For most enterprises, cloud computing holds the key to future growth. Reducing IT costs, improving time to market and employee productivity are just some of the proven benefits of making the move into the cloud.
But organizations are taking their time to adapt to the new technology. In a recent Tech Republic survey of IT professionals, respondents reported the biggest obstacles to cloud adoption were lack of skills and migrating from legacy infrastructure. Their third biggest concern was security.
Security
They’re right to be concerned about security. Cloud computing opens up new surfaces for attack which are only compounded by the other issues identified by the survey: lack of skills and platform migration. All this makes it easy to understand why companies can be reluctant to make the leap. But understanding risk is how we overcome it. You’ll find more information about all these types of risk and how to prevent them online.Doing so can ensure you are protected 24/7 while you are using the cloud,which will put your mind at ease.
Insider threat
The cloud may well boost productivity, but increased file sharing means a lot of people can access sensitive information. In a big corporation, what’s stopping a privileged cloud user (i.e. those with administrative status) from going rogue and downloading sensitive financial projections and using these to facilitate inside trading? Not much.
A more likely threat still is the presence of shadow IT, where elements of cloud computing are being rolled out without central oversight from the IT team. Without security expertise, this can leave organizations with limited cloud functionality very exposed to cyberthreats.
The best cloud software will have monitoring algorithms that detect unusual activity such as someone opening a file that’s outside of their departmental remit, prompting authentication from another system admin.
Data leakage
Sensitive data sets is increasingly finding its way onto the cloud. Indeed, up to a fifth of all cloud files contain intellectual property or other important private information. If these fall into the hands of cybercriminals, you could be at risk of breaching certain U.S. compliance regulations such as HIPAA, which prevents the transmission of people’s health data.
If this happens, you may be forced to notify customers if this is the case, opening yourself up to regulatory fines and file lawsuits. Equally, you could see yourself on the wrong end of a contractual breach if a confidentiality agreement made its way into a publicly accessible place.
At the moment, big data breaches seem to take place every week, costing companies millions of dollars every year to put right. While nothing can ever be completely safe in the commons of the cloud, a CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) will go a long way towards preventing data from seeping out of your network and going somewhere it doesn’t belong. You can find out more about how a CASB can help you on McAfee.com. In the age of BYOD, this cloud-hosted software is a vital component to keep everyone safe online.
Any security hiccups will likely attract significant media coverage and damage your business’ reputation. If your vulnerabilities as an organization are exposed, this will reduce your credibility in their eyes, and will influence how they view you, your products and your services.
Above all, security breaches can have a tangible impact on your bottom line, eating into your revenues and shrinking your customer base. That’s why it’s vital to spend time and money on implementing a watertight security solution to protect your information and regulate your network.
