• Businesses undergoing digital transformation typically have problems migrating their security controls, policies, and practices from one environment to another.
• Instead of traditional network infrastructure teams, developers, SREs, business owners, and app managers build and run it.

The security landscape is changing swiftly due to the ever-evolving nature of cyber threats and the accompanying need for advanced solutions to counter them.

Identifying vulnerabilities and putting together enough countermeasures to defend your environment from potential threats is more important today than ever. To achieve this goal, it is essential to employ a state-of-the-art security program that emphasizes incremental progress and is supported by extensive knowledge and experience.

This blog will cover the five security challenges businesses face today and how they can overcome them.

What is cloud security?

Cloud security is a set of control-based technologies and policies that stick to regulatory compliances and protect data applications and cloud technology infrastructure. Because cloud resources are shared, cloud security is mainly concerned with identity management, privacy, and access control. So, the data in the cloud should be stored in an encrypted format.

As the number of organizations using cloud technology for data operations grows, ensuring security and other potentially vulnerable areas is a top priority for organizations contracting with cloud providers.

Cloud computing security handles the security controls in the cloud, ensures that customer data is safe and private, and complies with all the rules.

The five security challenges include:

A one-size-fits-all security solution does not exist:

Businesses undergoing digital transformation typically face problems migrating their security controls, policies, and practices from one environment to another. Most organizations utilize more than one cloud platform, and each forum has its own set of cloud-security tools that normally do not integrate with other platforms.

It might be challenging to develop multi-cloud systems with the correct security solutions to fulfill your security and compliance objectives. Much depends on the flexibility of the security tools considering the ever-evolving nature of your business’s needs and the ever-increasing complexity of cyber threats. Security solutions need to be rapid, adaptive, and stretchy. And most crucially, the security measures must be cloud appropriate. It’s crucial to realize that transferring your workload to the cloud introduces new dangers. New security measures can be deployed to secure apps and data.

No matter at which stage you are in your digital transformation journey and shifting workloads to the cloud, you may need various security tools, policies, and reaction strategies.

Application security is essential:

Applications make the modern cloud architecture world go round, but not prioritizing security initially can bring it to a screeching halt. Much like the cloud, even threats have grown dynamic in nature. Cloud isn’t infrastructure-centric anymore; it centers around the applications. Furthermore, instead of traditional network infrastructure teams, developers, SREs, business owners, and app managers build and run it. This is a significant leap from the slower-paced governance methods used by businesses. In today’s times, it’s all about automation, speed, and flexibility. Similarly, the security architecture needs to be more agile and adaptable. DevSecOps engineers can help you implement security into cloud-native apps without affecting the development speed from the outset.

Why? Since the cloud is centered around apps, there’s also a significant rise in app-related threats.

According to a recent Forrester survey, 33% of breaches were caused by external threats such as web application attacks, stolen credentials, and software exploits. Furthermore, Gartner predicts that cloud misconfigurations cause breaches, and 99% of cloud security problems will be the customer’s fault.

Talent shortage is a problem:

The security industry is faced with a huge talent shortage. Most firms lack the security expertise and skills to effectively secure their cloud and on-premises infrastructures. Without experienced cloud security professionals, enterprises would struggle to shift to the cloud and modernize their operating processes successfully.

According to Forrester, 43% of firms say competition for security talent makes it harder to acquire and retain workers. Intense competition for security personnel and strict compliance standards have driven many organizations to invest in services rather than pricey and hard-to-recruit security staff.

A reactive security approach is insufficient given the growth of ransomware:  

Given the pace of ransomware attacks, a reactive security policy is not enough. When it comes to security breaches, the question is not if you will encounter one but when. A single security breach may wreak havoc on your organization’s finances, halt productivity, and harm your reputation. Many IT teams are stuck in an endless cycle of “reactive mode,” which hinders their ability to plan proactively. Waiting until after a security event has occurred can be more expensive in the long term and will likely raise your vulnerability to future problems.

The global average cost of a data breach climbed from USD 3.9 million to USD 4.24 million during the past year (Ponemon, Cost of a Data Breach 2021). Your company may still be vulnerable even with a security incident response plan. Cybercriminals can proceed from the first intrusion to ransoming an entire network in less than 45 minutes (Microsoft Digital Defense Report, Sept 2020). This can even occur when multiple detection alerts are generated by security tools, such as endpoint detection and response products. This indicates that cybercriminals are aware of the challenges faced by modern IT departments’ in their inability to triage, contain, and respond to fast-paced attackers rapidly.

Security must evolve with infrastructure: 

New threats are growing, and many firms struggle to keep up with the threats and vulnerabilities. New attack strategies are sophisticated, integrating overlapping approaches to compromise a system, such as reconnaissance, credential harvesting, malware, and VPN exploits, to cite a few. Furthermore, bad actors are producing unique malware in addition to widely available dangerous codes for online criminal activity (Microsoft Digital Defense Report FY2020). Traditional approaches to security posture don’t work with cloud-first application delivery architectures.

The advantage of a cloud, such as Azure, is that it offers flexibility to change and match your business requirements. While having a security partner who understands the cloud and is willing to engage and maintain pace as your needs develop is crucial, it’s even more important that they help you improve your security operations.

In conclusion

The benefits offered by a cloud infrastructure are very much known to an increasingly data-driven business world. While embarking on this journey, businesses must also consider the risk exposure and implement a robust cloud security strategy that aims to deliver secure cloud platforms, promising trust and achieving positive business outcomes.