Top Cloud Security Frameworks for Financial Institutions

As organizations increasingly migrate workloads to cloud infrastructure, securing these environments has become both crucial and complex. Effective cloud security requires a framework that provides comprehensive coverage against potential threats while remaining practical for daily operations.

Whether you're fully transitioning to the cloud or starting with a few systems, this guide will cover the top three cloud security frameworks to help you assess risk and securely manage your off-premises environments.

Revisiting the Shared Responsibility Model

Before diving into cloud security frameworks, it’s crucial to understand the shared responsibility model—a fundamental shift in security paradigms when moving from on-premises environments to the cloud. Unlike traditional, on-prem setups where an organization controls everything from physical hardware to application security, cloud environments require companies to partner with cloud service providers (CSPs) for infrastructure, compute power, and security.

The shift to cloud computing introduces a split in security duties between the customer and the cloud provider, with responsibilities varying significantly depending on the type of cloud service: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS). 

The shared responsibility model fundamentally changes the security paradigm because it requires organizations to trust and rely on the CSP for specific elements of security, while also assuming new responsibilities in areas like access management, data encryption, and compliance configuration. This means each organization must take a proactive approach to understanding and addressing its responsibilities within the cloud provider’s infrastructure and working closely with CSPs to clarify security expectations, ensuring that both sides fulfill their roles in protecting data and applications.

Criteria for choosing the ideal Cloud Security Framework 

When it comes to cloud security frameworks, there are many options available, each designed to address different aspects of cloud security depending on your organization's needs, industry requirements, and resources. Choosing the right framework can be a complex decision, here are a few key criteria we recommend keeping in mind. 

The most important is alignment with regulatory and compliance requirements. For organizations operating in highly regulated industries—like healthcare, finance, or government—choosing a framework that aligns with specific compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, FFIEC, PCI-DSS) is crucial. A suitable framework should help streamline compliance efforts, providing a structured approach to meet both regulatory and industry standards. 

Another criterion to keep in mind is scalability and flexibility. If your organization intends to offload more than one system, or planning to migrate sizable portions over the years,  your framework should be able to scale with your organization’s growth and adapt to different types of cloud environments, whether public, private, or hybrid. Look for frameworks that provide adaptable guidelines and can support a range of deployment models and workloads to future-proof your cloud security strategy.

Another criteria that is often overlooked is a framework that provides comprehensive coverage. Different frameworks emphasize different aspects of cloud security, from technical controls to broader governance and risk management. Consider the scope of each framework to ensure it covers all the areas critical to your organization. For example, if you need a framework that includes specific technical controls for cloud configurations, data security, and network segmentation, look for frameworks that address these areas in detail. Alternatively, if your focus is on strategic governance and risk management, a framework with strong policy guidelines might be more appropriate.

Top 3 Cloud Security Frameworks for Highly Regulated Sectors

Here are the top 3 cloud security frameworks that we would go with: Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Cloud Controls Matrix, Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls, and the MITRE ATT&CK Cloud Matrix. Each framework offers unique advantages and is widely respected in the cybersecurity community.

Cloud Security Alliance’s Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM)

The CSA Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) is a comprehensive cybersecurity framework specifically tailored to address cloud security. Developed by the Cloud Security Alliance, it provides a set of cloud-focused security controls mapped to various compliance standards.

• Cloud-Specific Control Coverage: The CSA CCM is organized into 16 domains, including Application Security, Encryption, Access Control, and Compliance. This structure enables organizations to focus on critical areas of cloud security and implement controls specific to cloud environments rather than generic IT security measures.
• Mapping to Industry Standards: One of the significant advantages of the CSA CCM is its alignment with widely recognized standards such as ISO 27001, NIST, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR. This mapping helps organizations streamline their compliance efforts by providing a clear pathway to satisfy multiple regulatory requirements.
  
  

Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls and Benchmarks

CIS Benchmarks for Cloud Platforms are comprehensive, platform-specific configuration standards that help organizations securely configure cloud services. These benchmarks are based on expert consensus and are widely used by organizations to establish a secure baseline for cloud configurations. CIS Benchmarks are available for the leading cloud service provider that includes:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

Additionally, CIS benchmarks are great for their flexibility, allowing organizations to tailor recommendations based on their unique needs and compliance requirements. Organizations can customize these benchmarks to apply only the most relevant guidelines, whether for regulatory compliance, internal security policies, or industry-specific requirements.

MITRE ATT&CK Cloud Matrix

The MITRE ATT&CK Cloud Matrix is a knowledge base of adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) focused on cloud environments. Unlike traditional security frameworks, MITRE ATT&CK is a threat-informed approach designed to help organizations understand and defend against specific cyber threats at a low-operation level. The best feature of this framework is 

• Focus on Detection and Response: This framework is particularly valuable for organizations with mature security operations looking to strengthen threat detection and response capabilities. By mapping existing defenses to specific tactics and techniques, organizations can identify gaps and focus on the areas that need the most attention.

Each of these frameworks—CSA Cloud Controls Matrix, CIS Controls, and MITRE ATT&CK Cloud Matrix—brings distinct strengths to the table. While the CSA CCM provides cloud-native controls with strong compliance mapping, the CIS Controls offer prioritized, actionable steps suited for various security maturity levels, and the MITRE ATT&CK Cloud Matrix empowers organizations to focus on threat detection and response. Together, they provide a comprehensive approach to securing cloud environments, making them the top choices for cloud security frameworks in today’s evolving threat landscape.

Automation, Automation, Automation

Rivial can play a pivotal role as your organization seeks a security framework to protect cloud workloads. Instead of choosing a single framework, our platform allows you to effortlessly automate, implement, and manage control mapping and evidence collection—all at the click of a button.

Why settle for one framework when you can combine the strengths of all three while managing them seamlessly on a single dashboard. See our platform in action by scheduling a no-commitment demo this week!