As organizations expect to gain the value of cloud solutions for their businesses without being disrupted by security issues, they need to take more precautions to safeguard their cloud resources from cyberattacks in the early stages of their cloud migration. This requires building a robust cloud security strategy that adopts industry best practices and is adaptive to the ever-evolving threats.
The important role of cloud migration in generating business value
Cloud migration refers to the transfer of data sources to the cloud, which reduces the need for onsite infrastructure and operational administration. Here are the three most essential benefits of cloud migration for business growth:
- Adapting to market demands: Organizations can avoid installing and configuring new hardware and software by using the cloud's scalable computing power, data storage, and network connectivity. This will eliminate entry and exit barriers, improving business adaptability to changing market conditions.
- Efficient collaboration internally and externally: Organizations can improve communication with their suppliers and internal departments while spending less time and money. On the other hand, compared to traditional distribution methods, cloud-based systems provide greater supplier market penetration.
- Competitive Advantages: By increasingly outsourcing non-core activities to the cloud, organizations can devote more resources to tasks like product development, customer service, and long-term strategic planning. Therefore, they are better equipped to focus on business-critical areas while also enhancing the performance of their in-house technologies.
However, the increased use of the cloud comes with new concerns, particularly in terms of security. They need to emphasize the role of cybersecurity in their cloud strategy to protect their IT infrastructure and prepare for potential threats to the cloud as they go forward.
Cloud Security – a Piece of Puzzle in the Cloud Strategy
Cloud attacks can generate exponential damage and grow in radius. For instance, when credentials are compromised, the whole business and its clients are put at risk, not just the person who was specifically singled out.
Moreover, transitioning to the public cloud necessitates breaking away from the traditional methods of cybersecurity that companies have developed over the years. This is because such methods cannot guarantee secure cloud setup or work fast enough to take advantage of cloud computing's agility and speed. According to a report by Ponemon Institute in 2020, there were more than 33 billion records compromised in 2018 and 2019 due to organizations' failure to properly implement cloud security.
Undeniably, cloud security is important to the success of a cloud strategy for business. Therefore, organizations should not entirely rely on their cloud service providers to protect their data because they may not always be aware of internal system and data threats. Organizations instead, should assume responsibility for cloud security. Investing in best practices for cloud security can ensure they reap advantages beyond just enhanced security like compliance with data protection regulations and minimizing the after-breach effects with adequate recovery planning.
Key components of a cloud security strategy
Organizations’ cloud security strategy should be agile and dynamic as attack methods deployed by threat actors have become highly creative. This requires making considerations of the following components:
1. Automation
Due to the fast pace of cloud deployments and the constant need for adaptation, businesses cannot depend on human labor alone. Automation is an effective solution to improve security posture and stay in compliance with regulations while increasing visibility across their systems. Furthermore, organizations can automate numerous tasks that might otherwise overburden their personnel and systems. This minimizes the cost and supports more time for business-critical tasks.
2. Centralized Visibility of Cloud Infrastructure
It is critical to get and maintain detailed insight into all processes for data breach prevention. However, a lack of visibility into their cloud infrastructure is one of the biggest concerns for many organizations. Because of the cloud's flexibility, it's easy to launch brand-new workloads on demand, maybe to meet an unexpected influx in demand, and then to forget about them once the project is finished. Without centralized visibility into the cloud system, organizations cannot track the potential threats and take timely remedial actions on these flaws.
3. Plan Preventive Measures
Companies with large on-premises or hybrid environments usually worry about tool interoperability, as pre-cloud technologies often do not work in the cloud. Moreover, as cloud-based IT assets grow, new attack avenues emerge. Having a preventive strategy to graduate controls as needed can guard against new threat vectors before expanding into the cloud. This requires to "shift left," or include security measures earlier in the development process, in order to reduce the likelihood that exploitable flaws will be introduced into live cloud-based systems.
4. Secure Data Transfer
Data is vulnerable when being transferred to and kept on cloud servers. Although it is the norm for cloud service providers to encrypt data transfers, this is not always the case. Ensure that data is secured using SSL and sent via secure HTTP access. If organizations need assistance securing their cloud service with an SSL certificate, their corporate IT services provider should be able to assist them. Also, it's a good idea to have HTTPS Everywhere set up on any device that connects to the cloud.
While more organizations leverage cloud solutions for facilitating smooth cross-border operations and competitive advantages, they also recognize the significance of a comprehensive cyber security strategy to secure cloud-based data and assets from escalating cyber threats. To get security systems ready for cloud migration quickly while dealing with the complexities of cybersecurity, consider appointing a security expert to help develop a cloud security strategy aligned with your organization’s requirements.
Need help with identifying what is currently lacking in your cloud security strategy? Get in touch with Adnovum’s security experts to assess and align on the security practices uniquely addressing to your organization’s difficulties.
