Securing Hybrid Cloud Environments Across Multiple Providers

Hybrid cloud environments that span on-premises infrastructure and multiple cloud providers have become the standard architecture for most large organisations. This approach offers flexibility, resilience, and the ability to select the best platform for each workload. It also creates a security management challenge that exceeds what any single-provider environment demands.

Each cloud provider implements security controls using different models, terminology, and defaults. Identity management in AWS differs from Azure Active Directory, which differs from Google Cloud IAM. Network security groups, firewall rules, and encryption configurations follow provider-specific patterns. Security teams must develop and maintain expertise across every platform in use, without the luxury of deep specialisation in just one.

Inconsistent security policies across providers create gaps that attackers identify and exploit. An organisation might enforce strict network segmentation in AWS while leaving Azure virtual networks with permissive default rules, or implement comprehensive logging in one provider while another generates minimal audit data. These inconsistencies create weak points at the boundaries between environments.

Identity federation across hybrid environments introduces complexity that must be managed carefully. Synchronising identities between on-premises directories and multiple cloud providers creates multiple paths for authentication that each require proper security configuration. A misconfiguration in any one federation pathway can provide attackers with an authentication bypass that grants cross-environment access.

Data governance becomes significantly more complex when data resides across multiple providers and on-premises storage. Ensuring consistent encryption, access controls, and data classification across heterogeneous platforms requires tooling and processes that span all environments. Data residency requirements may restrict which platforms can host certain data types, adding regulatory dimensions to technical decisions.

Expert Commentary

William Fieldhouse | Director of Aardwolf Security Ltd

“Hybrid and multi-cloud environments multiply security complexity because each provider implements security controls differently. Organisations must maintain consistent policies across platforms with different terminology, different configuration models, and different default behaviours. Gaps between providers become the seams that attackers target.”

Regular Azure penetration testing examines your Microsoft cloud workloads for misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and security gaps specific to the Azure platform. Azure-focused testing evaluates Entra ID configurations, virtual network security, storage account access controls, and the security of Azure-native services your workloads depend upon.

Complementary AWS penetration testing ensures your Amazon Web Services environment maintains equally strong security. AWS-specific assessments examine IAM policies, VPC configurations, S3 bucket security, and the wide array of managed services that comprise modern AWS architectures. Testing both providers independently identifies platform-specific weaknesses.

Cloud security posture management tools that operate across multiple providers offer unified visibility into your hybrid environment. These tools normalise configuration data from different platforms, apply consistent security policies, and identify deviations from baseline standards regardless of which provider hosts the workload.

Network connectivity between cloud providers and on-premises infrastructure requires careful security design. VPN tunnels, direct connections, and transit architectures that link these environments create pathways that must be protected, monitored, and tested. An attacker who compromises one environment should not automatically gain access to others through poorly secured interconnections.

Hybrid cloud security demands a unified strategy executed across diverse technical landscapes. Organisations that develop cross-platform security frameworks, invest in multi-cloud expertise, and test each environment independently while also examining the connections between them build architectures that capture the benefits of hybrid cloud without accumulating unmanageable risk.