Embracing The Cloud Without Compromising Security

The cloud is being adopted at an accelerated rate. In fact, cloud computing has moved past its "self-centered teenage years" to become a "turbocharged engine powering digital transformation around the world," states a recent Forrester report, "Predictions 2019: Cloud Computing."

The research firm predicted that in 2019 the cloud will reach "its more interesting young adult years, bringing innovative development services to enterprise apps rather than just serving up cheaper, temporary servers and storage."

However, according to Tim Woods, VP, Technology Alliances for FireMon, “You can’t just pick up an application and just throw it into the cloud,” he said during the 2019 Cyber Security Digital Summit. “You can’t bring everything that you have on premise into the cloud with you unless you know where it’s going, what are the tools that I’m going to be using to manage that implementation of application recourses or AppSec in the cloud.”

Sometimes the tools enterprises have on premise or in data centers don’t translate into the cloud. There are many things to consider such as process and controls that can be different, or a need to identify the infrastructure necessary to support those resources, and most crucial: How am I going to ensure that it is secure?

See Related: “Does Cloud Mean Better Security Or More Vulnerability?”

The Forrester report also notes that enterprise cloud spending will soar as core business app modernization takes off. Spending will surge as companies race to modernize existing apps and processes and derive new insights from the mountains of data they already collect.

According to Woods, cloud infrastructure brings the same risks and threats as an on-premises environment, but with a twist: the rate of expansion. “Cloud services and applications spin up, deploy and provision faster than you can say “IaaS” and it’s inevitable that you’ll miss critical security controls.”

That is why during a recent Digital Summit session, Woods explained the steps enterprises need to take to confidently embrace the cloud without compromising security. He revealed how to:

• Reduce the visibility gap into your hybrid environment
• Spin up, deploy and provision faster while maintaining a strong security posture
• Automate risk analysis and change management
• Assess your risk in real-time
• Validate configuration requirements

Woods believes his most important role is education and raising cyber security awareness. “Fighting complacency in security should be everyone’s top priority if we are to win the war on cybercrime," he said.

Listen to the full Digital Summit session on demand.