Networking
In a cloud environment, software-defined networking establishes the boundaries, routing rules, and isolation perimeters that govern inter-service communication. When architected properly, databases and internal compute workloads are completely unreachable from the public internet by design. Conversely, flawed network topology can expose internal databases, unauthenticated caches, or management interfaces to automated internet port scanners.
Identity, access, and secrets
In modern cloud environments, identity serves as the primary security perimeter. Every interaction with a cloud platform—whether an engineer deploying infrastructure, a compute instance reading an object from a bucket, or a serverless function publishing an event to a queue—is an authenticated API call evaluated against granular authorization policies. Even the most robust private network topology cannot protect an infrastructure estate if identity policies grant excessive administrative privileges.