Google LLC today announced that its Cloud IDS for network-based threat detection is now generally available.

Initially announced in July, the service, whose acronym refers to “intrusion detection system,” is designed as a cloud-native managed IDS offering Google’s vision of “Invisible Security.” Google Cloud IDS can be deployed by enterprises in just a few clicks in order to protect themselves against malware, spyware, command-and-control attacks and other network-based threats.

The problem Google Cloud IDS is addressing is that as more applications move to the cloud, cloud network security teams struggle to keep them secure against an ever-evolving threat landscape. Added to the mix, the ability to shield applications against network threats is also bound by regulatory compliance.

On the regulation side, effective intrusion detection is a requirement of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, known as PCI DSS 3.2.1. Although cloud network teams may build their own complex network threat detection solutions based on open source or third-party IDS components, Google argues that these bespoke solutions can be difficult and costly to operate. They often lack the scalability required to protect dynamic cloud applications.

Cloud IDS is built with threat detection technology from Palo Alto Networks Inc. The service provides high levels of security efficacy that enable customers to detect malicious activity with few false positives, according to the company.

Features of the service include service availability in all regions, including auto-scaling. They also include detection signatures automatically updating daily, support for customers’ HIPAA compliance requirements, ISO27001 certification, integration with Google’s security analytics platform Chronicle and managed network threat detection with full traffic visibility.

Cloud IDS is said to empower security teams to focus their resources on high-priority issues instead of designing and operating complex network threat detection solutions.

Customers already using Google Cloud IDS include Avaya Inc., Lytics Inc. and Medical Information Technology Inc.

Cloud IDS is now available in all regions. Pricing is based on a per-hour charge for the Cloud IDS endpoint and the amount of traffic inspected.

Image: Google