The shift to hybrid working has presented numerous obstacles. Arguably the biggest obstacle is the need to implement a cloud solution, a need that has only surged due to the pandemic. ‘Digital transformation’ has become a buzzword over the last few years, with SMEs and larger businesses moving their operations to the cloud. Yet, the pandemic has expedited the already existing trend to work remotely.
Interestingly, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made the stark claim that the company saw two years of digital transformation in just two months since its customers started to adopt cloud solutions. The main reasons for this shift are that adopting a cloud solution enables software, services and infrastructure to be accessible from any device. It also provides easy mobile access and easy recovery, and there is an environmental advantage since you reduce environmental waste.
Yet, the cloud adoption sprawl doesn’t come without its challenges. With many more devices connecting to multiple networks, the attack surface can increase exponentially. Consider the 2020 Remote Work From Home Cybersecurity Report, which found that 69% of organizations had severe concerns over security risks introduced by workers. Additionally, 59% of organizations had concerns over employee awareness, 56% had concerns over insecure home WiFi networks and 43% were concerned about unsecured personal devices. Two other major concerns are misconfiguration and unpatched bugs.
Fortunately, there are best practice guidelines to ensure that cloud adoption comes at a minimum security risk. Here are the top five best security processes when adopting a cloud solution.
