Protecting Enterprise Data in the Public Cloud: Strategies and Solutions

As more and more enterprises are adopting the public cloud for scaling their businesses and meeting their IT needs, they must reevaluate their data protection strategies. Enterprises find themselves in a position where the adoption of the public cloud is crucial for their growth, making cloud environments an important part of their IT plans. In a cloud environment, businesses can execute and run their software applications on a refined infrastructure. This is owned and handled by cloud providers like Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud Platform.

However, this shift from traditional IT models to the public cloud has damaged the traditional, hitherto-followed cybersecurity approaches. This makes it essential for enterprises to update their cybersecurity practices. At Growth Jockey, we help businesses in adopting new-age technologies and acclimate to the changes in the marketplace. We understand the value of new digital technologies and assist companies in using them for growing their businesses. Thus, the adoption of newer technologies like the public cloud must be handled with caution. The protection of critical data while taking full advantage of the benefits that public cloud services offer is crucial for businesses.

What is The Public Cloud?

The public cloud refers to a kind of cloud computing service that supplies computing resources such as servers, storage, applications, and software, over the internet. These services are usually operated by large, well-established companies, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, etc. The term "public" refers to the accessibility of the cloud infrastructure. Anyone can access and use these services which are unlike private clouds that are restricted to a specific organization.

The public cloud is still a fairly new concept which was developed to meet the increasing demand for flexible and scalable computing resources. It offers many benefits over traditional computing models which include:

- lower costs

- greater scalability

- increased reliability.

For instance, companies do not have to invest in and maintain expensive hardware and storage. There are no large initial capital expenditures as companies can simply subscribe to public cloud services and pay for just the storage they use. Moreover, public cloud platforms provide shared resources across various data centers worldwide. These can be accessed from the internet by multiple companies and users. Instead of managing the infrastructure in-house, the responsibility falls on the public cloud providers. Thus companies can focus on tasks that bring direct benefits to the business.

How is Public Cloud Service Helping Businesses?

The public cloud service can help businesses save time and money by encouraging productivity, improving collaboration and enabling innovation. At Growth Jockey, we believe in staying up-to-date on the latest industry trends and developments. Since the physical hardware of the public cloud is often shared by multiple companies, the multi-tenant cloud environment created here makes it more manageable for businesses to split the cost. With the pay-as-you-go model of the public cloud, it is ideal for small-scale and medium businesses.

Moreover, with other types of cloud computing models like enterprise cloud, companies also enjoy a seamless experience of cloud usage. An enterprise cloud is a cooperative IT operating environment that blends private cloud, public cloud, and distributed cloud. This creates a unified point of control for handling infrastructure and applications in any cloud. Thus, businesses can enjoy consistent and high-performing cloud-delivered services and applications.

What are the Benefits of Using the Public Cloud?

Some of the major benefits of using the public cloud include:

1. Cost Effectiveness

Companies no longer have to invest in costly hardware and software and pay for the cloud storage they take up.

2. Scalability

Public cloud services provide great scalability since companies can increase or decrease their computing resources as per demand. This is especially beneficial during fluctuating peak and slow periods.

3. Data accessibility

Data can be accessed from anywhere using the internet from a compatible device. This also helps with remote accessibility and promotes remote work.

4. Improved reliability

Since public cloud providers typically operate from large, well-established data centers with advanced security measures, there is improved reliability. These centers have advanced security measures like encryption and firewalls. However, enterprises still need to ensure cloud security and data protection in the public cloud.

What are the Concerns of Cybersecurity for the Public Cloud?

With the increased use of public clouds, there is a need for greater security measures to protect sensitive data. Ongoing worries about the security of the public cloud have discouraged companies from quickly moving their workloads to the cloud. A [\2016 study on cloud adoption demonstrated that executives listed security as one of the primary hurdles to cloud migration. Apart from cloud security, they also mentioned that the challenges of managing change and justifying the switch to the cloud also become difficult.

In order to effectively adapt to public cloud cybersecurity, companies require a proactive, systematic strategy. At Growth Jockey, we understand the need to manage risks to secure healthy business growth with ever-growing superior performance. Thus, cloud safety should not be a concern for businesses if they adopt the right cloud security programs.

Cybersecurity for the public cloud is a substantial concern for many companies as they consider cloud migration. With the increase in the storage of sensitive data in the cloud, the threat of cyberattacks becomes a real concern. Some of the most common concerns regarding cybersecurity for the public cloud include:

1. Data breaches:

Storing data in the cloud raises the risk of unauthorized access, theft, or loss of sensitive information.

2. Compliance:

Companies must assure that their cloud infrastructure is in adherence to different industry regulations and standards such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and ISO 27001.

3. Insider threats:

Employees with access to sensitive data in the cloud may knowingly or unknowingly cause harm, either through negligence or malicious intent.

4. Depending on third-party providers:

Companies that rely on public cloud services are also leaning on third-party providers to secure their data. This creates a risky situation where the provider's security measures may not be up to par.

5. Unauthorized access:

Organizations' cloud-based deployments vary from their on-site infrastructure in that they are located beyond the network boundary. This can be directly reached from the public internet. Although this accessibility presents convenience and ease of access for employees and customers, it also makes it simpler for a hacker to gain entry to the organization's cloud resources without authorization.

Approaches to Public-Cloud Cybersecurity

At Growth Jockey, we respect the security and identity of our customers since their trust and privacy are of utmost concern to us. Hence, businesses deserve access to the public cloud that is secure and trustworthy. We suggest some of these measures in order to ensure data protection in the public cloud. The first step in protecting data in the public cloud is encryption. This means the conversion of data into a form that cannot be comprehended or accessed without a key. Encryption can be applied at various levels, including data-at-rest (stored data), data-in-transit (data moving between systems), and data-in-use (data being processed). AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) or SSL ((Secure Sockets Layer) can be utilised. Some other methods that can be adopted include:

Monitoring and Auditing

Monitoring and auditing are vital components of data security in the public cloud. Monitoring refers to the real-time tracking of activity within the public cloud environment, while auditing includes reviewing logs and activity records. They can both be utilised to detect security incidents, attacks and other anomalies. Since public cloud providers generally offer monitoring and auditing tools which permit administrators to view activity logs, enterprises can also deploy their own monitoring and auditing tools to enable additional visibility and control over their data.

Data Backup and Recovery

Data backup and recovery are crucial for data protection since losing data could lead to financial losses. Hence, data needs to be regularly backed up. Companies must have an emergency plan to recover data in the event of a disaster. Public cloud providers have systems like snapshots and replications to help organisations protect and retain their data.

Building a cybersecurity approach centered around the cloud.

Organizations must make decisions about securing their cloud perimeter and how much they will alter their applications to align with their risk tolerance, current application architecture, available resources, and overall cloud plan.

Revamping cybersecurity controls:

Companies can redesign the full range of cybersecurity controls for the public cloud. For each control, organisations must decide who will be accountable for providing it and how severe it needs to be.

Defining internal cybersecurity responsibilities compared to those of providers.

A shared security model is demanded by the public cloud, with both providers and consumers responsible for specific tasks. Companies must comprehend this distinct division of responsibilities, which differs from traditional outsourcing. They should consequently update their internal procedures accordingly.

In order to effectively adapt to public cloud cybersecurity, companies require a proactive, systematic strategy. At Growth Jockey, we understand the need to manage risks to secure healthy business growth with ever-growing superior performance.

At Growth Jockey, we are fully committed to providing tailored solutions that effectively tackle the crucial challenges in cloud and cyber security faced by our clients across diverse industries. Regardless of the size of your company, whether it's a small-scale enterprise or a large corporation, you can now leverage the advantages of advanced technologies in cloud and cyber security.

Take the decisive step towards unlocking the next level of growth and protecting your brand by contacting us today!