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Unraveling the Complexity of Cloud Security: What Should Enterprises Expect?
Unraveling the Complexity of Cloud Security: What Should Enterprises Expect?

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Author by: Amit Kharkade, Senior Technology Specialist - Xoriant

Gartner projects that by 2025, an overwhelming 95% of new digital workloads are poised for cloud deployment. However, this shift doesn't imply a blind leap for businesses into cloud infrastructure.

Even in contemporary headlines, cloud-based security incidents persist, be it the misuse of Microsoft's Azure DevOps server credentials or the AWS S3 bucket misconfiguration encountered by Pegasus Airlines.

Whether cloud infrastructure adoption proves challenging or straightforward for enterprises hinges heavily on their grasp of deployment considerations.

This blog delves into critical factors pivotal for facilitating seamless digital operations through cloud infrastructure services.

Remote Workforce Enablement

As remote work becomes a staple, digital infrastructure must adapt for seamless access. Since not all organizations are likely to return entirely to in-office work, empowering remote work requires flexible and accessible digital infrastructure.

Ensuring secure business applications on the cloud mandates rigorous vulnerability checks, maintaining a fortress against unauthorized network entry.

This underscores the necessity of vendor security frameworks aligned with enterprise policies, bolstered by clear SLAs delineating responsibilities for enduring partnership assurances.

Heightened Asset Security

As remote work gains momentum in the corporate sphere, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trends are on the rise. Research indicates that over 67% of employees utilize personal devices for work tasks, highlighting the necessity for heightened security measures for enterprise digital assets.

From a cloud infrastructure standpoint, proactive monitoring of all entry points is imperative to permit only authorized devices, employing a zero-trust security approach regardless of teams. Additionally, evaluating existing data policies and governance models is crucial. This ensures controlled information flow from various business systems managed in the cloud and accessed by employee devices worldwide. Managing endpoints (Owned/BYOD) in accordance with security standards and best practices is paramount.

Clear Cloud Responsibilities and SLAs

Expanding on the previous point, organizations must possess a clear understanding of the cloud security assurances offered by their vendors. Many enterprises mistakenly assume that vendors will manage all aspects of cloud infrastructure security necessary for successful application operation.

It's crucial to establish clear boundaries between provider security responsibilities and the security measures businesses must implement. In areas of shared responsibility, both parties should understand their respective roles and seamlessly integrate individual security measures with vendor offerings. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure a secure experience for end users.

Adherence to Legal and Regulatory Compliance

In recent years, the growing prevalence of digital platforms among consumer demographics has prompted regulatory bodies to heighten their oversight to prevent data misuse. Several countries are introducing privacy frameworks akin to GDPR to regulate businesses' use of citizens' data on digital platforms.

Furthermore, organizations are increasingly seeking control over the geographical location of data stored and processed in the cloud. They advocate for a cross-boundary approach, stipulating that cloud vendors store customer data within agreed-upon geographic boundaries only.

As more digital platforms transition to the cloud, regulatory compliance emerges as a paramount concern for leaders. Businesses must establish protective measures for data, ensuring compliance not only during storage but also during transit across cloud environments or multi-cloud systems.

Mitigating Cloud Misconfigurations

Misconfiguring enterprise digital assets on the cloud can result in severe repercussions. The Estee Lauder data breach in 2020 exemplifies this, with over 440 million customer records exposed due to an unprotected database within their digital systems.

As privacy regulations become increasingly stringent, companies cannot risk deploying vulnerable system configurations on the cloud. Hackers and fraudsters are relentless, and the aftermath of such breaches could financially devastate even large organizations. Cloud misconfiguration stands as one of the most significant threats to cloud infrastructure security, demanding vigilant attention from organizational leaders.

Crafting an Effective Cloud Security Strategy

As businesses expand, their adoption of new cloud infrastructure systems increases. With a growing number of applications, the risk landscape expands, necessitating heightened vigilance against potential vulnerabilities and attacks. A robust cloud security strategy is essential to address vulnerabilities and establish effective governance and risk management practices.

In the short term, this strategy should focus on engaging all stakeholders within a clearly defined framework that prioritizes cloud security as a fundamental aspect. Leaders must emphasize a zero-trust approach in data management and digital applications, advocating for a cautious approach to cloud security frameworks. Trusting only verified security credentials and adhering to established best practices is paramount.

Implementing this strategy requires ongoing training, cybersecurity awareness sessions, and other initiatives to ensure all team members understand the importance of securely operating digital systems. Over time, these efforts will culminate in a mature and secure digital infrastructure that safeguards the organization in the long run. In essence, the enterprise cloud journey demands meticulous attention to these considerations. Embracing cloud technology isn't just about innovation; it's about ensuring a secure, resilient foundation for future growth and market dominance.

About Author:

Amit Kharkade is a Senior Technology Specialist at Xoriant, where he serves as an essential part of the Cloud Infrastructure Security team. He has a remarkable 16-year tenure in designing and implementing robust security solutions. His expertise lies in identifying vulnerabilities, assessing risks, and devising strategies to safeguard critical information assets. Amit excels in leading cross-functional teams at Xoriant and collaborating with stakeholders to ensure a high level of cybersecurity posture across diverse environments.


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Xoriant is a Silicon Valley-headquartered digital product engineering, software development, and technology services firm with offices in the USA,UK, Ireland, Mexico, Canada and Asia. From startups to the Fortune 100, we deliver innovative solutions, accelerating time to market and ensuring our clients' competitiveness in industries like BFSI, High Tech, Healthcare, Manufacturing and Retail. Across all our technology focus areas-digital product engineering, DevOps, cloud, infrastructure, and security, big data and analytics, data engineering, management and governance -every solution we develop benefits from our product engineering pedigree. It also includes successful methodologies, framework components, and accelerators for rapidly solving important client challenges. For 30 years and counting, we have taken great pride in our long-lasting, deep relationships with our clients.

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