Multicloud Defense - 9/15/2025
A hands-on learning lab that introduces Cisco Multicloud Defense, teaching how to unify security controls across cloud environments and protect workloads with Infrastructure as Code.
Introduction to Cisco Multicloud Defense Lab
Cisco Multicloud Defense is a highly scalable, on-demand “as-a-Service” solution that provides agile, scalable, and flexible security to your multicloud infrastructure. This learning lab introduces participants to Multicloud Defense and demonstrates how to unify security controls across cloud environments, protect workloads from every direction, and drive operational efficiency by leveraging secure cloud networking.
Cisco Multicloud Defense uses a common principle in public clouds and software-defined networking (SDN) which decouples the control and data plane, translating to the Multicloud Defense Controller and the Multicloud Defense Gateways. This architecture enables centralized policy management with distributed enforcement across multiple cloud platforms.
🎯 Understanding Multicloud Security Challenges
Modern enterprises operate across multiple cloud platforms, each with its own security models and tools. This lab explores the challenges of:
- Fragmented Security Controls - Different security tools for each cloud provider
- Policy Inconsistency - Difficulty maintaining uniform security policies across clouds
- Visibility Gaps - Lack of centralized visibility into traffic and threats
- Operational Complexity - Managing multiple security solutions increases overhead
- Scale and Agility - Keeping security aligned with dynamic cloud workloads
These challenges highlight why organizations need a unified security solution that works consistently across all cloud environments.
🛡️ Multicloud Defense Architecture
The lab demonstrates the two core components of Cisco Multicloud Defense:
Multicloud Defense Controller
The centralized control plane that provides policy management, visibility, and orchestration across all cloud environments. Learners see how the Controller enables consistent security policies regardless of the underlying cloud platform.
Multicloud Defense Gateways
The distributed data plane that enforces security policies at scale. Participants learn how Gateways are deployed across cloud environments to inspect traffic, block threats, and protect workloads in real-time.
Infrastructure as Code Integration
The lab showcases how Multicloud Defense integrates with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform, enabling security automation and deployment consistency across multiple cloud platforms.
☁️ Multi-Cloud Security Capabilities
Participants explore key security capabilities that Multicloud Defense provides:
- Unified Policy Management - Define security policies once, enforce everywhere
- East-West Traffic Protection - Secure lateral traffic between workloads
- North-South Traffic Control - Protect inbound and outbound connections
- Threat Prevention - Real-time threat detection and blocking
- Network Segmentation - Micro-segmentation across cloud environments
- Centralized Visibility - Single pane of glass for all cloud security
🔧 Hands-On Infrastructure as Code
The lab provides practical experience with Infrastructure as Code for security:
- Terraform Deployments - Automate Multicloud Defense Gateway deployments
- Policy as Code - Define and version control security policies
- Multi-Cloud Provisioning - Deploy across AWS, Azure, and GCP
- Automated Scaling - Security that scales with your workloads
- GitOps Integration - Incorporate security into CI/CD pipelines
This approach ensures security is consistent, repeatable, and integrated into cloud operations.
💼 Key Capabilities and Integration
The lab demonstrates how Multicloud Defense helps teams:
- Unify Security Controls - Consistent security across all cloud platforms
- Protect Workloads - Comprehensive protection from every direction
- Automate Security - Infrastructure as Code for security deployments
- Centralize Management - Single control plane for all cloud security
- Scale Dynamically - On-demand security that grows with your infrastructure
Multicloud Defense is designed for seamless integration into modern cloud operations, enabling security teams to protect multi-cloud environments efficiently.
🛡️ What You’ll Learn
By the end of this lab, you’ll have:
- ✅ Working Multi-Cloud Security Environment - Hands-on deployment experience
- ✅ Infrastructure as Code Skills - Practical Terraform and automation knowledge
- ✅ Cisco Multicloud Defense Expertise - Understanding of architecture and capabilities
- ✅ Real-World Cloud Security Automation - Skills applicable to production environments
This learning lab equips cloud architects, security engineers, and DevOps professionals with the knowledge and practical skills needed to secure complex multi-cloud infrastructures.