platform Security: The underlying cloud platform’s security, including the operating system, runtime, and middleware, is the responsibility of the CSP.
- Cloud Customer Responsibilities:
- Data: Customers are responsible for securing their data, classifying it appropriately, and implementing encryption where necessary.
- Identity and Access Management (IAM): Managing user access, credentials, and permissions to resources within the cloud environment.
- Applications: The security of customer-developed applications and any custom configurations applied to off-the-shelf applications.
- Networking: Configuring and securing the network connections between cloud resources and on-premises infrastructure.
