Federal agencies are always looking for ways to protect and secure their information. Further, 83 percent of workloads are in the cloud as of this year. FireEye Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Greg Smith, shared “that’s a lot of new real estate for attackers, and now is the perfect time for them to strike.” Public cloud security may have its challenges, but agencies are making the shift to cloud security platforms in order to better secure their assets.
The challenges that come with cloud security are not new. The traditional security challenges include out-of-date software, proper firewall configuration, and effective authorization policies and procedures. In addition to these obstacles, cloud security adds the “addition of multiple tasks to security teams, such as developing new skills, tracking ephemeral assets, managing decentralized accounts (“shadow IT”), protecting data stored using cloud provider platform services instead of servers, and verifying that all platform activity is tracked and authorized” according to a security insider report.
A Ponemon Institute study stated that “businesses are taking advantage of the cloud, but not applying adequate security. Forty-eight percent of all corporate data is stored in the cloud compared to 35 percent three years ago. Forty-nine percent of organizations are encrypting sensitive data in the cloud.” Selecting the right platform is key. The correct one can be “designed to enhance resiliency in the face of cyber attacks and provide organizations with information essential for making risk-based decisions that affect critical missions and business functions.”
Security insiders ensure that all cloud assets are safe when these “two high-level activities are continually undertaken, reviewed, and improved: protecting the infrastructure and protecting against misuse of cloud assets.” Agencies will be able to stay ahead and successfully adopt cloud security by training analysts in the “latest cloud detection procedures, including how to interpret both security analysis findings and traditional security alerts.” By addressing the challenges and training workers, agencies will be able to effectively store their data in the public cloud.
Cloud security is on the rise and more secure than traditional data centers. In the increasingly digital age, security is more important than ever. The next step for agencies to take in storing data is to move to the cloud.
Learn more about public cloud security.
