Top Cloud Security Tools You Need to Protect Your Data

Enterprises raced to adopt cloud services to stay agile and competitive, and while the cloud provides flexibility and scalability, it also leads to new risks. Data breaches, misconfigurations, insider threats, and compliance can all become issues and get out of control if not properly managed.

For this reason, one thing has become clear: choosing the right cloud security tools is no longer optional—it’s essential.

In this blog, we explore the top categories of cloud security solutions that help organizations protect sensitive information they work with, stay compliant, and reduce exposure to new and emerging threats. Read on for a clear understanding of what each tool does and how it fits into a modern security strategy. We’ll cover:

• Why encryption and key management matter more than ever
• How cloud security can defend dynamic environments
• The importance of cloud security posture management (CSPM)
• Strengthening access protocols with identity and access management (IAM)
• The growing importance of Confidential Computing

Encrypting Cloud Data and Managing Keys Securely

Encryption should be the first line of defense when it comes to protecting sensitive data. In the cloud, data must be encrypted while it’s at rest, in transit, and in use to prevent unauthorized access.

But strong encryption is only as good as an organization’s ability to manage the necessary keys. That’s why encryption should be combined with a more comprehensive cloud security tool for managing cryptographic keys.

The bottom line: owning your keys is crucial and gives you the best chance of preventing a costly data breach

On the other hand, if your cloud provider manages all of your encryption keys, you’re placing a huge amount of trust in their infrastructure and policies. It’s inarguable that cloud services are convenient but blindly allowing them to handle your key management could leave you exposed in the event of a breach, or worse, a subpoena. The best approach is to retain control of your encryption keys using a platform designed for secure key storage and management.

Fortanix Data Security Manager, for example, offers external key management (EKM), Bring Your Own Key (BYOK), and Hold Your Own Key (HYOK) models. These give enterprises full ownership and control over keys, even when they’re using public cloud services.

In addition to reducing risk, this higher level of control helps you easily meet regulatory compliance mandates across industries—GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and so on. Being able to audit and manage key usage is vital.

Protecting Cloud Workloads

As more and more workloads move to the cloud, keeping your cryptographic keys and shared secrets safe while making them available to your apps and services—regardless of where they’re running—is crucial to success.

Important features to look for on this front include:

• Threat detection and real-time alerts so you can act quickly
• Protection for containerized environments (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes)
• Vulnerability scanning and custom policy enforcement
• Data encryption everywhere — at rest, in motion, and in use

Fortanix Confidential Computing supports these efforts by running sensitive applications in trusted execution environments (TEEs). This allows you to encrypt data in use to protect it even if the host system is compromised.

Focus On: Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

Misconfigurations across systems are a leading cause of cloud-related data breaches. Think about it: an open S3 bucket or an overly permissive identity role can create vulnerabilities that hackers could easily exploit. This makes cloud security posture management (CSPM) a must.

Effective CSPM helps organizations identify and fix misconfigurations by continuously auditing the cloud environment against industry and internal benchmarks. The idea is to maintain visibility across your multi-cloud environments and alert your teams to risks before attackers can exploit them.

Features to prioritize here include:

• Continuous compliance monitoring
• Auto-remediation of policy violations
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) integration
• Visualization tools to map relationships and access paths

By pairing CSPM with data encryption policies from Fortanix, you can build a tightly integrated data security posture that protects against both internal errors and external threats.

Prioritizing Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Another of the most targeted attack surfaces in the cloud is identity. Human error is natural, but an employee, vendor, or system account manager who mishandles their identity can lead to devastating consequences. A strong identity and access management strategy should be central to your cloud security approach.

The “least privilege” principle should guide all of your IAM policies. At a high level, this means that users and applications should only have access to the data and services they need, and nothing more.

While it’s an easy concept to grasp, it can be challenging to enforce. Implementing and maintaining an effective strategy requires a cloud security tool that supports features such as:

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Role-based and attribute-based access controls
• Automated lifecycle management for credentials
• Centralized logging and audit trails

Fortanix enhances identity security by linking data access to cryptographic policies—even if a user is authenticated; they can’t decrypt sensitive data unless explicitly authorized. This gives you an additional layer of protection that traditional IAM systems lack.

Why Confidential Computing Provides Advanced Data Protection

Processing more sensitive workloads like financial algorithms, medical research, or AI training models makes Confidential Computing a necessity. With Confidential Computing, data is processed in encrypted form within isolated hardware environments, providing maximum security.

This approach minimizes exposure, even when the host system or cloud infrastructure is compromised. There are many benefits to this, including:

• Protecting intellectual property in multi-tenant environments
• Enabling secure AI/ML collaboration across organizations
• Preventing insider threats within cloud platforms
• Meeting stringent and ever-evolving data privacy regulations

Confidential computing has quickly gone from a niche “nice-to-have” in the industry to a must-have cloud security tool for highly sensitive workloads.

Putting it All Together with a Comprehensive Cloud Security Stack

Cloud adoption isn’t going to slow down anytime soon, creating a consistent need for sophisticated protection. The best way to secure your cloud environment is to deploy a layered defense using purpose-built cloud security tools.

Let’s recap the essentials:

• Encryption and Key Management: Protect data at rest, in transit and in use while maintaining full control over cryptographic keys.
• Cloud Workload Protection: Monitor and defend workloads across VMs, containers, and serverless platforms.
• Cloud Security Posture Management: Identify and fix misconfigurations before they can be exploited.
• Identity and Access Management: Secure access at the identity level using policies based on least privilege.
• Confidential Computing: Protect sensitive data while it’s in use through hardware-enforced isolation.

These tools work best when integrated into a unified strategy—Fortanix’s comprehensive suite of capabilities combines encryption, access control, and secure execution in a single, cohesive platform.

Ready to Strengthen Your Cloud Security?

If your organization is serious about protecting its cloud environment, it’s time to invest in modern cloud security that aligns with the risks we face today.

Request a demo to see how Fortanix can help you build a zero-trust architecture with advanced encryption, key management, and confidential computing—all on one platform.