Cloud Security Assessment

A point-in-time review of AWS, Azure, GCP, and Microsoft 365: CIS benchmarks, identity paths, data exposure, and a remediation register ranked by exploitability.
Contact us
Definition

What is a cloud security assessment?

A cloud security assessment is a point-in-time technical review of your cloud estate: configuration measured against CIS benchmarks, identity and access paths mapped, data exposure traced, and logging and detection coverage tested. The output is a remediation register ranked by exploitability, so the first week of fixes removes the most reachable risk. We cover AWS, Azure, GCP, and Microsoft 365, separately or as one multi-cloud engagement. For ongoing coverage after the assessment, our managed cloud security service picks up where the report ends.

Services

What does the cloud security assessment cover?

AWS
Azure
GCP
Microsoft 365
Identity and access paths
Data exposure mapping

AWS security assessment

Configuration review against the CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark: IAM users, roles, and policies, S3 exposure, security group rules, CloudTrail and GuardDuty coverage, and organization-level guardrails. Findings cite the benchmark control and the affected account and resource.

Azure security assessment

Review against the CIS Microsoft Azure Foundations Benchmark: Entra ID conditional access and legacy authentication, storage account exposure, network security groups, activity log coverage, and Defender for Cloud posture, mapped across your subscriptions.

GCP security assessment

Review against the CIS Google Cloud Platform Foundation Benchmark: IAM bindings and service account key sprawl, bucket exposure, VPC firewall rules, audit log configuration, and organization policy constraints, project by project.

Microsoft 365 security assessment

Review against the CIS Microsoft 365 Foundations Benchmark: Exchange transport and mailbox rules, sharing link defaults in SharePoint and OneDrive, Entra conditional access, and unified audit log coverage. M365 is where business email compromise starts, so it gets the same rigor as the infrastructure clouds.

Identity and access paths

The cross-platform review of who can reach what: privilege escalation chains, dormant admin accounts, MFA gaps, workload identities, and cross-account trust. Identity findings usually rank highest for exploitability, because identity is how cloud environments actually get breached.

Data exposure mapping

Public surface and internal over-sharing traced to the data behind it: buckets and storage accounts, snapshots and machine images, secrets in code and configuration, and sharing links. Each exposure is ranked by the sensitivity of what it reveals.

Our approach

Our approach

01

Scope accounts and tenants

Every account, subscription, project, and tenant in play, plus the crown-jewel data and workloads. Scope drives both price and depth.

02

Collect read-only

API-based collection under read-only roles you provision and can revoke. No agents, no configuration changes, no production risk.

03

Benchmark the configuration

Automated checks against the relevant CIS benchmarks, then manual review of the findings tooling cannot judge, like whether a public bucket is public on purpose.

04

Trace identity paths

Role chains, trust relationships, and escalation paths mapped across accounts, because the shortest path to data is usually a permission rather than a CVE.

contact us

Know what an attacker could reach today?

Speak with BD Emerson about scoping an assessment across AWS, Azure, GCP, or Microsoft 365.

Our Advantage

Why BD Emerson for cloud security

Identity at the center

The review is built around access paths rather than checkbox configuration, because identity is how cloud environments actually get breached.

Exploitability over severity

Findings are ranked by what an attacker can reach from where, so your first remediation sprint removes real risk instead of chasing a severity score.

A register with owners

Every finding carries a benchmark citation, an owner, and an effort estimate. Where you want hands, our managed cloud security team implements the fixes.

Reviews

What our customers say

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

Certificates

Our accreditations

At BD Emerson, we believe that our team's extensive certifications not only set us apart but also ensure that we provide the highest level of service to our clients.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is a cloud security assessment?

How is this different from your managed cloud security service?

How is it different from a penetration test?

Which platforms do you cover?

How long does a cloud security assessment take?

What access do you need?

What do we receive?

Blog

Related Articles

Insights on strategy, transactions, technology, security, and compliance from BD Emerson's practitioners