Demands placed on IT departments are skyrocketing globally. The COVID-19 outbreak has forced teams to go remote, increasing IT demands at a brisk pace. Before the crisis, executives have strategically been moving their teams to the cloud. This crisis is reinforcing the need to move more teams to the cloud, IT teams are strapped for resources, struggling to update their in-house infrastructure and rushing to update their technologies to enable safe and secure remote work.
While the benefits of cloud computing have been preached by industry experts for years now, many stakeholders are still uncertain whether they outweigh the potential risks associated with moving sensitive information to servers owned by someone else. With the current demands on our IT infrastructure and staff, now may be the best time to move to the cloud.
Security Benefits of Cloud Computing
Back when the word ‘cloud’ was still considered to be a buzzword, there was a tangible paranoia about storing data off site. However, these early fears haven’t stopped the cloud market from growing, the average business runs 38% of their workloads in the public cloud and 41% in private cloud. Every year these numbers continue to increase with more and more organizations migrating to the cloud.
Today, security experts no longer see the cloud as a threat. Instead, they try to highlight its security benefits. “The value of moving to the cloud outweighs the risk of paranoia,” said Chris Weber, co-founder of Seattle-based Casaba Security. The COVID-19 crisis has changed the type of exploits hackers are using. Unfortunately, hackers know organizations aren't upholding best practice security measures, especially in the scramble to stay connected and keep businesses afloat, allowing them to exploit these basic loopholes. Migrating to the cloud can help you enforce your security stance.
Patches and Updates
Unpatched software is among the leading causes of malware infections worldwide. Critical exploits are often exploited by malicious attackers only a few hours after their public release. For small and midsize businesses, it’s often very difficult to keep software updated without causing major operational disruptions. Cloud providers regularly and routinely install patches for their clients, who can keep using the cloud services without any downtime. This reduces your likelihood of becoming victim to an attack and saves you time in the process. When your workers are remote, cloud updates allow you to ensure all employees are up to date and remain efficient.
Protection Against DDoS
In recent years during a single quarter, resources in 80 countries were targeted by DDoS attacks, with the longest DDoS attack lasting for 292 hours. In one month alone, there were 1,915 recorded attacks, according to Kaspersky Lab. These crippling attacks can cost businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions. A Fortune 1000 company loses $100,000 per hour of downtime, and there’s also the danger of losing the trust of existing customers. Being prime targets of DDoS attacks, cloud services tend to be well protected against DDoS attacks of even the largest amplitudes. Cloud services are more likely to be on top of new threats as they have entire teams dedicated and trained in cybersecurity.
Physical Security
According to Invenio IT, two in five companies still do not have a documented Disaster Recovery Plan, and over a quarter admit to rarely or never testing them. Yet, power outages, natural disasters, and simple human errors are common causes of data and productivity loss. Cloud solutions address disaster recovery by storing data in another location and physically protecting it with around-the-clock camera surveillance and automatic backups.
Data Security
Modern businesses rely on a mobile workforce, now more so than ever. Employees often use several devices from several locations, all accessing the same files and sharing them with coworkers. Unless handled securely, these practices can lead to massive data leaks and network-wide malware infestations. Cloud services encrypt all data and provide employees and employers with sophisticated tools for easy sharing and mobile computing. The data can be shared in an environment that allows for employees to collaborate on documents all within a secure environment. If a staff member loses their computer, or has a laptop crash, the data is still available, preventing mass loss.
Conclusion
The cloud is no longer the scary boogieman it once was made out to be. Modern cloud services are highly secure, reliable, and cost-effective. They help small and midsize companies compete in the global market alongside industry giants, and they’ve already earned trust of many tech-savvy CxOs. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our traditional way of work, we are forced to adapt and re-structure. Will we rise to this occasion?
