Is your data safe in cloud with respect to other options?
The background
There is a lot of noise out there regarding the question: Is your data safe in cloud? There are claims that on-premise solutions are more secure while others claiming that the cloud is better. It is time to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of security on the cloud. Let us examine the truth about the cloud and its security aspects.
According to a market report, cloud security solutions is one of the fastest growing segments in the security market. It is expected to reach a valuation of USD $ 9 billion by 2020. Security and the cloud are one of the top priorities for IT initiatives by CXO’s.
Cloud and On Premise
The billion dollar security budgets and top minds working around the clock on leading cloud environment ensure that your data is safe in cloud solutions. With their high quality infrastructure and top notch intellectual capital , the security competence of multi-tenant environments like the cloud is better than that of standalone firms using on-premise solutions. Though it is a secure platform, data breaches could happen on the cloud just like in any other IT environment. Appropriate contingency procedures & security policies and back up protocol would prevent it. They contain the damage in case of a breach and initiate corrective actions. Even on-premise systems do face the similar security threats due to hacking, malware etc. They cannot claim to have a better security performance when evaluated against the business advantages offered by the cloud.
Public Cloud and Private Cloud
It does not mean that because the private cloud is not exposed to the internet, has more control over data, has better compliance to HIPAA/PCI standards and is therefore more secure. Actual security competence would depend on how you use the technology platform, what sort of policy and protocol are enforced. Also the high cost structure of the private cloud only makes it suitable for those with deep pockets and it loses out the advantages of being digitally connected.
The User Aspect
Storage on the cloud is important but has challenges that must be met. Employees could be possible threats and a 2015 industry report has said that employees caused 60 % of security breaches in the past year.
The sad part is that a lot of cloud users do not have appropriate security protocol in place and they put the onus on the solution provider. This is a big mistake. As per a cloud industry report on security aspects, over a quarter of cloud users do not have any data security policies. The competence of existing policies too could be questionable. These figures point towards a lack of responsibility of a large bunch of users.
Also, the right security tools are not being used by those operating in a cloud environment. As per an industry report, about 60% of users are still using VPN connections, but only a third of them are using firewalls or encrypting data for better security, only 15% were using measures to secure sensitive data.
While the responsibility of the cloud environment cannot be taken away, the solution provider and the user must also play their part to prevent against security threats.
The BYOD and IoT Threat
User security issues are compounded by the recent threat of BYOD diversity as employees use their personal devices to access the cloud solution. Appropriate permission protocol, security audits, maintenance of user logs etc are some of the measures that might help. The space of security to address BYOD diversity relating to the cloud is evolving rapidly and will see rapid development soon. Some solutions are already BYOD ready.
As the IoT adoption grows in accessing the cloud, it will create more vulnerability to security attacks. IoT security on the cloud is the new challenge. Future ready native cloud solutions will be prepared to tackle it fully as they are already compatible to mobile diversity.
Versa Cloud ERP – a multi award winning Cloud ERP
The cloud is already the preferred choice for solutions due to its affordability, easy & anytime/anywhere access, lower financial & investment entry barriers as well as minimal set up times.
We at Versa have created a secure cloud based comprehensive multi award winning ERP solution. It addresses key security concerns in the most effective manner possible.
With our ERP your data is safe in Cloud!
We’d love to hear from you.
To know more, please visit www.versaclouderp.com or contact us directly.
Reference and further information:
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/cloud-security-10-things-you-need-to-know/
