Conquering Vulnerability with Cloud Security

Information is the product-theft is the concern, and hacking is the preferred method of stealing your files. Hacking is commonly referred to as the most dangerous threat the United States faces when it comes to economic security. Due to the fact that the nature of "the cloud" depends on sharing resources, companies still seek the most effective ways to ensure identity management via authentication, privacy (of which the main concerns are):

• Sharing personal information
• Access to messages, and how to send anonymous messages
• Access control, restricting employee's access to information

The need for better security affects every organization including cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and Google.

How Cloud Security Benefits Your Company

Cloud computing security functions are similar to traditional IT security in that they both protect information from theft, leakage, and deletion. The advantage of implementing cloud security services is it allows a company to operate at scale while remaining secure. Cloud security gives you a new, efficient way of addressing security threats. The results you realize from using cloud security will not change, however, the overall process becomes easier, increasing your ability to accomplish the desired tasks in a more productive way. 

Attributes and Advantages

There are policies and technologies in place that are specifically designed to protect a company's data and infrastructure within a cloud computing environment without the high expense associated with facility maintenance and hardware. Cloud security frees you from managing physical servers and/or storage devices. Security tools are software-based for monitoring and protecting information as it flows in and out of your cloud resources. Reliable cloud security should always address the following issues:

• Identity
• Access management
• Data privacy
• Unauthorized access
• Malicious use
• Modifications

Cloud Security Versus IT Security

       Cloud Security                                           

• Outsourced management using third-party data centers
• Less expensive upfront investment for infrastructure
• Increased scalability
• Increased resource utilization
• Cost based on usage 

       Traditional IT Security

• Data centers are in-house
• Higher initial costs
• Slower scaling
• Less efficiency
• Higher overall cost

Cloud computing security processes should address the security controls the cloud provider will incorporate to maintain the customer's data security, privacy, and compliance with necessary regulations. These processes may also address business continuity as well as a plan to back up lost data resulting from a cloud security breach.