An independent auditor report is a method that can be used by a cloud service provider (CSP) with a cloud customer that does not want to share security and control information. An independent auditor report is a document that provides assurance on the CSP's security and control environment, based on an audit conducted by a qualified third-party auditor. The audit can be based on various standards or frameworks, such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, CSA STAR, etc. The independent auditor report can provide the cloud customer with the necessary information to evaluate the CSP's security and control posture, without disclosing sensitive or proprietary details. The CSP can also use the independent auditor report to demonstrate compliance with relevant regulations or contractual obligations.
Reference:
ISACA, Certificate of Cloud Auditing Knowledge (CCAK) Study Guide, 2021, p. 83-84.
ISACA, Cloud Computing Audit Program, 2019, p. 6-7.

When establishing cloud governance, an organization should first test by migrating a few applications to the cloud. Cloud governance is the process of defining and implementing policies, procedures, standards, and controls to ensure the effective, efficient, secure, and compliant use of cloud services. Cloud governance requires a clear understanding of the roles, responsibilities, expectations, and objectives of both the cloud service provider and the cloud customer, as well as the alignment of the cloud strategy with the business strategy. Cloud governance also involves monitoring, measuring, and reporting on the performance, availability, security, compliance, and cost of cloud services.
Migrating a few applications to the cloud can help an organization to test and validate its cloud governance approach before scaling up to more complex or critical applications. Migrating a few applications can also help an organization to:
Identify and prioritize the business requirements, risks, and benefits of moving to the cloud.
Assess the readiness, suitability, and compatibility of the applications for the cloud.
Choose the appropriate cloud service model (such as SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS) and deployment model (such as public, private, hybrid, or multi-cloud) for each application.
Define and implement the necessary security, compliance, privacy, and data protection measures for each application.
Establish and enforce the roles and responsibilities of the cloud governance team and other stakeholders involved in the migration process.
Develop and execute a migration plan that includes testing, validation, verification, and rollback procedures for each application.
Monitor and measure the performance, availability, security, compliance, and cost of each application in the cloud.
Collect feedback and lessons learned from the migration process and use them to improve the cloud governance approach.
Migrating a few applications to the cloud can also help an organization to avoid some common pitfalls and challenges of cloud migration, such as:
Migrating legacy or incompatible applications that require significant re-engineering or refactoring to work in the cloud.
Migrating all applications at once without proper planning, testing, or governance, which can result in operational disruptions, data loss, security breaches, or compliance violations.
Migrating complex or critical applications without adequate testing or governance, which can increase the risk of failure or downtime.
Migrating applications without considering the impact on the end-users or customers, who may experience changes in functionality, performance, usability, or accessibility.
Therefore, migrating a few applications to the cloud is a recommended best practice for establishing cloud governance. It can help an organization to gain experience and confidence in using cloud services while ensuring that its cloud governance approach is effective, efficient, secure, and compliant.
Reference:
Migration environment planning checklist - Cloud Adoption Framework
Cloud Governance: What You Need To Know - Forbes
Cloud Governance: A Comprehensive Guide - BMC Blogs

Visibility to the source code within build scripts would give an auditor the best view of design and implementation decisions when an organization uses programmatic automation for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) deployments. IaaS is a cloud service model that provides virtualized computing resources, such as servers, storage, network, and operating systems, over the internet. Programmatic automation is the process of using code or scripts to automate the provisioning, configuration, management, and monitoring of the cloud infrastructure. Build scripts are files that contain commands or instructions to create or modify the cloud infrastructure according to the desired specifications.12 An auditor can use the source code within build scripts to gain insight into how the organization designs and implements its cloud infrastructure. The source code can reveal the following information3:
The type, size, and number of cloud resources that are provisioned and deployed The configuration settings and parameters that are applied to the cloud resources The security controls and policies that are enforced on the cloud resources The dependencies and relationships between the cloud resources The testing and validation methods that are used to verify the functionality and performance of the cloud resources The logging and auditing mechanisms that are used to track and record the changes and activities on the cloud resources By reviewing the source code within build scripts, an auditor can evaluate whether the organization follows the best practices and standards for cloud infrastructure design and implementation, such as scalability, reliability, security, compliance, and efficiency. An auditor can also identify any gaps or risks in the organization's cloud infrastructure and provide recommendations for improvement.

A DDoS attack renders the customer's cloud inaccessible for 24 hours, resulting in millions in lost sales is an example of financial business impact. Financial business impact refers to the extent of damage or harm that a threat can cause to the financial objectives and performance of the organization, such as revenue, profit, cash flow, or market share. A DDoS attack can cause a significant financial business impact by disrupting the normal operations and transactions of the organization, leading to loss of sales, customers, contracts, or opportunities. According to a report by Kaspersky, the average cost of a DDoS attack for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) was $123,000 in 2019, while for enterprises it was $2.3 million.1 Therefore, it is important for organizations to implement appropriate security measures and contingency plans to prevent or mitigate the effects of a DDoS attack. Reference := The Future of Finance and the Global Economy: Facing Global ... - IMF2; Kaspersky: Cost of a DDoS Attack1