Auditing Cloud Security
As organizations continue shifting data, applications, and infrastructure into the cloud, auditing cloud security has become a critical priority. Cloud platforms offer powerful opportunities to reduce cost, increase agility, and streamline operations, but they also introduce risks that are often misunderstood or overlooked. Traditional on‑premises controls do not always translate directly to cloud environments, and cloud providers frequently abstract or limit visibility into underlying infrastructure—creating unique challenges for auditors.
This course provides auditors with a comprehensive understanding of the risks associated with cloud services and the techniques required to audit them effectively. Students will learn core concepts of cloud governance, policy, and shared responsibility, along with the technical security principles that apply across major cloud models including SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, and FaaS/serverless.
Participants will explore the Cloud Security Alliance framework and learn how to apply it to strengthen audit procedures. The course covers key technical areas such as network security, identity and access management, virtualization and multi‑tenancy, container and serverless security, data protection, and application security. Students will also examine cloud development risks and learn how to evaluate security throughout the cloud lifecycle.
Finally, the course addresses incident handling, forensics, event management, and intrusion detection within cloud environments—equipping auditors with the knowledge needed to assess cloud readiness, resilience, and response capabilities. By the end of the course, students will be prepared to evaluate cloud architectures, identify gaps, and ensure that cloud deployments are secure, compliant, and aligned with organizational risk objectives.
CPE:
14
Program Level:
Intermediate
Delivery Method:
Live
Cost :
$675 for this 2 day course
Course Contents/Objectives
I. Cloud Background
• Cloud Delivery Models: SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, FaaS
• Public, private and hybrid cloud
• Shared responsibility models across major providers – AWS, Azure, GCP
II. Policy and Governance
• Security and compliance requirements in cloud contracts
• SLAs, availability commitments, and service dependencies
• Cloud governance frameworks and organizational ownership
• Cloud strategy alignment with enterprise risk management
III. Compliance, Legal, and Regulatory Considerations
• Compliance challenges unique to cloud environments
• Geographic jurisdiction, data residency, and cross‑border transfer
• Privacy requirements – PII, PHI, sensitive data classifications
IV. Cloud Security Considerations
• Virtualization, hypervisors, and multi‑tenancy risks
• Cloud migration risk assessment
• SaaS‑specific risks and the role of CASBs
• Cloud attack surface expansion and threat modeling
V. Cloud Risk, Audit, and Assessment
• Cloud risk management methodologies
• Auditing cloud environments – SaaS, PaaS, IaaS
• Evaluating cloud controls and evidence collection
• Reviewing cloud architecture diagrams and trust boundaries
VI. Infrastructure Security in the Cloud
• Patch and configuration management in cloud workloads
• Change management for cloud resources
• Network security: VPC/VNET design, segmentation, firewalls, security groups
• Application security across SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS
• Container Security
• Host and node security
• Runtime protection
• Container security tools – CSPM, CWPP
• Serverless / FaaS Security
VII. Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity
• Cloud‑based DR strategies
• Backup, replication, and failover architectures
• RTO/RPO alignment with business requirements
VIII. Identity & Access Management (IAM)
• IAM architecture and cloud relevance
• Authentication and authorization standards
• Account provisioning, lifecycle management, and least privilege
• Federation, SSO, and identity providers (IdP)
IX. Data Security in the Cloud
• Encryption types and availability – at rest, in transit, in use
• Key management and encryption architectures – KMS, HSM
• Data lifecycle: creation, storage, retention, deletion
• Data classification and tagging
• Secure disposal and sanitization
X. Intrusion Detection & Incident Response
• Incident detection across cloud service models
• Managing IDS/IPS, EDR, SIEM, CSPM, CWPP alerts
• Cloud event management and feedback loops
• Cloud‑specific IR procedures and evidence preservation
Laptop Required
Students are required to have a laptop in order to complete the hands-on exercises. The laptop should meet the following specifications for the student to get the most from the exercises:
• 16 GB RAM or higher
• 25 GB available hard drive space
• Windows 11 professional or later (Home or similar editions will not have some of the features needed.)
• Administrator privileges including the capability to install and run tools, as well as disable anti-virus
Note: Students will also have the option to follow along through full demonstrations of every lab. Those who prefer to watch rather than perform the hands‑on exercises can do so without missing any content.
Target Audience
• Internal Auditors
• IT Specialist Auditors
• IT Auditors
• IT Audit Managers
• Information System Auditors
• Information Technology Auditors
• Information Security Officers
• System Admins/Engineers who want to learn about security controls from an auditor’s perspetive
Prerequisites
Participants should be familiar with Internet technologies and commonly used Internet security controls. No other advance preparation is required.
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