Without exaggeration, the adoption rate of cloud based solutions is touching astronomical proportions. Cloud Service Providers (CSP) are constantly spinning out ever more flexible and customizable solutions at fairly attractive prices. This is making cloud computing solutions a very tempting choice.
On the other end of the chain are organizations that are prospecting for cloud enabled solutions. Most of these entities seem to be in a major rush to get their hands on a cloud based product. In all this haste and panic, one critical factor that tends to go in the backdrop is cyber security.
Consider the vast data centers of CSPs as large silos of valuable data of both personal and sensitive nature. Instead of expending valuable time and resources on a single data store, cyber miscreants have turned their attention to these data centers that can rightly be called threat magnets.
The risk to reward ratio for cyber thugs to penetrate even a single huge data center is getting so favorable that major thrust has shifted here. Due to a constantly improving awareness around malware and its types, traditional cyber attacks are otherwise losing flair.
In order to cope with the emerging cyber threat landscape, CSPs in general and cloud tenants in particular will have to step up their cyber security game. The old approach of patchy threat detection systems just won’t cut it anymore. Cloud tenants will now have to migrate towards holistic and one stop cyber security solutions.
Even organizations that are sensitive about cyber security do not consider this as an organizational level issue. Based on this casual approach, an enterprise may choose its Anti Virus solution from one provider and source Malware protection from another solution provider.
In today’s high risk cyber threat environment, sourcing cyber security from multiple providers is highly likely to leave gaps or loopholes in the security posture of such an organization. Cyber criminals will in turn identify these vulnerabilities and wreak havoc with the sensitive and business critical data.
One more issue in the realm of cyber security is that now, the monetary costs of regulatory non compliance will far outrun the costs of security solutions. The estimated quantum of fines imposed under GDPR regulation has crossed the £114 Million across Europe and the clock is still ticking, with violations in thousands.
So far, we have not incorporated the costs related to loss of brand equity in the eyes of existing and prospective customers, as they are very difficult to quantify. Every fresh news about a data or security breach acts as a stark reminder for the users of cloud based solutions that they may be next on the list.
It is high time that organizations rise to emerging and persistent threats by adopting a proactive approach to cyber security. All encompassing cyber security solutions are a need of the hour and perhaps the only viable option. The goal of impregnable security will be realized only with the collective efforts of CSPs and cloud tenants alike.
