Google Cloud Armor has been refreshed with a few new features. Cloud security is one of the top concerns of industries tapping Cloud’s potential today. Take the latest Twitter data breach as an example and it becomes clear why Cloud security and cyber security is a topic that is always relevant in the industry. Coming back to Google Cloud Armor, the Californian behemoth had already introduced new security features earlier this year including geo-based access controls, a custom rules language, support for CDN Origins servers, and support for hybrid deployment scenarios.
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New Google Armor Features
On 28 July, Google Cloud introduced three new security features for its service. These features are aimed at protecting users from exploitation bids as well as Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. The three new features brought out by the company consist of:
- Cloud Armor Managed Protection Plus
- Named IP Lists
- New WAF Rules: Remote File Inclusion (RFI), Local File Inclusion (LFI), and Remote Code Execution (RCE)
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Cloud Armor Management Protection Plus
Google is offering the Cloud Armor Management Protection Plus in two tiers — Standard and Plus. The Standard service tier automatically enrolls all the existing Cloud Armor users. Under this, Google offers scale volumetric and protocol-based DDoS protection for globally load balanced applications and services. Further, it also offers access to Cloud Armor WAF and layer 7 (L7) filtering capabilities.
Under the Plus service tier, Google offers DDoS and WAF services, curated rule sets, and an evolving catalogue of capabilities like Named IP lists and Google-curated rules and services. The DDoS and WAF services along with other services in the Plus tier service provides enhanced safeguards from L7 DDoS attacks. The Plus tier service is currently in beta and for now, operates on a subscription model, that users can sign up for.
Named IP Lists
This is yet another feature that is currently in beta. Named IP Lists include Google-curated rule sets with pre-configured IP addresses for reference and reuse in different projects. Google also includes the source IP ranges for common upstream service providers in Named IP lists. Further, Named IP Lists also maintain an up-to-date list of IPs of upstream providers’ IP addresses, weeding out the need for manual upkeep. The users can then easily allow traffic from third-party services through their Google Armor policies without worrying about tracking changes in service providers’ IPs.
New WAF Rules: RFI, LFI, and RCE
Google is also making Remote RFI, LFI, and RCE rules available as beta to Armor customers. These rules come with industry-standard signatures from the ModSecurity core Rule Set to mitigate the Command Injection class vulnerabilities. The users can also request tuning of other sub-signatures on a per application basis. The new rules also enhance coverage for Top 10 Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) vulnerabilities.
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Lastly, apart from the rising share of Google Cloud in the industry, the efforts being made by the Californian player are sure to increase customer trust. Watch this space for more Google Cloud coverage as the Cloud industry rises up to the challenges thrown at it.