Cloud Security

Cloud computing is becoming an important part of modern information and communication technologies. Cloud computing, enables IT solutions to be deployed quickly and at scale, with the likelihood of reduced costs. However with many perceived benefits, adopting a complete cloud setup may not be suitable for mission critical projects. Are you planning a startup, or working for a large organisation, and are curious about outsourcing a portion of your services to the cloud? You need to be aware of the pros and cons of moving to the cloud, specifically regarding issues related to security, privacy, latency and governance. If you do decide to outsource your entire infrastructure, or even a portion of your business solutions to a cloud setup, then you need to be educated on best security practices. This course gives an introduction to the basic concepts of the cloud computing paradigm, and will guide you on how to build a functional cloud environment with a security mindset.

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· December 10, 2021

This course is divided into three modules. The first module will introduce you to the basics of cloud computing and give you an insight into what this computing paradigm is, and the way it has shifted our mentality towards who controls hardware, software and data. This module will compare the advantages and disadvantages associated with adopting a cloud setup. It is primarily theoretical in nature, but will lay the foundation for you to undertake the technical activities that complement this course.

This course guides you on how to build a secure cloud environment using Google’s Cloud Platform, one of the big three cloud service providers. Key learning objectives will be achieved through successful completion of a number technical activities. The objective of these activities is not to build the largest cloud infrastructure, quite the contrary, rather the focus will be on learning to integrate security features from the ground up. Module one will also highlight the different cloud service models and introduce you to the basics of Google’s Cloud Console. You will be guided on how to deploy a virtualised cloud network, create custom firewalls and deploy virtual machines.

In the second module, the concept of security by design will be contrasted with security by configuration. We will introduce these topics theoretically and then have you apply them to your real-world Google Cloud project. You will continue to develop your cloud infrastructure, and setup a secure connection between your cloud environment and your local device. Once a secure connection has been successfully established, we will then move on to learning about the various methods and tools used to manage cloud environments. We will focus on the benefits of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), in automating cloud management.

The last module is predominantly hands on. This module will culminate with you deploying two WordPress installations, on a virtualised LAMP server setup, in your cloud project. You will achieve this objective, by provisioning Infrastructure as Code remotely, from your local device. Once you have setup a functional and accessible WordPress installation, you will expand your projects defence-in-depth, by deploying the concept of network redundancy.