Why is it Important to Pay Attention to Cloud Security?

As your business migrates into cloud-based software, cloud security becomes essential. Cloud security comprises security measures designed to protect the infrastructure of your cloud network and applications. Cloud security measures ensure device authentication, data and resource access control, and privacy protection. Cloud security measures protect your company data from DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, malware, hackers, and unauthorized user access. 

Cloud Networking is a more specific term for outsourcing networking capability, including network setup, management, and maintenance. While the term cloud computing already implies networking capabilities, cloud networking refers specifically to the business use of hosted networks, not just applications. This presents several issues, including cloud security, capacity, and availability. 

There are three types of cloud networks to choose from, and these include:

Public Clouds

These are cloud networks hosted by third-party service providers. Public clouds require no setup since the cloud provider handles it all, and the clients can easily access the services via their web browsers. Public clouds are highly scalable to companies that may require more resources as the business grows. Cloud security features are crucial to public clouds for access control, identity management, and user authentication. 

Private Clouds

Private clouds have more cloud security features than public clouds and include a single or limited number of users that rely on their firewall for cloud security. Private clouds remain relatively secure due to their isolated nature and are free from cloud security attacks. However, one of the most significant drawbacks of private clouds is their inability to be scaled with business growth. Social engineering and breaches are some cloud security private clouds may encounter; hence it is essential to pay attention to cloud security functions if opting for a private cloud.

Hybrid Clouds

Hybrid clouds feature the scalability of public clouds with more advanced cloud security features of private clouds. These hybrid clouds can connect multiple environments that can help organizations keep up with their user demand. Good hybrid clouds can be accessible to users via a single integrated content management platform. 

Following are some advantages and disadvantages of adopting a cloud ready networking solution for your business.

Networking in the Cloud May Provide Enhanced Cloud Security

Small to Medium-sized businesses often have cloud security networks that are minimally secured. Focusing on their business needs, small company networks can exist with standard cloud security features such as firewalls and anti-malware. Cloud networking vendors must provide a higher level of security based on the needs of their customers and the standards established for the best cloud computing vendors. This enhanced level of cloud security may give an advantage over the existing self-hosted model for small businesses.

Hosted Networking Can Cut Costs Dramatically

Designing and successfully implementing a new physical network can be very expensive. Starting with the networking hardware and software and adding expertise to run a network is also costly. A clear advantage of networking in the cloud is the cost savings over building a network from scratch.

Some Businesses Must Control their Networks

Depending on the accountability required for your business, you may not have the option of outsourcing network resources. For example, a cloud security company that provides premises monitoring and emergency response might need to control the physical resources for its network based on contractual and licensing requirements. Other organizations that provide less mission-critical services may be freer to take advantage of networking in the cloud and cloud security.

Since the adoption rate of cloud-based technology has skyrocketed over the past few years, protecting your organization’s data is essential. While modern cloud technology is already entirely secure, it would not be suitable to skimp on cloud security features. When moving more and more data via clouds, cloud security, governance, and compliance also become significant concerns.

Lower Cost

The best cloud service providers already assure their users of the best cloud security features when purchasing their products. Hiring an internal security team to protect company assets reduces the upfront costs associated with doing cloud security manually.  

The operational costs of maintaining your data on the cloud will also be significantly lower than investing in hardware. You can be assured that your information is always protected without needing manual cloud security updates and configurations. 

Increased Reliability

cloud security features ensure that your data and applications are readily available to authorized users with user-based authorization. However, multifactor authentication methods can further ensure cloud security. With a reliable way to access information, it would be easy to detect any breaches in your cloud security systems. 

Centralized Cloud Security

Since cloud networks are capable of centralizing all your data and applications, there will be many endpoint devices that have access to the cloud. Since it is harder to ensure that all devices are secure, it is easier to ensure that your cloud security is doing the job. The centralized nature of cloud security allows cloud service providers to implement disaster recovery plans, streamline network event monitoring, and enhance web filtering. 

Scalability

Cloud services are highly scalable options for growing businesses. So it is safe to assume that your cloud security will also scale alongside your company. Cloud security can also be scaled up during high-traffic periods and scaled down when the traffic reduces. 

Better DDoS Protection

DDoS attacks are the most common cloud security threat that aims a lot of traffic at your server to cause harm. cloud security features protect your servers by dispersing these attacks and monitoring for such threats. 

Any business using advanced networking capabilities should consider the potential advantages of cloud networking and cloud security. While it may only be possible to outsource some of your networking needs, it is possible to implement hosted networking services selectively. After thoroughly analyzing your specific business needs and capacities, you can plan and execute the best cybersecurity solution that meets your requirements with the right cloud security features