Posted on June 21, 2021
Cloud
Are you improving your business data security? Cloud protection is one of the most desirable solutions to address this need. In a recent survey, 52% of queried organizations say they experienced better security in the cloud. It’s better compared to on-site IT environments.
Availing of these services carries other perks that take your business to the next level, and read on and learn the importance of cloud security.
Cloud security is part of cloud computing technology. Cloud computing delivers hosted services using the internet. It involves hardware, software, and storage technologies.
Various factors like scalability made cloud computing ubiquitous among organizations. It’s often a major component of a hybrid or multi-cloud architecture.
As a component, cloud security encompasses various technologies, controls, policies, and services protecting cloud services from various threats. It involves data, applications, and other infrastructures.
Securing the cloud is a responsibility shared by both customers and cloud providers. The responsibilities can vary, depending on the party involved in fulfilling them. Here are three basic categories:
Security responsibilities exclusive to the provider include safeguarding the cloud infrastructure. It means securing access, patching, and physical hosts and network configurations. It ensures the safety of resources and storage.
Security responsibilities exclusive to customers include managing authorized users and privileges. As a cloud service customer, you must secure your cloud accounts from wayward access. Encrypt and protect your data assets in the cloud while complying with security measures.
These responsibilities depend on the service model used for the service. Whether it’s IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS, the roles can change. Think about your needs and work with your chosen agency.
Investing in cloud security confers lots of benefits to your organization. It’s better to prepare for various cloud protection predictions through these services. Check out these advantages:
The average total cost of data breaches is $3.86 million each year. American companies suffer more since they pay twice the price. It’s because it takes them 280 days to identify and contain breaches.
Securing your data on the cloud is a must because you have no total control. Entrusting your applications to the public or hybrid cloud means trusting a third-party provider. Avoid future grief and stay updated.
Always ensure that your cloud provider knows their responsibilities. It’s their interest to give top security for a long while. Otherwise, they’ll lose you as their customer.
However, do your part and go the extra mile with your security practices. It’s your share of responsibilities.
Using cloud computing makes your company data accessible to employees. Various important applications are accessible regardless of their location in the world. It makes work arrangements more flexible since you can hire people worldwide.
However, this arrangement can result in security breaches. Some employees might not adopt the best practices for cybersecurity, and for example, they might use public WiFi while working in coffee shops.
Doing this practice is risky since public WiFi networks often lack security. Worse, they might use laptops and phones to do their tasks. It makes them more likely to suffer from phishing and malware attacks.
More malware variants appear every year, making them real threats. If these enter your company’s system, the damage is difficult to contain. Prevent it from happening and invest in more cloud security features.
Business continuity planning is all about having a disaster recovery plan. A catastrophe can happen at any time, regardless of whether it’s natural or manmade. Fires, floods, and social unrest can compromise your data.
If you don’t secure your data, these disasters can wipe everything out. Your company can face a total standstill, unable to recover for a long while. It’s the last thing your customers want, meaning you’ll lose their confidence immediately.
Without customer trust, your business will likely fail soon. Never let anything bring your company down. Secure your data in the cloud and educate yourself with public cloud security.
HIPAA and GDPR are data protection standards you must follow. Take it seriously or risk various penalties. Possible fines and lawsuits can cause your business too close for good.
These standards help preserve customer data integrity and security. If something compromises your customer data on the cloud, your company is liable. You can’t pass the responsibility to your cloud service provider.
Some industries have stricter guidelines than others. These include:
The importance of cloud security is paramount in these industries due to the risks. A data breach damages your brand and reputation. However, it’s nothing next to your legal accountability.
Lots of organizations with unsecured cloud storage leak data accidentally. It compromises their business’s integrity and allows their competition to gain an edge. Some companies have no malicious intent behind the leak.
Sometimes, these organizations have poor security practices. It’s why cloud security must enforce access controls on all employees. The system limits access to data to only concerned individuals.
Having this feature makes it more difficult for hackers to get in. At the same time, it prevents human errors that cause data leaks to happen.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks happen more nowadays. It’s a rising problem for a lot of retail businesses. Amplification attacks use vulnerable systems to send huge chunks of traffic to the cloud.
DDoS attacks overwhelm your servers to deny legitimate users from receiving services. Once successful, it can render your system useless for hours or days. It makes your company lose revenue, brand authority, and customer trust.
Having great cloud security helps track, identify, and analyze attacks. It identifies incoming DDoS attempts and alerts your company. It allows your IT department to respond before the attack succeeds.
After neutralizing the threat, your cloud security will give a post-attack analysis. It allows you to identify some weak points in your system. With that, you can improve your strategy to prepare for future attacks.
Web assets must stay on, whether they’re business applications or websites. If you invest in a security solution, you’ll have real-time support all the time. It includes live tracking and other security measures.
If you opt for cloud security, you’ll prevent downtime from happening. It increases your company’s productivity and bottom line.
The IT industry considers cloud security a significant concern. Most organizations embrace cloud computing but remain skeptical about information privacy and security. Here are some tips to optimize your cloud security:
Most data breaches happen because of cloud storage. Misconfigured cloud services often cause these disasters. For example, some banks had data breaches because of a firewall misconfiguration.
Here are some common areas where misconfigurations happen:
These happen because of improper cloud asset setup, making vulnerabilities. As organizational leaders, explore the right strategies to secure your cloud-based data and applications.
You can set your cloud security solution to track any intrusion into your system or environment. Be proactive since it helps predict potential problems. It arms your organization with the right solutions before they happen.
Intrusion detection strategies help uncover misuse and anomalies in the cloud environment. Using techniques like kernel debugging or IDs can help. Once detected, cloud security solutions alert data administrators to help minimize damage.
Micro-segmentation is gaining more popularity as a method of cloud security optimization. It uses virtual networks like LAN or VLAN to break large networks into smaller components. They’re easier to manage since it breaks the workload, applications, and operating systems.
You can configure these and secure them on the cloud. It’s what makes micro-segmentation the future of cloud security. Malware infections will have a harder time infecting your entire network since each segment has secure boundaries.
If an infection happens in a system component, the security solution detects it. It prevents the malware from compromising other network sections.
These security policies increase productivity by securing your cloud from breaches. It offers secure cloud accounts and secured groups. It also offers free security updates and uses firewalls to restrict access.
Real-time tracking of end-user activities can detect anomalies. These irregularities stray from normal usage patterns. For example, logging from unknown devices or IP addresses.
These abnormal activities are often symptoms of system breaches. Catching them early allows you to stop them before they cause chaos. Opt for 24/7 network tracking and management to accomplish this task.
These are some considerations for cloud protection. If you’re unsure, think about these benefits and strategies. It will push you to adopt some best practices to secure precious company data.
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