Hybrid cloud security involves software-defined networking (SDN), virtualization, and application support at all layers of the service mesh across multiple data centers and hardware devices. Companies increasingly seek “single pane of glass” administration for hybrid cloud networking that includes all of the features of traditional network administration and data center management software with improved real-time data packet analytics. Hybrid cloud security must operate at all levels of the distributed network and include support for new, innovative software platforms that have not been thoroughly tested in production. Hybrid cloud security poses unique problems for network administrators that are best addressed through tools and utilities that are integrated within the lanes of SDN orchestration through embedded SIEM applications implementing real-time data packet scanning, monitoring, and network analytics.

IT professionals in complex enterprise organizations choose hybrid cloud organization because it supports the de facto means of operation for thousands of employees or multiple software development teams in action today. Due to the way that the current IT landscape operates, business managers must evaluate between public cloud hosts on the basis of cost for commodity hardware and support for proprietary or open-source software services. Senior business management has swiftly adopted cloud outsourcing for the majority of public-facing software services across the Fortune 500 in the last ten years. However, most of these senior decision-makers still will not permit highly sensitive data and files to be remote-hosted outside of an on-premises data center. The requirement to support private cloud or on-premises data center hardware is the primary characteristic of hybrid cloud architecture, but this form of networking presents unique issues and challenges to security professionals.

Best practices in hybrid cloud security implement a multi-tiered approach to protection based upon interwoven security information and event management (SIEM) products within the service mesh. Modular hybrid cloud security systems operate at the hypervisor, operating system, web server, database, and application layers with network diagnostics based on real-time scanning, monitoring, and analysis of data packets through web traffic or other I/O transfer requests. Hybrid cloud solutions are orchestrated primarily through software platforms based on either hypervisor virtualization, container virtualization, or a combination of both.

VMware has pioneered a system of embedded security protocols that operate at the level of the hypervisor in production and create micro-segmentation in multi-tenant cloud environments. Micro-segmentation improves the isolation of VMs on multi-tenant hardware to prevent the lateral spread of attack vectors in the instance that a node becomes compromised by malware, worms, or unauthorized intrusions by hackers.

Micro-segmentation addresses the problem of privilege escalation which is considered to be the most serious security threat for running containers at scale in enterprise production.

Many security professionals recommend running containers within a hypervisor-driven VM environment for better isolation through micro-segmentation as a means to prevent potential privilege escalation. VMware products embed AI-informed malware, anti-virus, and bad request scanning at the level of the hypervisor for deep protection of hybrid cloud architecture in production through the NSX Distributed Firewall. The NSX Distributed Firewall is installed with ESXi on every VM managed by vSphere or vCloud products, integrating automated security alerts and event management with network analytics and reporting. NSX can also be integrated with Neutron in OpenStack as a Firewall-as-a-Service solution for increased hybrid cloud security.