How to build a full-spectrum cloud security strategy

October 26, 2020
Nick Triplett
Enterprise Solutions Architect

The growing relevance of cloud technology shows no signs of slowing down. As more organizations migrate to cloud environments, their managers and IT specialists are grappling with the issue of cloud security.

However, a number of misconceptions currently muddy the water and could prevent your enterprise from achieving the secure cloud networking environment it needs to stay competitive. Before you embark on a comprehensive cloud migration journey with your organization, ensure that you have all the information you need to build a cloud-enabled security solution.

More isn’t always better

You may hear from time to time that the more cloud security tools your enterprise can bring to the table, the safer your data will be. This isn’t always necessarily the case. In fact, too many disparate systems, as well as too many security service providers, can overwhelm your staff and security experts and create additional avenues of attack.

It’s also vital to not simply rely on your cloud security provider to manage all aspects of your organization’s security solution. While working with a security provider, your team should remain responsible for the data it places in the framework of your managed cloud security environment. Overall, a streamlined and customized cloud security strategy, in which your organization has transparency into the entire process, is the best approach.

Stay ahead of the curve

The interconnected and comprehensive nature of cloud computing imposes some inherent risks and vulnerabilities, chief among them being the volume of access points to secure across the environment and the amount of auditing and review needed to prevent breaches.

Additionally, cyber attackers are constantly evolving their techniques and employing more advanced methods to break into protected stores of data. However, in most cases, successful security breaches are the result of lapses, errors, and lack of preparation on the part of the victim. To prevent opportunistic hackers from finding an open window into your network, a robust security policy must be instituted so that employees are held accountable for every possible network entry point.

This team-oriented approach to cyberattack defense may be counter-intuitive; after all, isn’t security best left to the professional providers and consultants? Not necessarily. Security is everyone’s responsibility—especially in the hyper-connected cloud era. Your developers should be involved in the ongoing process of securing your cloud environment with the assistance and guidance of your security provider.

Don’t count too much on automation

Although automated network security is an attractive goal to strive for, human input should not be underestimated or discounted. Studies have shown that both human specialists and computer-driven security systems are equally valuable in terms of identifying and mitigating weak spots in a cloud computing network.

Securing a cloud network environment is not a simple matter, and it can be difficult to know the first steps or to separate myths from the truth. However, by keeping these guiding principles in mind and choosing the right provider to meet your specific security challenges, you can set your organization up for success in an increasingly cloud-centric world.

To help future-facing enterprises secure their cloud computing environments, CBTS is bringing Check Point Harmony Email and Office to market. Harmony Email and Office is a cloud service tailored for real SaaS threats. More than just a cloud access security broker (CASB), it blocks attacks intended to steal data on common SaaS applications and cloud e-mail. It provides complete protection against malware and zero-day threats, sophisticated phishing attacks, and hijacking of employee SaaS accounts. Users also gain instant threat visibility and data control and protection.

“CBTS has leveraged SD-WAN technologies to help our customers along their journey to the cloud and their path to digital transformation,” said Jon Lloyd, Director of Cloud Networking for CBTS. “Organizations are now facing the challenge of how to secure this new, flexible, always-on network where an application can live anywhere in the world and employees can work from anywhere in the world. Check Point’s Harmony Connect and Harmony Email and Office enable our customers to make the network decisions and application decisions that are best for their organization without the added difficulty of securing a malleable, distributed network. We are delivering peace of mind now along with our flexibility and convenience.”

Check Point and CBTS can offer differentiated security services to customers moving towards borderless compute (SASE and CASB).

Contact CBTS for more information on how to build a cloud security strategy that keeps your organization’s data and employees protected.


Read more: Protect your SD-WAN network with cloud-enabled security

Read more: Finding the right SD-WAN provider for your organization

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