How To Plan Your Infrastructure as a Code Environment: 4 Point Checklist

 

There is one thing I don’t  think that I have ever written about before in a blog:  That is, “Infrastructure as a Code”, also known as “IaC” for short.  It is a term that is commonly thrown around the world of Cloud lingo, but many people do not really know what it is about.  In fact, as much as I have written about Cloud, I never really paid too much attention to it.

So, before we go any further, here is a technical definition of it:

“Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the managing and provisioning of infrastructure through code instead of through manual processes.”

(SOURCE :  https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/automation/what-is-infrastructure-as-code-iac)

Although the intricacies behind it can be quite complex, long story short, it just gives you another way to manage your Cloud based deployment (whether it is in the AWS or Microsoft Azure), on an automated basis, using various programming languages, such as that of Python. 

But despite the tools that the Cloud providers give to manage your IaC environment, many businesses in Corporate America still fail in configuring it properly.

Consider some of these statistics:

*According  to the “2024 Security Report” from Check Point Software, 82% of businesses failed to properly configure their IaC environment.

*Back in 2022, because of a misconfiguration, the ICICI Bank leaked out well over 3.6 million files.

To see the detailed report that was published by Check Point Software, click on the link below:

http://cyberresources.solutions/blogs/2024-Cloud-Security-Report-CheckPoint.pdf

So, if you decide to make use of an IaC environment to help run your Cloud deployment, here are a few key tips to keep in mind:

1)     Plan:

The first thing that you need to do is map out exactly what you want  the IaC environment to do, but even more importantly, you need to take into sincere consideration the security issues that are involved, such as:

Ø  Defining the functional and controls requirements.

 

Ø  The kind of Cloud environment that you want to have, for example, Private Cloud, Public Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, etc.  and the security that goes along with all of that.

 

Ø  Use tools like Terraform or Cloud Formation to build out your IaC environment.

 

Ø  Create a backup strategy for your images that you create for your Cloud apps (such as Virtual Machines, Virtual Desktops, etc.).

 

2)     Software Development:

               The primary goal of the IaC environment is to use code libraries to build it out.  Since source   code creation is often forgotten about when it comes to security, keep the following in mind:

Ø  Create the appropriate rights, permissions, and privileges for everybody that is on the DevSecOps team.

 

Ø  Keep a version control of all software builds that go into the IaC environment.

 

Ø  Always test any Open-Source APIs that you may use in a sandboxed environment first.

 

Ø  Monitor your Privileged Access Management (PAM) environment very closely.

 

3)     Testing:

Before you put your IaC framework into the production environment, you should first evaluate it:

Ø  Assess each component of it in a sandboxed environment (as just discussed).

 

Ø  Make sure that the source code has been completely vetted of any gaps or vulnerabilities.  This can very often be done through Vulnerability Scanning or Penetration Testing.

 

In fact, according to the “2024 State of Cloud Security Report” by Orca, over 74%  of businesses failed to detect any issues with the Cloud deployments (as it relates to the IaC environment that was created).  To get more details on this, click on the link below:

 

http://cyberresources.solutions/blogs/2024-State-of-Cloud-Security-Report%20(1).pdf

 

4)     Deploy and Monitor:

After you have implemented your IaC framework into your Cloud based deployment, you now have made sure that it is running smoothly.  Here are some points in this regard:

Ø  Make use of SIEM to notify you on a real time basis of any abnormal network activity or behavior.

 

Ø  Try to make use of Generative AI to filter out for the False Positives.  This will help alleviate “Alert Fatigue” on your IT Security team.

 

Ø  Have a Change Management process in place for any updates or reconfigurations that you need to do for your IaC environment, and make sure that everything is well documented.

 

My Thoughts on This:

As Cloud technologies evolve over time, there is no way that you can keep track of everything on a manual basis.  You will need automation, and even lots of it.  This is where IaC will come in very useful.  But remember, it is also prone to Cyber Threat Variants, as the given how powerful the IaC is, it will soon become a prized target for the Cyberattacker.

Therefore, keep checking the controls that you have in place for them, and change/upgrade them as necessary.  Also, we will see IaC being used heavily in Edge Computing.  This is where all the data processing occurs in a location that is close to your device.  This helps to avoid any downtime or network latency when you need your datasets the most.