Cloud Sec Notes

This post is the companion to the inbound journey (client → backend). While the forward path focuses on request security and routing, the return emphasizes response optimization, caching, and identity preservation — with most action still at the edge. The return path mirrors the forward journey, but now the response is making its way out of Google Cloud toward the client. Each milestone plays a specific role in ensuring the response is secure, optimized, and delivered efficiently — just like an aircraft preparing for departure, navigating airspace, and landing at its destination. TL;DR:  1. Backend → Service Mesh → API Gateway/Layer (Optional) + Identity Layer (Optional) The response is created, validated, transformed, and cleared for departure (aircraft at gate → ground crew → departure checkpoint → identity clearance desk). 2. Premium Backbone The response travels across Google’s private, optimized global network (private high‑speed air corridor). 3. Load Balancer Edge → GFE → GF...

Securing cloud applications begins with understanding how request traffic moves through Google Cloud’s infrastructure. From the moment a request leaves the client machine to the moment it reaches backend services, every component along the path contributes to performance, resilience, and security. When I first explored this flow, I found myself overwhelmed by the number of services involved — and unsure which ones were essential, optional, or security‑critical. What happens at each hop? How do these services interact? And which layers truly matter when building a secure, compliant, and scalable cloud application in Google Cloud? This post breaks down those questions using a simple, intuitive analogy: an airport journey. In this model, the client request becomes a passenger navigating terminals, security checkpoints, and routing desks — eventually boarding the airplane (backend service) where your application runs. In the next post, I’ll flip the perspective and walk through the return ...