5 Things You Must Know About Cyber Security in the Cloud
At first cloud computing and cyber security look
like they are not related to each other. However, we can see that they are
related and the reason behind it is that the first requires storing your data
off-site and the second requires building virtual walls around it, protecting
your data at all costs. Cloud computing means outsourcing, trusting a vendor to
keep your data and transactions safe. Cyber security means keeping it all
close, trusting the staff, procedures and protocols to do the job. Check more
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Cloud Security is the new Cyber Security
With every passing year, the number of businesses migrating to the cloud increases–and the number of cyberattacks increases, as if keeping pace. By end of 2018, almost 96 percent of organizations started using cloud computing in some way, according to CIO.com. At the same time, cyberattacks were on the rise, with almost twice as many ransomware attacks in 2017 (160,000) as compared to the previous year (82,000). And those are only the reported attacks, nor do those numbers include data breaches or denial-of-service attacks. Obviously, as cloud computing becomes the norm, cloud security must as well.
Below are the five things one should know about cyber security that will help you understand it better.
- The organization is ultimately
responsible for the security of the data and transactions.
Cloud vendors know they must do their cyber-security part, but
in the end, if a customer’s data is compromised, it is the organization that
will have to answer to that customer or pay the fine. Similarly, if an
organization falls victim to a ransomware attack, it is the organization that
must pay the hacker. This means that just because you’re using cloud computing,
you can’t let your guard down. According to one source, two common causes of
data breaches in the cloud are misconfigured access restrictions on storage
resources and forgotten or improperly secured systems, both of which are the
responsibility of the organization, not the cloud vendor. You must still make
cyber security one of your highest priorities, ensuring you have trained staff
and that your staff stays current on the latest threats and predictions.
- Cloud vendors are working to
increase security and make it easier for businesses.
Cloud vendors have already invested enormous resources in their
own products’ security. When the major players include Amazon (Amazon Web
Services), Microsoft (Azure), and Google (Google Cloud Platform), you can be
rest assure that the security has been one of the highest priorities. And now
vendors have focused attention to help their customers improve security. For
example, as summarized in an article at Forbes.com, Google offers a
Cloud Security Command Centre that acts like a scanner to look for
vulnerabilities, and both Amazon and Microsoft have built applications and
infrastructures to help. If you’re in doubt about how well you’re securing
access and data on your end, approach your vendor for help.
- Cloud Computing could improve
Security.
Sometimes cloud computing offers a security solution. Small to
medium size businesses are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks such as
ransomware because they don’t have or haven’t spent the resources to improve
their cyber security. Moving to the cloud could improve their overall security,
because the cloud vendors—as described above—have some of the toughest security
in the IT space. In fact, some argue that moving data to the cloud is more
secure than keeping it on-site, although that can be hard for some IT managers
to accept, given their natural inclination to keep data where they have the
most perceived control over it.
- Cloud security is an even
bigger issue with GDPR.
In May of 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
became enforceable. Although it applies to residents of the European Union (EU)
and European Economic Area (EEA), it has far-reaching effects for organizations
all over the world because the citizens of these areas often do business with
entities outside of these areas. Post GDPR, those entities and organizations
must make sure their data practices comply. Although the best way to ensure
compliance is through legal counsel, in general, this means both the cloud
vendor and the cloud customer must follow data protection practices. For
businesses that use a multi-cloud solution, with more than one vendor, each
solution must also comply
- Cloud security is already
affected by the Internet of Things (IoT).
Despite all the progress made in securing cloud solutions, data
centres and network infrastructures, we are on the verge of undoing a lot of
that progress due to the Internet of Things (IoT). With the explosion of IoT
devices comes an explosion of security vulnerabilities, because these devices
often don’t have the level of security they should.
Conclusion
Cloud Computing is the future, there is no doubt about that, and cyber security will continue to be critical—there’s no doubt about that either. Taken together, one can see how cloud security is the next evolution in IT as the volume of data increases along with the risks, and regulations like GDPR make security enforceable while emerging IoT technologies undo it. It’s like a foggy forest with no clear path through it, at this point. So, stay on top of your cloud security by staying informed, ensuring you or your staff are educated, and continuing to have a healthy level of distrust, or, as a military friend likes to say, “Trust but verify”.
Cloud Computing is the future, there is no doubt about that, and cyber security will continue to be critical—there’s no doubt about that either. Taken together, one can see how cloud security is the next evolution in IT as the volume of data increases along with the risks, and regulations like GDPR make security enforceable while emerging IoT technologies undo it. It’s like a foggy forest with no clear path through it, at this point. So, stay on top of your cloud security by staying informed, ensuring you or your staff are educated, and continuing to have a healthy level of distrust, or, as a military friend likes to say, “Trust but verify”.
Original Source of Blog: https://www.jadeglobal.com/blog/5-things-you-must-know-about-cyber-security-in-the-cloud/
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