Page 96 - Cyber Defense eMagazine RSAC Special Edition 2025

What Is RPAM’s Role in Multi-Cloud Security?

A 2024 survey found that 65% of business leaders say cloud security is their organization's top
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priority. RPAM – a cybersecurity solution that protects and controls remote access to privileged data
and systems – is a critical component in protecting cloud environments. It ensures that only users with
proper authorization can access sensitive resources while maintaining strict security controls against
unauthorized activity.

In multi-cloud environments, RPAM centralizes remote access management across Google Cloud
Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and private cloud infrastructures. This
unified approach eliminates the security gaps that often appear when organizations handle identity
management and access policies separately for each platform.

Security Challenges in Multi-Cloud Environments

Multi-cloud environments come with their own set of security hurdles that increase breach risks, which
could be why 40% of data breaches in 2024 involved data stored across multiple cloud
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environments. Some of the most common multi-cloud security challenges include:

Identity Sprawl

Managing privileged accounts across multiple cloud providers creates identity sprawl, where credentials
are scattered across various platforms. This makes it difficult to track access rights and identify security
vulnerabilities.

Unauthorized Access Risks

Without strict access controls, cybercriminals can exploit misconfigured permissions to gain unauthorized
access to cloud resources. Insider threats, compromised credentials, and supply chain attacks multiply
this risk.

Compliance and Audit Challenges

Modern businesses must navigate regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and ISO 27001, which
demand strict control over privileged access. Multiple cloud platforms with different policies make
maintaining and demonstrating compliance particularly difficult.

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