With the rising spree of a gazillion terabytes of confidential data moving to the cloud, the concerns related to security have skyrocketed, as cyber attackers have become a real danger. Companies that are too clinging on cloud-based models are now susceptible to numerous cyber threats like never before.
Did you know, the cloud security market will be worth a whopping $8.9 billion by 2020? In the US market alone, the cumulative spending on cloud security is expected to reach around 1.93 billion by 2021. While cloud technology is proliferating at such an unmatched pace, security seems to be an obvious concern, and these statistics are yelping the same. How can you stay updated when you don’t know what’s happening in the industry? This is the point where the trends come into the picture.
Top Cloud Security Trends of 2021
Data breach, insecure APIs, insufficient identity and access management, system vulnerabilities, account hijacking, advanced persistent threats (APTs), inappropriate due diligence, malware, phishing attacks, etc., are a few of the major cloud security threats which will continue to pose a threat in 2020 too. We, at Zymr, have compiled a list of top six cloud security trends that can help you navigate your way through these ever-evolving cloud security challenges.
#1 Security-first Approach.
Security is an ongoing and continuous process, which aims at real-time assessment of risks and uncertainties. With a tremendous amount of data being generated by IoT devices, data loss prevention tools, and security information (security solutions) in industry 4.0; data breaches have become extremely mainstream. Thereupon organizations are opting for advanced analytics, strong access policies, and technologies to deal with these data breaches.
Breaches could have been paralyzed if organizations devise sophisticated access management strategies. It is often believed if access credentials at the lower level are compromised, this can put the security issues of the administrative level at stake. Today, the blockchain is widely used to tackle cybercrimes and it will undoubtedly act as a salvager against cloud security threats. As data is stored and managed in a decentralized manner in blockchain, it minimizes the occurrences of external threats. During the case of any data breach, the stakeholders in the blockchain network will automatically get notified.
#2 Threat Landscape.
Cybercriminals are taking advantage of a company’s social engineering flaws. Companies will share a greater sense of responsibility for maintaining security posture (of their data) over the cloud. According to Gartner, by 2023, a majority of security compromises over the cloud will be due to the negligence of companies, not the cloud providers.
Companies need to make sure the migration and implementation are on the right track, at the time of running secure workloads on the cloud. In IaaS and PaaS models, companies are responsible for maintaining endpoint security while in SaaS, there is a shared responsibility. APIs can be used to track the status of assets and get frequent updates. Also, companies should identify vulnerable hosts in the cloud environment.
#3 Vulnerability Management.
When it comes to vulnerability management, organizations that are resorting to cloud are at an advantageous position as compared to those who are still relying on on-premise servers. The cloud service providers like AWS, Azure, and, GCP, update their infrastructure regularly to ensure the first layer of security.
However, the catch is cloud is vulnerable to a multitude of security threats too. Be its cloud infrastructure, remote work logging, insider threats, misconfigured systems, distributed denial of service, IT and OT convergence, compromise in credentials, insufficient due diligence, insecure APIs, crypto-jacking, weak security measures, IoT devices or containers, and these are the challenges which can exacerbate the vulnerabilities. To identify risks, industry experts use automotive tools to make static and dynamic vulnerabilities assessments.
2020 will be the year where maintaining the security of microservices or containers will be a challenging task. The containers are getting a massive amount of traction in the cloud, considering the aspects of the developer’s convenience. These containers are an approach toward the virtualization of the operating system in cloud computing. As containerized apps can be easily managed and deployed by the developers, these container services can pose a threat to the organizations. Companies which are using containers need to brush-up their cyber hygiene practices.
#4 Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).
While the concept of bringing your own device (BYOD) and IoT at the workplace are flourishing, at the same pace, the associated complexities are thriving. These practices though bring convenience but are aggravating the security issues over the cloud. In the IoT landscape, layered security protection can safeguard your IT infrastructure by withstanding threats. Cybercriminals are also exploiting technologies like cloud computing, AI, machine learning, IoT, and mobility to hamper security.
(Read more on how to Enhance Defences, Minimize The Risk, Drive Innovation with Zymr Cybersecurity Services.)
#5 SecDevOps.
DevOps manifests the CI-CD model by bringing agility into the development teams where user requirements can be considered simultaneously during the production. As mentioned by Gartner, tools like cloud access security brokers (CASBs), cloud workload protection platforms (CWPPs), and cloud security posture management (CSPM) can reinforce cloud security capabilities. Companies also need to adopt a SecDevOps style by decently investing in its people and processes. SecDevOps indicate rugged DevOps and security at speed, Security needs to be inbuilt in DevOps. The cloud security landscape will experience a spike in SecDevOps in 2020.
#6 Regulations and Compliances.
Compliances are considered more in the ways of an obligation by the companies. However, the intent of regulatory bodies behind imposing those regulations is to ensure the safety of data. However, companies perceive them more like a burden. PCI DSS, HIPAA, HITECH, GLBA, SOX, GDPR, FISMA, ITAR, are a few of the compliance regulations which companies strongly need to adhere to. With automation tools, companies can adhere to compliances at speed and with scalability. Compliances though do not guarantee a completely secure environment, but without them, it is hard to stay protected. Companies have realized the importance of compliances still there is a long way to go. So, in 2020, companies will change their view-points and perceptions towards looking at compliances.
#Fortinet #CISO Phil Quade recently sat down with Cybersecurity Ventures to discuss requirements for #edgesecurity, #cloudsecurity, as well as IT and OT environments. Hear how Fortinet is working to secure these environments: https://t.co/rjQckODA2U
— FortiRusty (@RustyYo69677035) July 2, 2019
To sum it up, while cloud computing can drive your business growth, any compromise in cloud security can bring you down by million of dollars. Passwordless methods are gaining traction to ensure safety, as they are used with an intent to withstand cybercriminals, who try to hack passwords for accessing cloud-based apps. One single approach or technology won’t shield your cloud data, but a group of different technologies which complement one another surely can. Companies are investing heavily in cloud security personnel, i.e., towards skills, competencies, and governance tools. The role of a company’s own IT department is indispensable as security and privacy have always been two major roadblocks in the adoption of cloud. For instance, if we talk about the public cloud as a platform, it might be safe, but it is certainly a shared responsibility to keep it secure, as said by Peter Firstbrook.
Partner with Zymr and radically transform your security practices in the cloud environment. Our cloud security services can help your business to improve risks, enhances defenses, and innovate. From data security (Data-In-Motion, Data-At-Rest, Data-In-Use), network security (DPI, NFV, Cyber-Security) to application security (Access, API, Testing), we have done it all. Security is unquestionably a paramount criterion for us so you can rest assured, we have got your back!
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