Hyperscaler cloud providers offer robust infrastructure security, but organizations must complement it with file-level, Zero Trust access solutions like FileFlex Enterprise  to securely manage, share, and collaborate on unstructured data across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Hyperscaler Cloud Providers and the Data-Layer Gap: Extending Security with File-Level Controls

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Introduction: Bridging the Data-Layer Gap in Hyperscaler Environments

As organizations increasingly rely on hyperscalers (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud to store and process vast amounts of unstructured data, understanding how that data is accessed and secured becomes critical. While hyperscalers provide robust infrastructure-level security and identity controls, organizations remain responsible for managing access, governance, and compliance at the data layer—a challenge that traditional access methods such as portals, sync clients, VPNs, and collaboration apps often leave unresolved. This article explores how unstructured data is stored and accessed in hyperscaler environments, the security and compliance gaps that arise, and how modern solutions like FileFlex extend Zero Trust principles to provide secure, granular, and auditable access, sharing, and collaboration across multi-cloud and hybrid environments.

What is a Hyperscaler?

A hyperscaler is a company that builds and operates massive, globally distributed computing infrastructure—such as data centers, storage, and networking—to deliver cloud services that can scale instantly to meet fluctuating demand. Also referred to as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), examples include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). They offer infrastructure, platforms, and advanced services like AI, analytics, and security, serving millions of customers worldwide. The term comes from “hyperscale computing,” meaning infrastructure designed to scale efficiently and elastically far beyond traditional enterprise capacity.

How are Hyperscalers Secured?

Hyperscalers—large cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud—secure their infrastructure using a multi-layered approach that combines physical, network, and software controls. Physically, data centers are protected with strict access controls, surveillance, and environmental safeguards. Network security includes firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, segmentation, and denial-of-service mitigation. At the software and platform level, hyperscalers enforce identity and access management (IAM), encryption of data at rest and in transit, regular vulnerability assessments, and automated patching. They also implement compliance frameworks (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP) to meet industry and regulatory standards.

Beyond these core protections, hyperscalers often provide customers with tools to extend security, such as granular access policies, encryption key management, logging, and monitoring.

How Do Organizations and Their Users Access Unstructured Data Stored in a Hyperscaler?

Unstructured data (documents, media, emails, logs, etc.) is exploding in hyperscaler environments, and how it’s accessed — securely, efficiently, and compliantly — is now a major challenge for IT and security teams.

Here’s a clear breakdown:

1. Where Unstructured Data Lives in a Hyperscaler

Unstructured data can be stored in several types of cloud storage services offered by hyperscalers:

These are object or file storage systems — not databases — optimized for scale and durability rather than granular, contextual user access.

2. How Organizations and Users Access That Data

Direct Cloud Access (Native Tools)

Organizations and users typically access unstructured data in hyperscalers through native tools such as web portals, desktop sync clients, or APIs/SDKs for applications, with permissions managed via IAM policies or shared links. However, this approach has limitations: access controls are often not context-aware, data downloaded to local devices can lead to loss of control and gaps in the audit trail, and complex IAM configurations increase the risk of misconfigurations.

Access Through Enterprise Applications

Many organizations avoid exposing raw cloud storage directly, instead accessing it through applications such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace (e.g., SharePoint, Drive), collaboration platforms like Teams, Slack, or Salesforce, and virtual desktop environments (VDI) with mapped drives. This approach can create challenges including data sprawl across multiple SaaS and PaaS environments, shadow data that reduces visibility for governance and compliance, and limited integration with on-premises storage and legacy systems.

Secure Access Through Network Channels

Organizations often secure access to cloud storage through VPNs, private links, cloud gateways, or hybrid deployments connecting on-prem and hyperscaler data. However, these methods provide network-level rather than data-level control, offer limited visibility or logging at the file/object level, and can introduce high latency and complex setups, especially for remote or multi-cloud environments.

3. The Security and Compliance Gap

Although hyperscalers secure the underlying infrastructure, organizations remain responsible for access governance, controlling data movement, maintaining visibility and auditability of access and sharing, and ensuring compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or financial standards. Traditional access methods—portals, sync clients, VPNs, and collaboration apps—leave a data-layer gap, limiting control and visibility over sensitive information.

4. How Modern Organizations Are Addressing It

To bridge the data-layer gap, many enterprises adopt Zero Trust Data Access (ZTDA) platforms like FileFlex Enterprise for file-level, identity-based access to unstructured hyperscaler data without moving or duplicating it, alongside Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) tools for classification, risk detection, and policy enforcement.

How FileFlex Complements Hyperscaler Security

Diagram 1

How FileFlex Enterprise Complements Hyperscaler Security

1. Builds on the Hyperscaler’s Strengths

Hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are world-class at securing the cloud infrastructure — the servers, virtualization layers, and networking fabric.
However, under the shared responsibility model, customers must still secure their data, access, and usage.

FileFlex complements this model by extending Zero Trust security to the data layer.

2. Adds Data-Layer Zero Trust Controls

FileFlex applies the principles of Zero Trust Data Access (ZTDA) directly to files and folders stored in a hyperscaler.

Where hyperscalers secure “the cloud,” FileFlex secures “the data in the cloud.”

3. Eliminates the Need to Move or Duplicate Data

FileFlex connects directly to storage services (e.g., Azure Files, AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage) in place — without syncing, replicating, or migrating data to a third-party cloud.

This means:

• • • Data remains under the customer’s sovereign control and existing hyperscaler protections.
    • Access and sharing occur through virtualized, encrypted streams — no cached copies, no VPNs, no data sprawl.
    • Compliance and auditability are maintained, even across hybrid or multi-cloud environments.

4. Strengthens Identity and Access Control

FileFlex integrates with the customer’s existing IAM system (Azure AD, Okta, etc.) to apply least-privilege, identity-verified access to unstructured data.

Capabilities include:

• • • Role-based, attribute-based, or context-based policies.
    • Continuous authentication and authorization for every file operation.
    • Time-bound and revocable sharing links (no open URLs or uncontrolled links).
    • Full audit trail of all activity (who accessed, what, when, from where).

5. Provides Unified Data Visibility Across Clouds

Most enterprises use more than one hyperscaler — or combine cloud with on-prem storage.

FileFlex provides a single pane of glass to:

• • • Discover and access unstructured data across AWS, Azure, GCP, and on-prem.
    • Apply consistent Zero Trust policies across all environments.
    • Maintain governance and compliance continuity in hybrid and multi-cloud architectures.

How FileFlex Enables Hyperscaler Secure Access, Sharing, and Collaboration

1. Secure Access

• • • Access is provided at the file-level, not the network-level.
    • All communications are point-to-point encrypted with double encryption (PKI + TLS).
    • No VPNs or inbound ports are required.
    • Every user request is authorized by policy and validated by identity.

2. Secure Sharing

• • • Files can be shared with internal or external users without copying or emailing data.
    • Sharing occurs through virtualized access, where recipients stream or interact with data remotely under policy control.
    • Permissions can be revoked instantly, and all actions are logged.

3. Secure Collaboration

• • • Teams can collaborate on files stored in hyperscaler storage without moving them to SaaS tools or unmanaged endpoints.
    • Version control and audit logging preserve data integrity.
    • FileFlex integrates with productivity ecosystems (e.g., Microsoft 365) to maintain seamless workflows while tightening data security.

Conclusion: Closing the Data Security Gap in the Cloud

As cloud adoption grows, hyperscalers provide world-class infrastructure security, but organizations still face critical responsibilities at the data layer—managing access, sharing, collaboration, and compliance for unstructured data. Solutions like FileFlex Enterprise complement hyperscaler protections by applying Zero Trust principles directly to files and folders, enabling secure, policy-driven access without moving or duplicating data. By bridging the gap between infrastructure-level security and data-level control, enterprises can maintain governance, reduce risk, and empower teams to collaborate safely across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

For further reading see From VPN Risk to Zero Trust Security: A Smarter Approach to Remote Access, How to Build a Complete Zero Trust Security Framework, and How to Make Your Hybrid-IT and Infrastructure-as-a-Service Environment Easier for Your Users.

*Gartner