As more businesses migrate to the cloud, the need for good cloud security will only increase. Without it, hackers will find it much easier to breach company defenses. Jeremy Stevens is a tech writer who has spent half a decade working in the IT industry. He produces IT content for Power Consulting on a variety of topics, including security, cloud computing, and digital transformation. This article addresses some of the most common problems that businesses face with their cloud storage.
5 Reasons Why Cloud Security Is Essential For Your Business
Cloud storage
Cloud storage is an essential part of any business security plan, as it provides the same level of security as a computer’s hard drive. Employees can store all of their files in the cloud, preventing the risk of data loss or damage to their computers. Another benefit of cloud storage is that it allows team members to access prior versions of their files. Because it is accessible on the Internet, employees can use it to collaborate with other team members on a project or in their own personal life.
Security should be a primary concern, and data must not be vulnerable to outside attacks. Cloud storage requires strict security policies, and relying on a third party to store your files increases your attack surface. If malicious actors can gain access to your data, they can use your cloud storage partner’s failure to do so. Even worse, the storage provider could accidentally expose your files, causing a costly attack. Choosing the right cloud storage provider is critical for business security.
A good cloud storage provider will ensure that data is redundant, storing the same file in multiple physical locations. This ensures that your data survives equipment failures, natural disasters, or human error. It also ensures that all files are encrypted, so hackers cannot access them. While the migration of your files can be fairly straightforward, it is more challenging to migrate folder hierarchy and folder structure. Businesses should consider all of these factors to select the best cloud storage provider for their business needs.
When choosing a cloud storage provider, it’s essential to consider the size of your business. A small business may not require hundreds of gigabytes of data, but even larger enterprises will need to transfer several hundred gigabytes to cloud storage. If you’re unsure of what size you’ll need, consult with a trusted provider. Larger businesses can often negotiate a customized cloud storage deal with their provider.
Cyberattacks
Cloud computing is a great source of information, and hackers can compromise these services by intercepting data. However, a recent security breach at Salesforce has revealed that even its employee was a victim of a phishing scam. Cloud computing services have many different layers of security and a lapse in one can lead to a compromised account. This article explores some of the common cyber-attacks and solutions. By examining these types of attacks and their ramifications for business, we’ll look at the best ways to protect your cloud computing environment against them.
One of the most common attacks is called a distributed denial-of service attack. This attack overloads a cloud service until it is completely unavailable to its users. Additionally, cloud users must protect sensitive data stored on mobile devices or be careless with login credentials. Furthermore, data stored in cloud services may be subject to different regulations and privacy measures in other countries, so it’s essential to secure them accordingly. To protect against such attacks, you must consider all the ramifications of using cloud services in your business.
Because cloud systems are connected to shared technologies, cyber-attacks can impact many users. Hypervisor weaknesses, for example, allow hackers to gain access to virtual machines, or even the host. By infecting a single device, a hacker can compromise the entire network. As a result, cloud users must pay special attention to the security features of their cloud provider. A weak system may enable hackers to gain access to sensitive data, including customer information.
Another threat to cloud security is the hijacking of staff accounts. Often, employees have administrator accounts and access to sensitive information. These accounts can be easily exploited if the employees are not properly trained. This vulnerability is particularly severe when cloud services are used by employees. By training employees to be aware of these risks, businesses can mitigate these issues. There are a number of different ways to protect their data from this problem.
Lack of visibility
Lack of visibility in cloud security has become one of the top concerns for enterprises today. The cloud has become ubiquitous for enterprises and is used by most of them to support mission-critical applications. In fact, according to RightScale, 38 percent of enterprises are using public clouds and 41 percent are using private clouds to host their applications. However, organizations need to consider several things before entrusting their cloud environments to a third-party vendor.
Insufficient visibility can affect any aspect of a business, from network and application performance issues to security compromise. In fact, nearly half of pros say that lack of visibility has caused them to encounter a network and application performance issue. Furthermore, 99% of them report seeing a direct correlation between lack of visibility and business value. Several problems can be attributed to lack of visibility, including delayed application deployment, network outages, and inability to monitor workload performance.
Currently, there is no central way to monitor the security state of any cloud-based system, despite the fact that cloud-based systems have increased in popularity. In fact, only about a fifth of IT professionals has visibility into their data packets in public clouds. While this percentage is higher for private clouds, it remains an underwhelming number. In addition to this, only a third of respondents report having adequate visibility into cloud security.
A lack of visibility in cloud security has made it difficult for organizations to fully trust cloud-based systems and use them for business needs. A lack of visibility is the result of a lack of insight into the cloud-based resources and the lack of context to guide security investigations. Without visibility into cloud security, organizations will be unable to protect their intellectual property. The key to securing cloud data is preventing the lack of visibility.
Cost
While a data breach can be expensive, the cost of protecting your data with the cloud is considerably less. An average data breach can cost $3.86 million – or $148 per compromised record – in American companies. While the cost of data breaches can quickly spiral into the millions, thwarting such attacks is a smart investment that can reduce the risk of a data breach and protect your business’s reputation.
In the past, businesses would have to buy and maintain enough servers to support their maximum workloads, which might only be 10% of the time. With the cloud, however, businesses can leverage its elasticity to address these issues by turning on or off licenses as needed. They can also increase or decrease storage capacity and even spread their workloads across multiple data centers, which adds protection against disaster. When a business uses the cloud, it is much less expensive than maintaining a dedicated server.
Investing in cloud security can save your business a significant amount of money in the long run. Not only does cloud security prevent data breaches, but it can also keep your business operating at its optimal level. Among other benefits, cloud security will prevent DDoS attacks and ensure continuity of service. A good cloud security solution can detect synthetic traffic spikes and redirect them away from your network. A cloud security solution will also enable you to manage the cost of cybercrime, a major cost for any business.
The cost of cloud security isn’t cheap, but it is well worth it if your data is secure. Moving to the cloud is a cheaper, more convenient way to store data, but it also exposes sensitive data. Whether your business has a cloud server or a dedicated server, it will benefit from enhanced security. If not, moving to the cloud could cost your business more in the long run. So it is essential to choose a secure cloud service that offers these benefits.
Access control management
While many experts are of the opinion that cloud technology is secure, the security of access control management is not guaranteed. Cloud-based access control solutions are typically hosted on three remote servers for maximum reliability, security, and resilience. This means that data can be protected from unauthorized access while reducing cyber risks. However, access control management solutions are not as robust as traditional physical access control. To be secure, they must have the ability to detect unauthorized access, as well as prevent duplicated cards.
Access control management is critical for cloud security, and the future of access control management should include both physical and logical security. Physical access control is the management of permissions for a building or network, while logical access control manages access rights for files and usernames. Cloud access control solutions provide real-time alerts and fast access to restriction mechanisms. Recent access control breaches prove that cloud-based access control is essential for preventing security breaches.
In addition to being secure, hosted access control can reduce costs. Unlike an on-site system, hosted access control does not require a dedicated server and can be scaled up as needed. This frees up security personnel by eliminating the need for hardware servers, power, and rack space. Cloud access control systems also eliminate the need for specific software and high-spec computers. Further, hosted access control solutions can be scaled up to multiple locations.
While implementing access control is the most basic method to secure data and property, some organizations still find it difficult to implement it in their environments. They often resist change because of human nature. People typically tend to avoid changes because they prefer the convenience and fewer steps. This is not good enough when your security is at stake. A password is likely to be reused several times before it is reset. If you want your data and information to remain protected, access control management is critical for cloud security.
