Therefore, when a company moves its data and workloads to the cloud, it opens up significantly more avenues for hackers to penetrate. The challenge of protecting them is therefore greater than ever: In the current Cloud Security Report, 76 percent of those surveyed stated that they use two or more clouds in their everyday work.
To understand how best to protect cloud assets, consider the analogy of a door. Suppose every security door consists of a number of components that fit together. All the individual parts together form the structure of each door: hinges, handles, locks, bolts, keys. The door is not complete without one of these elements. Now imagine the alarm system and all the doors are being installed by four or five different contractors, each with their own order form. Perhaps this approach would reduce costs. But what if something goes wrong? Who do you call and who guarantees that one provider does not blame the other?
Cloud Security: Consolidation of security solutions
The example should clarify: Using multiple cloud security products from different vendors is a path that leaves companies with an insecure architecture. This increases the total cost of ownership (TCO) and decreases the return on investment (ROI) as it complicates integration and automation between products from different vendors. As a result, corporate security effectiveness decreases as more manual work is required. Cloud security is like the security door: every element of a security strategy must fit together and work with the other elements. This principle should also be applied to cloud security, where malicious attacks are thriving, doubling every year and becoming more sophisticated.
Differences between hybrid cloud environments and relocations
In a hybrid cloud environment, cloud access should be direct as the advanced and virtual security resides in the cloud and no backhaul connectivity is required for remote sites or users to other security gateways or data centers. It should use scalable virtual appliances in the cloud to extend the same granular and accurate security to all relevant clouds.
This enables the best possible performance, scaling and support. Protection can be extended across an entire enterprise with a single intelligent user console programmed with a common policy. This makes moving to the cloud easy, familiar and less risky.
When moving or expanding to the cloud, the task of maintaining an overview often seems impossible. Changes in each cloud are multiplied by the number of clouds used and the focus on getting things right again and again. Using a tool that automates this governance across multiple clouds reduces risk and saves time. This gives you an assessment of the security situation, uncovering misconfigurations and enforcing best practices across the compliance framework.
A cloud security solution must be a security door, gate and alarm
Building a secure cloud concept is an important step in the first line of defense. That means first focusing on the key elements of the current infrastructure landscape to find vulnerabilities. It is important to choose a cloud security platform with a focus on real-time prevention, automation and unified management - including multi-layered protection mechanisms that are fully integrated and leave no gaps for attacks. In order to provide an initial orientation for securing cloud resources and eradicating vulnerable points, it helps to ask yourself the following questions:
- How transparent is the IT security of the network and cloud resources?
- How do users support or prevent a high security standard?
- To what extent is integration possible with current security?
- How can DevOps become DevSecOps without losing flexibility?
- Is it easy to apply and enforce consistent policies across all endpoints and users with different security products?
- Can a single portal be implemented for full management?
The focus should not be on detection and containment, but on prevention. A solution that protects data in the cloud should work like a virtual security door that sounds an alarm when danger is imminent. Whether it's a hybrid cloud environment or a move to the cloud, as with proper security control, a layered approach should be implemented and updates automated. This saves time, resources and money, protects previously uncontrolled access points and, above all, valuable company and personnel data.
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About check point Check Point Software Technologies GmbH (www.checkpoint.com/de) is a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions for public administrations and companies worldwide. The solutions protect customers from cyberattacks with an industry leading detection rate for malware, ransomware and other types of attacks. Check Point offers a multi-level security architecture that protects company information in cloud environments, networks and on mobile devices, as well as the most comprehensive and intuitive “one point of control” security management system. Check Point protects over 100.000 businesses of all sizes.