Most businesses, regardless of size, understand the potential value of the cloud. We have moved beyond the initial skepticism phase when technology decision makers questioned whether cloud services would significantly impact enterprise operations. Large-scale implementation is currently underway and has been going on for years.
Why not? The benefits of the cloud are clear. Access cloud-hosted applications and services from anywhere, store and retrieve data and content regardless of physical data center limitations such as capacity or aging hardware, and adapt your infrastructure to meet the changing needs of your business. The ability to flexibly grow or shrink structures is invaluable. As a complementary part of your overall IT strategy, the cloud can undoubtedly accelerate your company's growth and help you achieve your goals and desired business outcomes.
Unfortunately, danger still lurks in the clouds for the unwary. All the characteristics that make the cloud so convenient and efficient, such as ease of access and decentralization of IT services and data, create the very conditions that create risk in the form of security breaches. As more enterprises adopt public cloud resources and hybrid cloud infrastructure (rather than traditional on-premises IT infrastructure) and begin to push more workloads and data, especially sensitive data, into these environments, A steadily increasing number of companies are experiencing problems such as: Cloud security breach. The reality for all cloud-enabled companies is that cybersecurity incidents will eventually occur. It's just a matter of when that happens.
Vice President of OpenDrives Products.
inevitable security breach
It's sobering to think that businesses will inevitably experience security breaches, whether through inadvertent inadvertence or the concentrated efforts of attackers. The many issues that arise from such a situation include legal repercussions, possible government sanctions, and undoubtedly damage to brand reputation. Most sources agree that a single security breach can cost an organization millions of dollars in wasted money, which can lead to loss of focus and customer base, many of which Not to mention the fact that it is alarming that someone may have personally identifiable information (PII) somewhere in their database. Ecosystem).
You might have the impression that all your cloud data is very secure no matter what, especially if you're using a public cloud service that claims strong security measures. Reconsider your confidence and complacency in your cloud security posture. The potential problems are wide-ranging. Most security measures in cloud environments must be consciously deployed and properly configured. Well-trained (and expensive) professionals must remain vigilant and regularly monitor cloud environments. And to thwart the efforts of hackers who use social engineering tricks as well as technical acumen to find cracks in the armor, the entire organization must participate in a culture of secure cyber operations.
Don't get me wrong. This is not a scare tactic that will make you lose confidence in moving to the cloud. Quite the opposite! With proper planning and intentional and continuous vigilance within your organization, you can trust cloud-based IT infrastructure and cloud data services with confidence. And know that you are not fighting alone.
Leading web service providers, like any organization, have a deep understanding of issues and threats, and they strive to stay one step ahead of malicious actors. As automation in the form of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) becomes mainstream, these companies are blending next-generation machine intelligence with standard cloud-based operations and workloads to help their customers. detecting anomalies and potential threats to customers. , without your direct intervention.
Take cybersecurity issues seriously
One way to find out how seriously major cloud providers take cybersecurity issues is to look at the types of intellectual property patents they file. For example, a patent filed by a subsidiary of Microsoft details how machine intelligence can automatically monitor API transactions and detect anomalous requests in the form of mismatched cloud providers. This may indicate an increasing intentional threat. The patent details the use of automated machine intelligence to monitor and detect these types of situations at scale, as well as mitigation and remediation efforts in the form of data sharing between collaborative cloud providers. I am. Perfect measures!
These evolving technologies will help cloud service providers and their customers move closer to a zero trust regime. In a zero trust regime, requests and transactions are not considered legitimate and multiple challenges are enforced before granting access to data or services to avoid implicit security risks. trust. Obviously, such operations occur at the service provider level and do not necessarily require the intervention of the customer or its employees. However, that doesn't mean you have to rely solely on how your cloud service provider implements it to keep your IT infrastructure (and all of your potentially sensitive data) secure.
By making a deliberate effort to increase your organization's cybersecurity awareness, you can increase your chances of slowing down the inevitable that I argued earlier in this article. These tactics may seem simple, but they go a long way in closing potential security holes and are the most common tactics cloud service providers are implementing to keep you and all other customers safe. Definitely complements deaf technology.
Don't become complacent by relying solely on traditional perimeter security such as firewalls, perimeter monitoring, and intrusion detection. Cloud environments are incredibly distributed, making it difficult to even know the extent of your boundaries.
Data-centric security
Consider more data-centric security, such as format-preserving encryption and tokenization, especially when storing PII or other sensitive information. Today, data is rarely stored, so you need data security that can travel with your data.
If your organization is adopting DevOps, be sure to include Sec there to form DevSecOps. Data security should not be an overlay once most of the development is complete. Move security into the planning stages to ensure it's built in.
Encourage a culture of security among all employees. Never forget that the attacker only needs to make one oversight. Talk about a time when you almost fell for a social engineering trick, and save the lessons you learned for everyone to see.
Prioritizing data security, integrating DevSecOps practices, and fostering a security-conscious culture among employees are critical steps to protecting sensitive information in today's dynamic digital environment. By being proactive about security at every step, organizations can reduce risk and maintain the integrity of their data assets and reputation in the face of evolving cyber threats. So, remember that prevention is always better than cure when it comes to data security.
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