Cloud Security Baselines: Where to Start for AWS and Azure

Start with identity and network Enforce MFA for human and privileged access, centralize identity (SSO where possible), and restrict admin paths. Pair that with a clear network model: private subnets for workloads, no broad 0.0.0.0/0 on sensitive ports, and logging enabled for control plane and data-plane events. Native controls and benchmarks - AWS: Organizations, SCPs, Config rules, GuardDuty, and KMS-backed encryption defaults. - Azure: Management groups, Azure Policy, Defender for Cloud recommendations, and Key Vault for secrets. Align to CIS or your cloud provider well-architected guidance, then automate checks (policy-as-code or CSPM) so drift is visible weekly, not at audit time. Phased rollout Phase 1: identity, logging, and backups. Phase 2: encryption, key management, and endpoint coverage. Phase 3: advanced detection, IaC scanning, and fine-grained segmentation. Measure progress with a simple scorecard so leadership sees risk reduction over time.