Shared Responsibility Model
The division of security responsibilities between a cloud provider and the customer — a framework that defines who owns what in cloud security.
Definition
What is Shared Responsibility Model?
The Shared Responsibility Model is the framework used by cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) to delineate security responsibilities between the provider and the customer. Cloud providers are responsible for security 'of' the cloud — the physical infrastructure, hardware, networking, and the virtualization layer. Customers are responsible for security 'in' the cloud — everything they build on top: operating systems, applications, data, identity, and network configurations. The boundary shifts depending on the service type: IaaS gives customers more control (and more responsibility); PaaS and SaaS shift more responsibility to the provider.
Why It Matters
Misunderstanding the Shared Responsibility Model is the root cause of many cloud security failures. Organizations that assume their cloud provider is responsible for data encryption, access controls, and application security — when those responsibilities belong to the customer — leave critical gaps unaddressed. Every cloud security program must begin with a clear mapping of which controls are provider-managed, customer-managed, and shared.
How It Works
For IaaS (EC2, Azure VMs, GCE): the provider secures physical infrastructure and hypervisor; the customer secures OS, applications, and data. For PaaS (Lambda, App Service, Cloud Functions): the provider adds OS and runtime security; the customer secures application code, data, and configurations. For SaaS (Office 365, Salesforce): the provider secures everything except data governance and access configuration.
Our Approach
Paxanimi's Approach to Shared Responsibility Model
Paxanimi uses the Shared Responsibility Model as a foundational tool in all cloud security assessments — mapping current controls against customer responsibilities and identifying gaps. We help organizations understand exactly what security they own in each cloud service they use, and implement appropriate controls for their portion of the shared model.
Quick Reference
- Category
- Cloud Security
- Related Services
- Cybersecurity ServicesSoftware Development
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