Threats and Opportunities in Adopting Cloud – a CIO Perspective

Cloud migration creates numerous opportunities, so long as the threats are managed. Gerry Cantwell (Director for National Defence and Security at UKCloudX), deep dives into these threats and opportunities in a recent webinar. We thought it was an informative discussion, so we have summarised it below for you.

Why do you need cloud?

Countless companies adopt cloud solutions purely because of peer pressure, to keep up with the norm. However, there are many company-specific reasons as to why adopting the cloud is beneficial. Firstly, using the cloud helps to deal with variable workloads and can reduce technical debt. Therefore, this avoids the increasing licensing costs and vulnerabilities relating to infrastructure. Cloud migration also improves cyber security, relaxes compliance pressures and enables the company to focus on their core duties.

What doesn’t change with cloud?

Despite the many advantages, inevitably, some threats remain post cloud adoption. Core assets of the business such as policies, data and people, may still be targeted, perhaps by a script kiddie or organised crime gang.

What does change with cloud?

The obvious change is your facilities; often data is stored in an off-site data center. IT’s responsibility may also change, causing a shift in the employees skill set. They may need additional training or recruitment.

How has COVID-19 affected cloud adoption?

With the dramatic increase in remote-working, zoom calls have risen from 10 million a day to . Looking to the future, are likely to implement remote-working permanently. The increased flexibility of employees’ lifestyles and reduced commuting costs provides many incentives to work remotely but creates issues with cyber security. Individuals using their own personal devices and networks increases the attack surface area, which creates more vulnerabilities to exploit. However, if companies move to remote cloud solutions such as UKCloudX’s offering, then these risks are mitigated.

The People Dynamic

People are arguably the most important asset to a company but carry their own risks. Due to remote working, any queries or doubts take longer to check, and individuals might make more decisions by themselves due to the lack of office support. In fact, 50% of people are still being duped by outside emails.

Data Sovereignty / Security

It is important to be aware of where your data is stored and who has access to it. GDPR regulations force companies to be transparent about personal data and inform companies, such as which countries can access your data and any constraints of the host.

Conclusion

We’ve discussed some of the threats but ultimately the opportunities are too great to ignore. As companies move forward, they’ll likely adopt a hybrid model. It is imperative that security is maintained across this multi-cloud environment, which is something UKCloudX regularly helps organisations with.

With the changing climate, hybrid environments are here to stay, and cyber security must be capable of working across the hybrid environment. Whether on-premise estate, hyperscalers or private clouds, it must run in a seamless and coherent way.

If you’d like to watch the full webinar on-demand, please click here: https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/17330/405194