Abstract: As organizations accelerate their migration of mission-critical operations to cloud environments, conventional perimeter-based security models have proven insufficient against today’s sophisticated cyber threats. The ephemeral and distributed nature of cloud computing—marked by dynamic workloads, decentralized identities, and API-centric infrastructure—demands a more intelligent, adaptive, and integrated approach to cybersecurity. This paper introduces a comprehensive enterprise cloud security framework that unifies Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP), and AI-enhanced threat detection into a cohesive and scalable model. The framework addresses the limitations of legacy solutions by incorporating risk-based behavioral analysis, policy-as-code enforcement, adversarial simulation, and real-time anomaly identification across hybrid and multi-cloud systems. It also delves into software supply chain security, automated configuration management, and cross-industry compliance enforcement in federated cloud ecosystems. Through a defense-in-depth strategy covering identity, data, network, and workload layers, this study proposes an enterprise-ready blueprint designed to enhance security posture, operational resilience, and regulatory alignment. Sector-specific insights are provided for industries with high compliance burdens—such as financial services, healthcare, and government—making this framework both practically relevant and adaptable to a broad array of enterprise contexts.

Keywords: Cloud Security, Zero Trust, Threat Detection, Multi-Cloud Governance, CSPM, CWPP, Policy-as-Code, AI in Security

| DOI: 10.17148/IARJSET.2024.114110