Google, which happens to be one of the largest tech companies in the world after Amazon has for years warding off security threats by following certain guidelines in its day to day operations. In the last weekend, the internet juggernaut decided to disclose some security features of its Google Cloud Platform to help customers show their data and services are being offered securely to help build ‘Trust’ among its patrons.
Going by the disclosure it appears that the web search giant has customized most of its cloud security features as per its needs and demands from customers and a summary of it is as follows-
Google Data Center security on the physical note- When it comes to the protection of its data center assets, the Alphabet Inc’s subsidiary seems to be very serious. The company is seen protecting its infrastructure with the help of biometric detectors, alarms, cameras, security lasers with minimalistic human indulgence. So, as everything is automated at this segment, errors are almost negligible or mere zero.
Highly customized Hardware and Software- Google has announced to the world in the year 2015 that it builds its hardware like server boards, networking devices, and customized server machines- all as per its needs and security requirements. And when it comes to software’s like firmware stack, curated OS images, and hardened hypervisors are all tuned as per its requirements.
Data storage and destruction- As the Sundar Pichai firm happens to have tons of Petabytes of data moving to and fro, at the end of the data it also has to do persistent disk cleanups to make way for the new lot. Google says that data destruction at its premises is done scientifically by using a logical disk cleaning technique for cleanups and the results of erasure are securely stored and logged in the disks in a perfect way for future weekly audits. Then the erased disk is released into the inventory for reuse.
Data encryption is also done at two points on GCP. As the encryption is automatic it requires no action from the user’s side. An AES- 256 algorithm is applied with master keys which are again termed by the Google servers.
Network monitoring, data access monitoring, intrusion detention are all kept operational at the server farms of Google. DDoS protection, login abuse protection, and authentication are being given a priority by the tech giant these days.
Note- As Mountain View-based company offers different services, the above-specified security standards are being followed to render services related to Gmail, Google Search, Google Photos, and other enterprise services like G-Suite and GCP.
