Protecting your Organization's Digital Assets and Data with Front-End Security in a Multi-Cloud Environment
Introduction
At the forefront of digital security, front-end security has been around for a long time. In fact, it's been around for some time before it was even known as front-end security.
Today, this type of security is used by enterprise security experts to secure data as well as websites. With the ever-growing amount of data in the digital world, this type of security is becoming more and more important. This blog will take a look at what front-end security is and what it can do for your data.
What is Front-end Security?
Front-end security, also known as client-side security, is the first line of defense that protects your hosted network infrastructure from outside threats such as hackers and untrusted networks. It is the process of securing websites, web apps and other front-end components of a computing network. This can be done by using JavaScript, hypertext markup language (HTML), or cascading style sheets (CSS) to make your page more difficult to hack. It focuses on securing websites from common attacks and vulnerabilities, such as cross-site scripting (XSS), cross-site request forgery (CSRF) and SQL (structured query language) injection. The technology is based on the idea that a website is only as secure as its front-end code, which is where the majority of the security breaches occur.
Front-end security aims to protect the front-end code by making it difficult, or even impossible, for a hacker to get past the front-end security checks without first being detected. You can create a Content Security Policy to harden and secure your website interface from any or commonly known vulnerabilities. This policy tells the browsers that the website is not allowed to load scripts, styles or web pages from other sites.
Fig 1: Front-end Security Reference Architecture of a Multi-Cloud Environment
How Does it Work?
Front end security acts like a firewall, which scans and blocks any incoming requests for unauthorized items on a website. Front-end security is compatible with all the most popular browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera. There are many different types of front-end security, including the following:
firewalls
proxy servers
intrusion detection systems
anti-virus and anti-malware
anti-spam
network segmentation
The most common front-end security is done through the use of:
Secure Socket Layer (SSL): This encrypts the data you send to the server and your browser will only accept the encrypted data.
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Secure: This uses a series of headers that are sent to the server along with the encrypted data to ensure that it is sent securely.
In order to integrate front-end security in a multi-cloud environment, you need to have a robust security program in place. That includes utilizing a system that integrates with the existing enterprise security infrastructure, such as a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution, an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), and a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
In order to build a front-end security system, you will need to:
Create a firewall - This will require you to create rules for the items you want to block on the website. The firewall will need to implement a whitelist and blacklist for the items you want to allow or deny.
Enable other security features - Such as login and password protection, network access control lists, proxy servers (CDNs, VPNs) and IDS/IPS systems before users are allowed to access content.
Implement a captcha - in order to prevent the website from being hacked.
Front-end security is typically used to protect against website vulnerabilities, phishing attacks, and to improve customer experience. It can also provide an additional layer of privacy for users by encrypting sensitive information with a public key infrastructure (PKI).
Why it is Important?
Front-end security is important for a variety of reasons. They include:
It provides protection to a company's digital assets and data
It helps to protect your website against hackers, phishing websites, malicious websites, spam and spam emails
It prevents cybercriminals from getting access to your data and your information
It enhances the security of your entire digital ecosystem and ensures that your website is compliant with the latest security standards.
It is much easier to spot and eradicate data breaches.
To allow the front-end of your website to be vulnerable is like inviting someone to break into your house. You need a layer of protection that will prevent that from happening. This can be done through security plugins which limits the number of requests from specific IP addresses or users per minute, and initiates a block when certain rate limits are exceeded.
If you're going to invest in a security suite, it's important to make sure it's going to fit your needs. That's why it's important to make sure you have a good understanding of what your goals are and make sure you're getting the right tool for the job.
Use Cases for Front-End Security
The front-end security option is perfect for businesses that:
Have different data-centres and want to protect their data from going from one to another without authorization.
Want to create a secure perimeter for their company with external services to other partners and vendors.
Are using multiple cloud providers and want to create a secure perimeter to other cloud providers.
When you are building your security program, it is important that you have a security tool that is best suited for your needs. This could be a cloud-based solution or a physical security solution. Whatever you decide to use, make sure that it's the best option for your needs.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this blog about how to protect your digital assets and data with front-end security in a multi-cloud environment. There are many front-end security technologies, that you need to be up to date with in order to protect your data either hosted on-prem, in hybrid or multi-cloud environments.
This blog post is meant to provide an introduction to what you need to know and what you should be wondering about as you put together a multi-cloud strategy for your front-end security.