From increasing speed to expanding reach, cloud-based products & services empower businesses in every industry. For instance, a real-estate developer can deploy advanced project management systems on the cloud to increase operational efficiency and save labor overheads. Similarly, a manufacturing business can adopt IoT-based machinery and manage operations from a cloud-based application.
Be that as it may, there is one thing about the cloud that makes CIOs, CSOs, CISOs, networking administrators, and even the professionals nervous, which is cloud security.
What is cloud security?
Cloud security entails protecting and ensuring the integrity of cloud-based IT infrastructure. It includes authentication (user & device), access control, data transmission privacy, and regulatory compliance.
Depending on the type of cloud (public, private, and hybrid), cloud security professionals guide businesses to build a secure working environment and safeguard sensitive information.
Why is cloud security important?
Simply put, your business depends on the cloud and hence its security is essentially the security of your business. Cloud security is a top priority, whether you are a bank with the core application on the cloud, a real-estate developer using cloud-based project management, or a manufacturer with an automated facility. It protects your company from Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, malware, hackers, and unauthorized access to company data.
Businesses store confidential information such as customer financial details, intellectual property, and sales records, which could cause irreparable damage if leaked. Therefore, it is essential to employ the most stringent cloud security measures.
Cloud security benefits
Cloud computing offers many benefits like
- Enhanced ability to deploy business apps
- Improved accessibility
- Effective collaboration
- Easier content management
Cloud-based IT can scale with the business almost instantly. However, with these benefits comes the vulnerability of business data. To counter this vulnerability, cloud security offers a range of features. Let’s take a look at these in detail.
1. Increased Reliability and Availability
The problem with cloud computing is the increased exposure of business information on the internet. However, cloud security mitigates this risk by deploying data encryption and secure transfer channels, increasing the reliability of business applications. Features such as access control ensure that only authorized personnel can access data on your business cloud.
2. Improved DDoS Protection Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a nightmare of any cloud computing setup. The idea is to overload your cloud servers and cause a system crash exposing your business to a possible data breach. Cloud security mitigates that risk by IAM, monitoring the user inflow, and dispersing them in case of a sudden increase.
3. Lower Upfront Costs
Just like cloud computing, cloud security reduces the upfront costs significantly. Organizations do not need to invest in continuously upgrading heavy-duty security hardware to protect their IT infrastructure. Cloud Security Providers (CSP) proactively assess your security needs and deploy additional security if required. Businesses do not need to buy other hardware to ramp up their security.
4. Reduced Ongoing Operational and Administrative Expenses
Cloud security eliminates the need for ongoing operational and administrative expenses, and a CSP replaces the need for network security and organizational workforce to provide manual upgrades and configurations. Instead of conducting team meetings to assess the readiness of your security, you only need to contact your CSP and get a detailed report.
5. Centralized Security
Earlier it took days, maybe even months, to find the source of a data breach. But in today’s age of cloud security, it takes minutes to identify the origin of a security breach. It gives a centralized view of the security readiness of all the devices and users of your business applications.
6. Greater Ease of Scaling
If you were to increase the storage and computing capacity of conventional hardware IT infrastructure, it would entail a lot of meetings and discussions with OEMs about the security of the additional capacity. However, you can complete this task in just a few conversations with cloud computing and security professionals. Cloud security offers ease of scaling without a significant investment of time and money.
The benefits of cloud computing far outweigh the risks. In 2020, only 20% of cloud-based businesses saw a security breach. Of course, a lot of this relative safety can be attributed to increased adoption of cloud security. Just like the breaches more often than not were traced back to violation of the same security protocols.
Let’s look at a few additional cloud security methods which make it an ideal candidate for business applications and information management systems.
Zero Trust Security Strategy
A popular topic in cloud security is the Zero Trust Security strategy. Zero Trust is a cloud security framework that makes it necessary for all users to regularly authenticate and check for security postures before allowing access to business applications. It gives secure access to remote workers and protects against any ransomware threats to your organization.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
SIEM adds another layer to your cloud security. It combines security information management and event management functions under one umbrella and gives a bird’s eye view of your cloud security. The idea is to continuously log possible threats and provide real-time analysis of security alerts generated through business apps and networks.
The Importance of Balancing Security and User Experience
A crucial aspect of successful cloud security is its user-friendliness. Your security measures should not be so extreme that users cannot work in your cloud environment. Rigid cloud security invokes users to find a workaround to get their job done, ultimately leaving your systems unsecured. When choosing a cloud security provider, you must assess the user-friendliness of security protocols. Experts believe that users are the weakest link of cloud-based IT. Therefore, ensure that your CSP has an end-user first mindset.
Tips to Select the Right Cloud Security Provider
Selecting a cloud security provider is a critical decision that can have a significant impact on your organization’s data protection and overall cybersecurity posture. Here are ten tips in an ordered way to help you make an informed choice:
- Assess Your Needs: Begin by understanding your specific security requirements. Identify the types of data and applications you’ll be moving to the cloud, as well as compliance and regulatory considerations.
- Research Providers: Thoroughly research different cloud security providers. Research to know about more about the company’s reputation. Seek recommendations from peers and industry experts.
- Compliance Expertise: Ensure the provider has expertise in compliance standards relevant to your industry, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or SOC 2, to ensure they can meet your compliance requirements.
- Data Encryption: Verify that the provider employs strong encryption methods for data in transit and at rest. Encryption is fundamental to protecting your sensitive information.
- Access Control: Look for robust access control mechanisms, including role-based access controls (RBAC) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to limit access to authorized users only.
- Incident Response: Inquire about their incident response plan and their track record in handling security incidents. A rapid and effective response is crucial in mitigating potential breaches.
- Security Monitoring: Ensure the provider has a robust monitoring and alerting system in place to detect and respond to suspicious activities and threats promptly.
- Data Backup and Recovery: Check their data backup and disaster recovery capabilities to ensure that your data is protected in case of unexpected events or data loss.
- Transparency and Reporting: Seek transparency in their security practices and request regular reports on security incidents, compliance audits, and performance metrics.
- Scalability and Future-Proofing: Consider how well the provider can scale with your organization’s growth and evolving security needs. Assess their ability to adapt to emerging threats and technologies.
By following these ordered tips, you can make a well-informed decision when selecting a cloud security provider that aligns with your organization’s security requirements and helps protect your digital assets effectively.
How Cloudlytics Enables Seamless Security and Compliance
At Cloudlytics, we are dedicated to finding the sweet spot of impeccable cloud security with minimum user difficulty. From compliance management, event analytics, AWS well-architecture reviewing to cloud system monitoring, we can help your business scale up your IT without compromising security and user efficiency. Let’s discuss your shift to the cloud and find the best possible solution for your cloud security.
