Cloud services are pivotal to ensure business continuity. They harness innovation and provide protection when properly configured. However, there are many myths and much anxiety about their use in business. Here we check some statistics about the security and the use of the Cloud to clear up some misconceptions and help you understand its importance.

There are reports galore about major cloud services being compromised. Still, few users ever look into the root causes for these breaches and explore the multi-pronged security facet of the tech. This unawareness leads to anxiety, a feeling that makes some businesses choose on-premises infrastructure instead.

Purging the fears

To get the big picture, let us go over some statistics:

• 97% of companies use cloud services as part of their digital infrastructures.
• 86% of organizations leverage a mix of different cloud services.
• The average business uses 1,181 cloud services.
• 84% of enterprises keep some of their valuable data assets in the cloud.

The key takeaway is that this technology has become mainstream in the corporate ecosystem. Moreover, your company is most likely using it in some way already, even if you think otherwise.

To dot the i’s and cross the t’s, let us dwell on the aspects of the cloud that make it more secure than classic on-premises digital architecture.

• The intactness of customer data is every cloud provider’s top priority because it is a critical building block of its reputation in a paradigm of increasing competition. The components of this security philosophy include top-notch software and hardware, qualified security personnel, and effective physical defenses of the data center.
• Cloud services have always hinged on innovative security mechanisms. For instance, they paved the way for the mass adoption of SSL and 2FA.
• Cloud providers are incredibly agile in terms of applying security patches. In 2018, they were quick to harden their server infrastructures in light of the notorious Meltdown and Spectre loopholes affecting a series of popular microprocessors. These adjustments allowed clients to keep using the services without experiencing downtime or falling victim to crooks.
• Cloud platforms continuously perform a security assessment of their clients’ activities to identify what is the norm and what is not. This practice is fueled by automatic threat reports based on anomalies the customers may experience. Therefore, providers can promptly respond to security issues before they can impact other users. The fact that many cloud services leverage a common threat database takes the protection to the next level.
• Because cloud providers store and manage user data, they must comply with international regulations and are subject to scrupulous checks by unbiased auditing bodies.
• A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and a service-level agreement (SLA) are the fundamental components of every cloud platform’s interaction with customers. Furthermore, these services are flexible when it comes to security preferences.
• Cloud security providers offer B2B products with personalized services at their core. Anshu Bansal, the founder and CEO of CloudDefense, said in a recent WeHackPurple podcast, “Dealing with customers sometimes requires a one-on-one conversation so that you understand their pain points and provide your solutions to them and they are satisfied.”

When questioning the security of the cloud, companies are mainly concerned about data leaks. While this is understandable, providers use the following layers of data protection that should dispel such doubts.

• Cloud services adhere to an effective backup strategy that keeps your data and applications safe if something goes wrong.
• All data at rest and in transit is encrypted, with the storage for cryptographic keys being isolated from the rest of the network. You can store those keys locally if you so desire.
• As part of risk diversification, cloud platforms tend to keep several copies of each file on different servers worldwide. Previous versions of files may be available, too.
• Sharing your data via the cloud is both hassle-free and safe. All it takes is generating unique URLs for specific files and selecting the appropriate scope of access. This approach is definitely more secure than sending data over email.

Summary

The cloud is a firmly established tech that harnesses innovation and provides protection with no single point of failure if configured properly. A fusion of cloud services’ flexibility and commitment to customer-centric principles makes them safer and more dependable than classic IT infrastructures.

That said, it is time to leave myths behind and embrace the technology to keep up with the trends. If your organization is not quite ready to take the leap, consider combining cloud and on-premises environments that can work in tandem and complement each other.

Reference: {https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbalaban/2021/04/01/are-you-still-afraid-of-the-cloud}

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