From Detection to Remediation: Securing Cloud Data with Lookout

Cloud storage in SaaS apps has become an indispensable tool for organizations of all sizes, with as much as 60% of corporate data now residing in the cloud. However, the convenience of cloud storage comes with the risk of data leaks, which can have devastating consequences. 

While cloud storage allows for easy data sharing and collaboration, it also opens up potential vulnerabilities that must be addressed. Ensuring your data remains secure requires a robust approach that combines prevention, detection, and remediation. 

In this blog post, we’ll explore how data can get leaked from the cloud —  and demonstrate how Lookout can help prevent these leaks, ensuring your sensitive information stays protected.

‍

3 critical steps for securing cloud data

Securing your cloud data is essential to protect your organization from potential breaches and unauthorized access. By following these practical steps, you can ensure your sensitive information remains safe.

Discover your data

Start by identifying the critical data within your organization that needs protection. Understand where this data is stored and how it is accessed to create a comprehensive view of your data landscape. This foundational step is crucial for implementing effective security measures.

Assess the risks

Next, evaluate the potential risks associated with data sharing and collaboration. Determine how data is being shared — internally and externally — and identify who can access it. This will help you pinpoint vulnerabilities and areas that require stricter controls.

Implement protective measures

Finally, put protective measures in place to safeguard your data. Configure policies that prevent public shares and control external sharing. Use data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities to identify and protect sensitive information, and set up periodic scans to maintain compliance and automatically remediate any issues that arise. By following these steps, you can ensure your cloud data remains secure and compliant.

‍

Preventing data leakage with Lookout

While data leakage in the cloud is a significant risk for any organization, with the right tools, it can be effectively managed. Lookout Secure Cloud Access, a cloud access security broker (CASB) solution that’s part of the Lookout Cloud Security Platform, offers robust measures to prevent data leaks of all kinds and proactively protect your organization’s sensitive information. 

Preventing public shares

Public shares happen when users make data accessible to anyone with a link, which can lead to unauthorized access and data breaches. Lookout Secure Cloud Access provides a straightforward solution through real-time policy enforcement.

When a user creates a public share link using a tool like OneDrive or Google Workspace, Lookout detects it almost instantaneously. The platform’s policy is configured to log the incident, change the sharing scope, remove the shared link, and notify the user of the violation.

Controlling external shares

External shares are essential for collaboration with external partners, but they must be controlled to prevent unauthorized access to confidential information. 

Lookout monitors and manages external shares by using DLP. After performing content inspection to identify sensitive data, Lookout automatically removes unauthorized external collaborators. 

The platform can differentiate between authorized and unauthorized external users, with policies that include context exceptions allowing specific domains or users while removing unauthorized ones. 

Maintaining compliance

Compliance with data protection regulations is critical for any organization. The Lookout’s cloud data discovery capability plays a key role in maintaining compliance through continuous monitoring and remediation. 

Using cloud data discovery, Lookout scans data repositories like OneDrive to assess and protect data at rest. Policies are applied to identify and remediate public or unauthorized external shares, and detailed reports provide insights into policy violations and remedial actions. 

Organizations can configure scans to run periodically, ensuring continuous compliance. Violations are automatically corrected based on predefined policies, and reports track the compliance status and highlight any unresolved issues. By automating compliance maintenance, Lookout reduces the risk of data breaches and ensures adherence to regulatory requirements.

‍

Building your cloud security fortress

In today’s world, cloud storage is ubiquitous — which means securing your data is more important than ever. Lookout Secure Cloud Access offers powerful tools to prevent unauthorized public and external shares, keeping your sensitive information safe and ensuring you stay compliant with data protection regulations. 

Want to learn more about how Lookout can help you protect your data in the cloud? Check out our webinar, Cloud Storage Leaks: Plugging the Holes Before Your Data Goes Rogue.