Are you ready for the information that 100 zettabytes of data might be stored in the cloud by the end of 2025?
Can we even count it?
Okay, let’s start from the beginning.
A hundred billion terabytes are going to be part of the Cloud Computing world. Do we even know what Cloud Computing is, and how we’re going to protect all that data?
Should we be in panic or just rational enough to understand that pre-security is important?
In the last blog, about Cloud Computing trends, we mentioned that, according to research, investments in computer infrastructure through the Cloud by 2028 will exceed 1 trillion dollars.
No doubt, we’ve stepped into a very important year for Cloud Computing.
Let’s first remind ourselves what Cloud Computing is before we start talking about its security.
Have you ever traveled by plane through the clouds?
If you have, then in the world of computers and business, the Internet is that plane.
We understand that in the world of computers, there are hardware and software boundaries. Hardware ones are tangible, while software ones are intangible. You can use software even without Internet access.
Above these boundaries is Cloud Computing.
It’s a process where resources, software, and databases are accessed solely through the internet, but just beyond local hardware limitations.
Cloud computing, if we use simple and understandable metaphors, is like flying through the clouds for the IT sector or simply stepping out of the comfort zone.
Every organization has its activities, which at their core involve a huge amount of data. All that data needs to be stored.
In the past, data was of a smaller scale, and both hardware and software could handle it. But today, the volume of data exceeds hardware capacity. What organizations achieve through Cloud Computing is transferring part or most of the infrastructure management to data centers, often Cloud Computing hosting centers that are independent of the organization.
There are three types of Cloud computing services or models, and they are:
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) – Rent:
A Cloud Computing model that gives organizations the option to rent infrastructure (like servers, hardware, network resources, virtualization, and data storage) from a cloud data center instead of owning and maintaining them locally.
Examples of companies that offer IaaS Cloud Computing model:
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine, IBM Cloud, Rackspace, Digital Ocean, Oracle Cloud, Fujitsu, Vultr, OpenStack, VMware, Alibaba Cloud.
PaaS (Platform as a Service) – Optimization:
A Cloud Computing model that provides organizations with the ability to optimize application development and delivery. It also offers a customizable framework for applications with known automatic management of operating systems, software updates, data storage management, and cloud infrastructure support. It accelerates development, provides everything needed to run applications, and offers flexibility in managing them.
Examples of companies that offer PaaS Cloud Computing model:
AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Windows Azure, Heroku, Force.com, Google App Engine, OpenShift, SAP Cloud, AWS Lambda, Azure Functions.
SaaS (Software as a Service) – Subscription-based assessment:
A Cloud Computing model that enables software to be accessible via the Internet, with subscription-based payment for its use. The provider, as a third party, maintains and manages all technical aspects such as data, servers, storage, potentially reducing costs, improving support, and maintaining software.
Examples of companies that offer SaaS Cloud Computing model:
Salesforce, SAP Concur, Shopify, MailChimp, Dropbox, HubSpot, Google Applications (G Suite).
After reviewing what Cloud Computing is and its models, we can discuss its benefits and limitations, particularly focusing on its security.
According to Javapoint.com, Oracle or IBM Cloud Computing benefits are:
1) Backing up and restoring data – Storing data in the cloud makes it easier to back up and restore that data using the cloud.
2) Easy access, Accessibility anywhere with any device or Flexibility – The cloud lets us access stored information quickly and easily from anywhere in the world, as long as we have an Internet connection. When organizations use a cloud-based system it makes them more productive and efficient because data is always available. It also means everyone in the organization, even around the globe, can get the latest info whether they’re at work or not.
3) Lower maintenance costs, Ability to get rid of most or all hardware and software or efficiency – Cloud Computing reduces the costs of maintaining both hardware and software for organizations.
5) Mobility – It is easy to access all cloud data using just a mobile devices.
6) Pay-as-you-go services – Cloud Computing gives users access to services through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and charges them based on how much they use the service.
7) Unlimited storage – The cloud gives us a lot of space to store important data like documents, images, audio, video, etc., all in one place.
8) Data security – Data security is a big advantage of Cloud Computing. The cloud has many advanced security features to ensure that data is stored and handled securely.
9) Centralized data security – All your data backups are stored safely at the cloud provider’s data centers. You don’t need to worry about keeping backups at home or work. If one backup gets damaged, the provider can restore your data from another backup they have. They always update these backups with any new data you add. Cloud providers use advanced security features like data encryption and two-factor authentication to keep your data private. This is usually better than relying on your own equipment at home or work.
10) Cloud Computing is greener – It uses less energy and creates less pollution compared to regular computer systems. When businesses switch to the cloud, they can cut down on their energy use and pollution by as much as 90%. Instead of having their own computers and software, businesses can use services in the cloud to do the same things. They can access programs and data from any computer or device with Internet. This means businesses don’t have to buy and take care of their own computer stuff. It is a cheaper and more eco-friendly way to do IT stuff.
According to Javapoint.com and Cloudacademy.com cloud computing disadvantages or risks of using it are:
Here are some reasons why Cloud Computing might not be perfect:
1) Internet connection – If you want to store your stuff like photo, music or video in a cloud you need to do to have Internet connection and besides that, a good Internet connection. If your Internet isn’t great, you might have trouble getting your stuff.
2) Stuck with one provider – One big problem with Cloud Computing is that you might get stuck with one company. This can be a pain if you want to switch to a different company later on because different companies use different systems.
3) Less Control – When you use Cloud Computing, the company that owns the cloud does all the managing. This means you have less say in how things work.
4) Security – Even though cloud companies try really hard to keep your stuff safe, there’s still a chance that someone could get into your stuff while it’s up in the cloud. So, you have to be careful about what you put up there.
5) Downtime – It mostly affects organizations financially because if services stop, so does the money flow. This was confirmed by a recent survey conducted by the Uptime Institute, which showed that about 31% of businesses experienced IT service interruptions. These interruptions not only affect future business but can also cost them over $100,000 per hour. Organizations are still not immune to these interruptions. Some experts advise special disaster recovery planning and to keep this in mind.
After learning about the advantages and disadvantages of Cloud Computing, we’ve now come to its security. If you’re wondering what Cloud Security is and why it’s important, you’ll find the answers to these questions in this blog.
The number of cyberattacks on cloud systems has gone up a lot from 2021 to 2022.
According to CrowdStrike 2023 Cloud Risk Report, they’ve seen a 95% increase in cases where people try to exploit cloud systems, and there’s been a huge jump of 288% in cases where bad actors target cloud environments. To protect cloud systems from these attacks, it’s important to understand the need of having a Cloud Security.
So we will continue to introduce benefits.
So, what is Cloud security?
Cloud Computing is indeed a better choice for streamlined business operations, cost reduction, improved productivity, and connectivity both within the organization and with business partners. However, data security needs to be a top priority when it comes to business.
In theory, it’s always the case when we talk about priorities, but practice hasn’t shown the same results. That’s why organizations and providers are increasingly focusing on protection because threats from the digital environment, human errors, or even internal threats can cost the organization money, data, and thus harm its future business.
Therefore, cloud data security is a process or practice that involves steps, using technology and policies, to protect infrastructure, applications, data, and other digital information resources from potential threats or errors mentioned earlier, all with the aim of data confidentiality and accessibility for those who use them in the cloud environment.
Why Cloud Security is important?
When there’s a strong storm outside, you have two options:
- either stay inside or
- go out.
But what if you really have to go out, like for a job interview today?
You’ll use an umbrella or a raincoat, right?
That’s similar to Cloud Security. It’s like an umbrella you use when you have to go out, but in the field of business, you need to operate and store data.
What worries IT experts, even though data in the Cloud is a shared responsibility between users and providers, are highly sensitive business information and intellectual property that could be exposed to various threats like bot-driven DDoS attacks and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats or accidental mistakes.
To maintain customer trust and meet any provider’s terms, continuous work is needed to prevent data breaches or theft, while also supporting regulatory compliance with applicable laws, and implementing access controls and authentication for users and devices in the cloud regardless of their locations.
Additionally, some employees might not want to follow all recommended standards when using public Internet, which brings additional security risks and exposes data to potential threats.
Danger doesn’t only come from external sources; it could also be a natural disaster like floods, fires, or others that can have deep consequences on business.
Additional security through data storage systems can help prevent misuse, long-term negative impacts on business, or mentioned natural disasters.
Cloud Security requires improved access control, development of security policies and strategies, introducing redundancy, ensuring data security in data centers, protecting cloud applications, active prevention, risk detection and mitigation, user security, network protection, compliance with regulatory requirements, and content protection, among others.
If an organization decides to switch to a much safer cloud, in addition to all these Cloud Security importance, they should know that its benefits include achieving lower upfront costs, reducing ongoing operational and administrative costs, increasing reliability, and protection against DDoS attacks.
Companies will continue to make transition to a fully digital environment which will have an increasing impact to the obviously, right now, increasing Cloud Computing Services. Since the number of users will increase so as the risk of facing with cybersecurity challenges.
In the Cloudwards survey, 75% of responding businesses identified cloud security as their primary concern. What we need to understand is the importance of keeping organization safe and to lowering all potential risks to minimum.
No one can guarantee us 100% safe environment, since there will always be cyber attackers, but that doesn’t mean that we should give up on building a strong wall of protection.
