By Adir Cohen is CEO of CaaB (Cloud as a Business)
Recent statistics show that enterprises are of two minds regarding the cloud. According to data from Cisco, 90 percent of organizations are already on the cloud, with cloud data centers expected to handle 94 percent of workloads by 2021.
However, privacy and security remain the top obstacles for companies wishing to adopt or expand further into the cloud; thanks to myriad cloud security myths, nine out of 10 cybersecurity professionals say they still have concerns.
In reality, when it comes to data security, cloud beats on-premise hands down.
Cloud removes a critical vulnerability
Many organizations like the way you can always physically access your on-premise data center. Physical access comes with a major vulnerability – malicious-minded employees or other personnel who can easily compromise or steal data – something that’s more difficult to do with the can’t-see, can’t-touch cloud. In fact, most of the large-scale data breaches that have occurred recently happened on the watch of traditional on-premise setups. In 2018, the shipping giant Maersk had to replace its entire on-premise IT infrastructure in 10 days due to a Not Petya ransomware attack. More recently, Airbus had an attack on its systems via its VPN. In September, Linux servers around the world were struck with the Lilocked ransomware
Cloud enables monitoring without needing to hire staff
The myth that sending your data to the inaccessible cloud means you can no longer know if or when intrusion has occurred – including the type and source of breach and what the attacker was trying to access – is just that, a myth. Cloud security is your and your cloud provider’s joint responsibility, so choose a top-notch provider who can effectively monitor and respond to threats. Also, you no longer have to pay for IT staff charged to do these very tasks.
Cloud provides technological power
Building on-premises security is not easy – or inexpensive. To avoid distraction from your core operations, you’ll always need a strong, experienced cybersecurity team to protect your data in-house. Partner with a cloud provider, and automatically gain additional technical expertise. After all, the provider’s success and reputation ride on its ability to secure your data in the cloud.
Cloud protects data from disaster
Just because you make multiple backups of your data doesn’t mean you can easily retrieve it and get your systems up and running in case natural or manmade disasters occur, not without suffering extensive downtime. Back up your data with a public cloud provider to ensure quick data recovery and business continuity.
Cloud can stay ahead of the hackers
Because cloud technology is on demand, it is also flexible, growing as your company collects more information. Cloud is proactive with automatic updates that can mitigate new and changing threats.
Cloud cuts costs
Why pay the full costs of your own on-premises data center? Partnering with a cloud services provider eliminates the expenses of all the components you need to build and maintain your own, including hardware, software, backup services, HVAC systems, web access, electricity, and employees.
Cloud provides total visibility
Cloud has significantly reduced the threat of “blind spots” through advances in software-defined networking, which provides the organization’s IT staff with across-the-network visibility to see where its data actually is in the cloud and thus improve its overall cybersecurity strength and speed up incident response.
Take cloud security to the next level
While cloud security is superior to on-premise, security is not the sole responsibility of the cloud provider but is to be shared with the organization, whose IT security team needs to be ultimately answerable for the security of the data stored in the cloud. Be proactive in protecting your data by taking these steps:
- Use two-factor authentication so that only authorized employees can access your cloud apps and see sensitive information
- Establish strict authorization levels on need-to-know basis so that each staff member can only access the data necessary to do the job
- Regularly check user activities to pinpoint usage that don’t follow normal patterns
- Make sure to remove access to your cloud app from employees who leave the company to prevent IP theft and other unwanted consequences
- Encrypt any data you store in the cloud to restrict access only to authorized users and prevent threat actors from accessing it
- Back up your data — in addition to cloud provider-provided backups — so you don’t run the risk of your information being deleted in case of a breach in your cloud system
- Make use of the cloud’s security advantages – from cloud automation for fewer human mistakes to identity access management to prevent unauthorized logins
- Choose a cloud provider with ironclad security policies
MSPs, serve your clients better by partnering with the right IaaS provider
Seek a cloud partner that enables you to:
- Migrate your own security appliances, products and services on-premise to our cloud without making IP address changes or other alterations
- Easily integrate with its systems – even if the vendor isn’t cloud-based – and run all products on its infrastructure
- Get security as a service on a monthly basis – and do all these on its infrastructure and layer II networking, the most secure layer there is
Everyone seeks security, but organizations can put all their sensitive information on-premise under lock and key, spend thousands on security software, cybersecurity experts, real-time monitoring systems, and still not be secure. The power of the cloud is that the infrastructure provider has already taken care of the primary layers of security, and the organization provides the reinforcement.
Adir Cohen is CEO of CaaB (Cloud as a Business), a cloud-solution provider allowing any MSP, VAR, or hosting company to deliver white-labeled cloud offerings to their customers within a day.
