Data security remains a top concern for cloud transformations

Digital transformation promises to revolutionize how businesses operate, with cloud computing representing the next level of convenience and interconnectivity. Making the switch to public, private or hybrid cloud environments offers significant cost savings and productivity benefits, but deploying cloud-based solutions comes with a high degree of risk. To set themselves up for long-term success, IT leaders must carefully weigh the advantages and limitations of cloud services with a particular focus on cybersecurity.

Cloud security risks
As companies and governments continue to shift workloads to the cloud, data security has become a top priority. Organizations in almost every industry collect, process and store sensitive information that cybercriminals are eager to get their hands on. Without the right threat detection systems, internal policies, IT service management frameworks and cybersecurity controls, companies can suffer major financial and reputational losses.

Without the right access controls, hackers can force there way into sensitive data stores and business applications.

According to the global cloud services company Akamai, the primary security risks associated with cloud computing include:

• Compliance violations: Legislation aimed at data security and privacy is only becoming more common. Companies located in Europe must adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation, U.S. healthcare companies to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and so on. As more regulations are introduced, remaining compliant with these laws becomes increasingly difficult. To prevent unauthorized users from stealing sensitive data, companies must develop clear rules around who can access data and what they can do with it.

• Identity theft: Hackers steal personal information for a number of reasons. Some sell this data on the dark web, while others use it to commit identity theft and fraud. One report from the Federal Trade Commission found that there were 3.2 million identity theft and fraud reports filed in 2019 alone, illustrating just how widespread this issue has become. Since cloud services are often managed by third-party vendors, organizations can have gaps in their data security protocols they aren't even aware of.

• Malware and data breaches: Even when data and business applications are run in a secure cloud environment, the devices employees use are still vulnerable to malicious activity. Using deceptive phishing scams and infected web links, hackers can trick users into downloading malware that takes control of their computers. Once infected, these devices can be used to distribute malware to other devices in a network or launch large-scale attacks against sensitive data stores.

By nature, cloud services are adaptable and continuously evolving alongside business needs and new technological innovations. As KPMG notes, this near-constant evolution makes it difficult to create a single, standardized framework for integrating and managing cloud resources in the long term.

The role of networking hardware
To stay one step ahead of malicious actors, companies must take steps to rearchitect their data storage infrastructure to make it more secure and reliable. The fusion between legacy systems and cloud-based services, known as "hybrid" cloud environments, can make this more difficult, but not impossible.

Perle offers industrial-grade connectivity tools that help organizations maintain greater visibility and control over their networking environments. Our robust console servers enable secure remote console management of any device with a serial or USB console port, including routers, switches, servers and more.

To learn how our networking hardware can support your cloud transformation, read some of our customers' success stories.