AWS vs. Azure vs. Google Cloud: A Security Comparison

As organizations increasingly migrate to the cloud, one of the most critical decisions they must make is choosing the right cloud service provider - likely AWS, Azure, and/or Google Cloud. While all three providers offer robust security measures, there are important differences that can impact your organization’s security posture, especially when it comes to incident response and forensic investigations. In this blog, we’ll compare the security features of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

For more information on incident response in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, check out our playbooks.

• AWS Playbook
• Azure Playbook
• Google Cloud Playbook

Security Overview: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud
All three major cloud providers—AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud—offer a comprehensive set of security features designed to protect data, applications, and infrastructure. Each platform has invested heavily in security, providing features such as Identity and Access Management, encryption, threat detection, and logging services. However, the depth and implementation of these security features can vary between platforms.

AWS Security Features
AWS is known for its robust security infrastructure, with a heavy focus on logging and monitoring. AWS offers services like AWS CloudTrail, which provides logging of all API activity, and AWS GuardDuty, which monitors for suspicious behavior and provides threat detection. AWS also offers identity management via IAM roles, allowing organizations to tightly control access to cloud resources.

However, while AWS provides excellent detection and logging capabilities, its security tools are primarily focused on prevention and detection. 

Azure Security Features
Microsoft Azure’s security offering is similarly robust, with a focus on enterprise-grade security controls. Azure Security Center provides unified security management across cloud and on-premise environments, while Azure Sentinel serves as a cloud-native SIEM tool for collecting and analyzing security data. Azure also emphasizes compliance, offering a broad range of certifications for industries with strict regulatory requirements.

Like AWS, Azure provides comprehensive threat detection and prevention capabilities but falls short when it comes to providing built-in forensic tools for deep-dive investigations. While Azure offers logging and monitoring services, performing a detailed forensic investigation often requires additional third-party tools.

Google Cloud Security Features
Google Cloud has earned a reputation for its cutting-edge security technologies. Google Cloud offers Cloud Security Command Center, which provides centralized visibility into security risks, and Secure Operations, a security analytics platform for detecting and investigating threats. Google Cloud also provides customer-managed encryption keys for even greater control over data protection.

Despite these advanced features, Google Cloud shares the same limitations as AWS and Azure. While it excels at prevention and detection, it lacks the deep forensic capabilities needed for comprehensive post-incident investigations.

The Missing Link: Cloud Forensics
While AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all provide strong security foundations, their focus is primarily on prevention and detection. When an incident occurs, organizations often find that they need additional tools to collect and analyze forensic data. This is where cloud investigation and response automation tools, like the Cado platform, come in.

How Cado Enhances Cloud Security
Cado fills the gap left by traditional cloud security tools by automating the collection and analysis of forensic data across multi-cloud environments. One of the key advantages of Cado is its ability to capture forensic data in real-time from AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, without requiring permanent agents​. This allows security teams to investigate incidents across all three platforms without the need to switch between different tools or manually gather evidence.

Cado automates the collection of logs, memory dumps, full disk images, and other forensic data, ensuring that no critical evidence is overlooked. This is particularly important in the fast-moving world of cloud computing, where data can be deleted or overwritten in seconds. By using cloud-native APIs, Cado ensures that forensic data is captured before it’s lost, reducing the time it takes to perform a deep-dive investigation.

Multi-Cloud Investigations Made Easy
Another key benefit of the Cado Platform is its ability to perform investigations across multiple cloud platforms simultaneously. Many organizations use a combination of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, each for different workloads. Investigating an incident that spans multiple cloud environments can be incredibly complex, especially when different logging systems and APIs are involved. Cado simplifies this process by providing a unified platform for collecting and analyzing forensic data from all three major cloud providers.

When it comes to cloud security, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud each offer a comprehensive set of tools designed to prevent and detect threats. However, all three platforms fall short when it comes to providing the deep forensic capabilities needed to fully investigate incidents. The Cado platform addresses this gap by automating the collection and analysis of forensic data across multi-cloud environments, enabling organizations to respond to incidents faster and more effectively. By combining the prevention and detection capabilities of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud with Cado’s automated forensic tools organizations can ensure that their cloud environments are fully protected.