Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has emerged as a solution of choice over the years for businesses who want to scale up or down their cloud infrastructure in a secure and efficient manner. Organizations are moving their data and operations to the cloud; hence, security is necessary. In essence, Google Cloud Security represents the tools, protocols, and best practices designed to protect data stored in GCP from exposure of any form or kind. Cybercriminals employ advanced social engineering tactics to deceive users and steal sensitive information. 80% of global enterprises have reported serious Google Cloud Security attacks and security professionals have growing concerns with GCP vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.
In this blog post, we will help you understand the landscape of Google Cloud Security to understand its basic concepts, major security threats, and the best ways to mitigate them. We will look at why you need good cloud security practices and then suggest best practices that can be implemented easily. In the last bit, we will also talk about the integration of SentinelOne with Google Cloud and what addition it makes to prevent Google Cloud security issues.
What is Google Cloud Security?
Cloud security comprises of measures, controls, and policies meant to protect data, applications, and infrastructure connected with running an application on Google Cloud services. It covers a broad spectrum of security, including network security, data encryption, access control, and threat detection.
Google Cloud security uses hardware and software-based protection mechanisms that work together. This covers everything from the physical security of their data centers, data at rest and in transit encryption functions, identity access management solutions (IAM), and third-party services providing more advanced threat detection capabilities. Google Cloud also follows a shared responsibility model, which is how it provides both Google and the customer with roles in securing cloud resources.
The Importance of Google Cloud Security
There are multiple reasons why Google Cloud security is critical. Let’s discuss a few of them.
1. Data Protection
Organizations use a lot of confidential data in the cloud. This information covers everything from customer info to financial content, as well as in-house records. It is necessary to secure Google Cloud services, where this valuable data sits so that threat actors can not gain unauthorized access to the sensitive data, which can lead to data breaches.
2. Compliance Requirements
Data protection and privacy are considered sacred for many industries due to their high regulatory standards. Healthcare organizations have their own set of compliance rules like HIPPA, while financial institutions, on the other hand, need PCI DSS. Google Cloud security ensures organizations comply with these standards via its native tools and features that integrate with various regulatory frameworks.
3. Threat Landscape
In this rapidly expanding digital world, the types of threats have also been increasing. With ransomware, malware, and advanced hacking attempts threatening to compromise cloud environments, the risk is very high. The implementation of additional Google Cloud security practices can help organizations protect themselves from these cybersecurity threats and reduce the possibility of successful attacks.
4. Cost Reduction
Budgeting for security may feel like an extra cost, but the idea is that they create long-term savings. Securing assets can prevent potential financial losses from legal representation, recovery efforts, and non-compliance penalties.
5. Scalability and Flexibility
As businesses expand, so do their cloud consumption and security requirements. Solutions like Google Cloud security scale are able to align as requirements change, making sure that protection is just as strong when the organization’s cloud footprint changes.
10 Google Cloud Security Issues
In order to secure GCP, it’s important to understand top Google Cloud security risks. Let’s take a look at them.
#1. Cloud Storage Buckets Misconfiguration
Despite being probably the most well-known security problem in GCP, misconfigured Cloud Storage buckets remain at the top of incidents on Google Cloud. This issue, due to its unchecked nature, may lead to data loss if it is not handled carefully.
A large number of Google Cloud Storage buckets are misconfigured, leaving them open to potential data exposure. This happens when the access controls are not being properly set, and unauthorized users can read, write, or list bucket content. Some common causes of misconfiguration are incorrect use or configuration of IAM policies, public access settings, and improper usage of signed URLs & signed policy documents.
A lot of sensitive data could be inadvertently exposed to the public internet, which opens up organizations to data breaches and compliance violations. In some cases, attackers can modify or delete data from these buckets, compromising the integrity of the data.
#2. Insecure Firewall Rules
Misconfigurations in the firewall rules are a security nightmare for Google Cloud. These misconfigurations can lead to vulnerabilities (open up entry points to threat actors) that can be easily exploited by attackers in order to gain unauthorized access to resources.
Firewall rules within Google Cloud VPC networks, if not properly configured, can lead to Google Cloud security issues. Loose rules or misconfigured IP ranges that are wrongly configured may authorize resource access by mistake.
The complexity of managing firewall rules for network architectures in cloud environments leads to misconfigurations.
#3. Unencrypted Data at Rest
While data encryption is not new, it is one of the most critical aspects of cloud security, and many organizations often neglect or poorly protect their data at rest in Google Cloud. This can leave the secrets vulnerable and available for anyone who is not meant to access them to access them.
While Google Cloud offers encryption at rest by default, which is based on the usage of default keys and might not meet all requirements around protecting customer data, the absence of customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK) could result in data being inadvertently exposed. Companies can use Google Cloud KMS (Key Management Service) to control their own encryption keys. Failure to use CMEK or inadequate key rotation and access controls can reduce the overall security.
The consequences of not using strong enough encryption go even further than just data privacy. Unfortunately, as you are well aware, many compliance standards dictate that sensitive data must be encrypted using specific methods. If you do not use correct encryption, it may result in violating regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS. Organizations also need to build a robust approach to encryption, using CMEK (which ensures that keys are encrypted), key rotation, and secure access controls around these keys.
#4. Poor IAM Role Management
IAM is one of the cornerstones of Google Cloud security. However, mismanaging the IAM roles may create a gap in your cloud security posture. This type of vulnerability can cause unauthorized theft and data breach cases.
Google Cloud IAM roles can create overly permissive permissions and security vulnerabilities if not properly understood and managed. In case role assignments are overly broad or primitive roles are being used instead of predefined or custom ones, this too may lead to unnecessary access rights. IAM misconfigurations result from not performing periodic access reviews or using unmanaged service accounts.
The weakest link in the chain is authorization. The concept of the principle of least privilege is crucial in IAM management, but it typically isn’t a priority and is poorly implemented. As a result, users and service accounts often end up with too much permission over time, expanding the attack surface from hundreds to tens of thousands of permission combinations. Companies should conduct regular IAM audits to identify and remove excess permissions. Organizations may also use tools like IAM Recommender to facilitate this, a tool to provide information on the consumption of permissions and some best-practice recommendations for secure configurations.
#5. Unsecured APIs and Services
APIs are a building block of modern cloud architectures, but unsecured APIs in Google Cloud may lead to serious Google Cloud security issues. These points of attack could be used by attackers to exploit both well-protected and even air-gapped systems.
Many services in Google Cloud expose APIs for programmatic access. If API security is not handled correctly, it turns into weak points for hackers to enter the system. Companies can deploy Google-managed APIs or custom APIs on Google Cloud. Some of the common security issues with APIs are due to a lack of authentication, authorization checks, and rate limiting configured on the APIs.
It is also advisable to use authentication mechanisms like API keys or OAuth tokens, which should be managed properly in a secure manner. Proper rate limiting and monitoring will also help prevent an API dictionary attack. Companies can use tools like Cloud Endpoints to manage APIs securely. Annual penetration testing (pen-testing), as well as ongoing security testing of APIs, can help teams identify and fix vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
#6. Logging and Monitoring
One of the major risks associated with security is inadequate logging and monitoring in Google Cloud environments, which can leave organizations unable to detect threats or breaches. This is a Google Cloud security issue because it means companies can not detect or respond to incidents very well.
Once you have a service running in Google Cloud, powerful logging and monitoring are very important. These come through Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring, respectively. However, a lot of organizations fail either by not using these services properly or not using them at all. Such a gap can eventually lead to missing critical cyber security incidents or failure to detect any unusual activities inside the cloud environment.
Logging and monitoring should be done with just as much care as any other implementation. Organizations need to decide what events they will log, how long they will retain those logs, and the most efficient way of analyzing them. To get a record of administrative API activity, turn on Cloud Audit Logs for all projects. Further, using log-based metrics and configuring alerts can help companies catch security incidents on the fly. It is important to review the logs regularly and improve monitoring strategies consistently in order to keep a good security posture.
#7. Vulnerable Container Images
One of the biggest challenges in the containerized environment is using vulnerable or out-of-date container images in Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) or Cloud Run. This can cause serious security issues for cloud deployments. Attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities to attack containerized applications.
Each container image can contain numerous software components which may have known vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities can be carried along with using earlier non-patched base images up to production.
To avoid falling into this trap, organizations should have a solid strategy to manage container images. This involves using reliable base images, frequently upgrading and patching containers, and integrating container image scanning as part of the CI/CD pipeline. Google Cloud offers container analysis API and container scanning to find vulnerabilities in container images. Requiring scanned and approved images to be the only ones deployed can lower the risk of deploying insecure containers.
#8. Virtual Machines Misconfiguration
A set of insecurely configured virtual machines (VMs) in Google Compute Engine can cause companies to run into potential security vulnerabilities that could be a target for the attack. Misconfigurations caused by open ports and outdated software are just a few examples.
Typical VM misconfigurations include arbitrary SSH keys (as well as weak ones), having open ports that don’t need to be open, or running an out-of-date OS/software on the VMs.
Organizations should establish repeatable processes for VM creation and management. This involves using hardened VM images, implementing adequate network segmentation, and ensuring VM software is patched and updated in a timely manner. This process of VMs being up to date (as a result, needing rebooting) can be orchestrated by using Google Cloud’s OS patch management service.
#9. Insecure Cloud Functions
While companies can go a long way in securing their Cloud Functions, Google’s serverless compute platform still offers an attack surface if not properly configured and secured. These exploits can leak sensitive data, or they can execute unauthorized code.
The major security issues with Cloud Functions are improper handling of credentials, lack of input validation, and unsecured IAM roles. Moreover, running with older runtimes or dependencies is also a risk, as attackers can possibly get a compromised environment.
Organizations need to set up the appropriate authentication and authorization mechanisms for function invocations to lock down Cloud Functions. It is also good to implement input validation and output encoding to protect against injection attacks. Better yet, companies should enforce the least privilege on Cloud Functions service accounts and have proper management of function triggers to harden these security controls.
#10. Poor Network Segmentation
Failing to enforce sufficient network segmentation between various Google Cloud resources means that if an attacker is able to breach one component of the infrastructure, their ability to then laterally move within the network and compromise other elements is significantly increased. If attackers can exploit this by any means, the security of cloud deployments as a whole may be at risk.
Very few organizations take the time to segment their Google Cloud VPC networks properly. This results in implicit communication between parts of the app, increasing the potential for lateral movement once a breach has occurred. A lack of segmentation also complicates the enforcement of security policies.
This problem can be solved by using a network segmentation strategy designed and enforced by the organization. This includes provisioning VPC network peering carefully, defining firewall rules to filter traffic between the various segments, and a Cloud NAT to allow outbound internet access for private instances. In multi-project setups, shared VPC can be leveraged to minimize network management. Companies should revisit their network segmentation as their cloud environment grows and changes, so regular network audits, and security assessments are a good idea.
Google Cloud Security Best Practices
For companies to avoid Google Cloud security issues, following the below-mentioned best practices is important.
1. Enforce Least Privilege
The principle of least privilege is a critical security best practice to avoid Google Cloud security issues. This practice means giving end users and services only those access rights needed to perform their duties.
Companies should review the current IAM roles and permissions. The starting point for ensuring the least privileged access is a full review of existing IAM roles and permissions. Inspect and remove any unneeded or over-permissive role access. Use existing Google Cloud predefined roles when you can, as these roles are created to follow the principle of least privilege. Design custom roles for more granular needs where exact permissions are needed. Conduct periodic audits and reviews of IAM policies to validate relevance and remove unnecessary permissions in a timely manner.
2. Turn on and Configure Cloud Audit Logs
Cloud Audit Logs are critical to maintaining visibility in the Google Cloud environment. The logs are used to record various administrative activities, system-level events, and everything related to data access. They provide a 360-degree audit trail for security analysis and comply with legal compliance requirements.
To ensure that Cloud Audit Logs can be used for effective auditing, make sure to enable Cloud Audit Logs in all projects and configure appropriate retention periods based on your compliance requirements. Deploy log exports to a logging project or an external SIEM (such as SentinelOne) for central analysis. Define log-based metrics and alerts to identify abnormal activities and respond quickly.
3. Implement Strong Encryption Practices
Encryption is a vital part of protecting data in Google Cloud. Google uses encryption anyway, though taking further steps to secure your documents is never a bad idea. For sensitive data, use Customer-Managed Encryption Keys(CMEK) to have keys managed by companies. Use envelope encryption for an extra security barrier.
All communications must use strong TLS protocols (for data in transit). Rotate encryption keys on a regular basis and limit access to cryptographic key management solutions.
4. Secure Network Configuration
Google Cloud security begins with a well-configured network. Correct network configuration helps secure the network from any unauthorized access and also ensures the minimization of the security breach effect.
First of all, explicit network segmentation should be applied using VPC networks. Companies can Enhance their network security by configuring some basic firewall rules to filter the traffic between your segment or internet access. Enable private Google Access so that VMs can access Google APIs and services over private IP addresses.
5. Conduct Regular Security Reviews and Updates
In the rapidly changing world of cloud security, companies must evaluate their current security posture and should continuously strive to improve it.
Make sure to run vulnerability scans and penetration testing in your Google Cloud environment. Use tools like the Security Command Center to have visibility into your security posture and identify if any misconfigurations or vulnerabilities are present. Carry out a rigorous patch management policy that keeps all systems, including VMs, containers, and applications, up-to-date with the latest security patches.
Google Cloud Security with SentinelOne
SentinelOne and Google Cloud forged a cloud security alliance to bring robust cyber security enterprise defenses and world-class AI threat detection to organizations. It will share its telemetry data with Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro and Flash models to enhance the autonomous capabilities of its Purple AI and Singularity™ Platform.
Here is what SentinelOne offers for Google Cloud Security:
- SentinelOne™ Singularity Platform is powered by the Singularity Data Lake, ingesting critical telemetry from both SentinelOne native solutions and third-party security data sources, including Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Flow and Audit Logs, Mandiant threat intelligence and more. Security Operations practitioners can contextually visualize and automatically respond to high-value security alerts with a single cloud-scale repository that offers the greatest retention period and cost efficiency of any vendor in the market. It is now available on the Google Cloud Marketplace.
- Singularity™ Cloud Security is an AI-powered CNAPP combining the convenience and instant visibility of agentless with the stopping power and forensic capabilities of an agent, to better prioritize and resolve cloud security issues.
- Singularity™ Cloud Workload Security provides runtime protection, detection, and response for servers, VMs, containers, and Kubernetes clusters across public and private clouds. Singularity Cloud Workload Security delivers real-time CWPP and forensic visibility for workloads running on Google Compute Engine, and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). It also provides support for GKE Autopilot and other public and private clouds.
- Singularity™ Cloud-Native Security provides agentless cloud security, deeper visibility, and control over your entire cloud estate. It delivers features such as: Offensive Security Engine™, Secrets Scanning Engine, Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR), Kubernetes Security Posture Management (KSPM), Agentless Vulnerability Scanning, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Scanning, and Security Graph. GCP integrations with SentinelOne offer enhanced visibility and advanced threat-hunting capabilities. Users can ingest GCP logs, including data access logs, admin activity logs, system event logs, and policy-denied audit logs.
- The SentinelOne plug-in for Chronicle SOAR provides incident responders with high-quality detections that give critical context for remediation decisions, coupled with automation and API-driven actions to contain threats in real time. Analysts performing triage on a Chronicle SOAR case can initiate a playbook to remotely scan for malware or quarantine the endpoint to prevent further infection. Once an incident is confirmed and requires action, a playbook is triggered to perform remediation in SentinelOne, including restoring or rolling back ransomware on the affected endpoints.
- SentinelOne™ Singularity Mobile is mobile threat defense (MTD) that protects Android, ChromeOS, and iOS devices with industry-leading on-device behavioral AI to detect and protect against mobile malware, phishing, exploits, and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, ensuring security and data privacy for zero-trust environments. The solution offers deployment flexibility, including MDM integrations and standalone configuration, and operates without cloud connection dependency, providing real-time threat defense.
Conclusion
Protecting Google Cloud is hard. It is a problem with many sides, and you have to be alert and act proactively against security threats. If an organization knows the most common Google Cloud security issue, along with some common best practices, they can easily mitigate most of the risks. Every bit is critical, from IAM to Network to Encryption to periodic security audits needed for a robust cloud asset and data security.
With increasingly complex cloud environments, automated security solutions are becoming more and more valuable. SentinelOne extends its advanced security capabilities, designed specifically for and integrated with Google Cloud environments, delivering real-time threat detection, automated response, and complete visibility across your cloud infrastructure. These kinds of specialized tools, combined with Google Cloud’s inherent security capabilities, create a strong and flexible security architecture to prevent the latest attack vectors from targeting our cloud assets.
Book a free live demo to explore how SentinelOne can enhance your GCP security today.
FAQs
1. What are the common security issues in Google Cloud?
Common security issues in Google Cloud include misconfigured storage buckets, inadequate IAM role management, insecure firewall rules, unencrypted data at rest, and unsecured APIs. Other issues involve insufficient logging and monitoring, vulnerable container images, misconfigured virtual machines, insecure Cloud Functions, and inadequate network segmentation.
2. How can I monitor threats in my Google Cloud environment?
You can monitor threats in your Google Cloud environment by using Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring services. Enable Cloud Audit Logs, set up log-based metrics and alerts, and use the Security Command Center for centralized visibility into your security posture. Consider integrating with third-party SIEM solutions for advanced threat detection and analysis.
3. What are the best practices for securing Google Cloud?
Best practices for securing Google Cloud include implementing least privilege access, enabling and configuring Cloud Audit Logs, using strong encryption practices, securing network configurations, and conducting regular security assessments and updates. Also, use customer-managed encryption keys, implement proper network segmentation, and keep all systems and applications up to date with the latest security patches.
4. Why SentinelOne for Google Cloud Security?
SentinelOne provides advanced security capabilities specifically designed for Google Cloud environments. It offers real-time threat detection, automated response, and comprehensive visibility across your cloud infrastructure. SentinelOne’s AI-powered platform can help identify and mitigate complex threats quickly, complementing Google Cloud’s native security features and enhancing your overall cloud security posture.