Cloud Security by Default

Most of the organizations on which we build our economic, social, and national security, from banking to healthcare to defense, depend on effective and secure cloud infrastructure and services. The cloud brings important advantages in terms of availability and scalability and, if properly configured, security and resilience. However, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) generally require their customers to implement secure configurations, controls, and policies based on their individual decisions about what adequate baseline security looks like for them. Yet, most CSP customers do not have the resources and capabilities to securely configure their environments given the cloud’s technical complexity. The Cloud Security by Default initiative addresses this gap by bringing CSPs and their customers together to achieve appropriate baseline cloud security by default and establish out-of-the-box CSP offerings that create a more secure ecosystem. This is an initiative of private individuals (Freddy Dezeure, Lokke Moerel, George Webster), supported by many individuals and organisations in the community. The initiative is not driven by commercial, private or national interest.