There seems to be a common misconception about the cloud not being secure. Organizations are worried that by utilizing the cloud, they risk compromising important company information and confidential data. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, the cloud adds security to your environment and workspace. It is more secure than using your laptop! A global study of more than 4,000 organizations done by the Ponemon Institute Thales e-Security found that using the cloud for processing and storing critical data is almost an inevitable solution. More than half of all participants responded that their organizations already transfer sensitive or confidential data to the cloud while only 11% say that their organization has no plans of doing so. This is down from 19% two years earlier (Forbes).
Think of cloud security in terms of accidentally downloading a virus. When you do so on you work laptop, there is a good chance it will corrupt all your important files and information. You will then notice your computer running slowly and your private data is now compromised. However, if you were to download the same virus on your virtual laptop, the same thing should happen, right? Actually, that is wrong. As soon as you are aware that you have a virus, you can have your administrator pull your desktop back in time to before the virus was downloaded. Literally, you have the ability to revert back in time to the previous “image” of your desktop. You’re no longer vulnerable to that virus and your private data is no longer being compromised.
When Sony Pictures Entertainment experienced a cyber-attack around the release of their movie “The Interview”, a hard and expensive lesson was learned. Not only were Sony’s eyes opened to the other security requirements for their industry, but businesses began considering the costs of managing and securing their information in-house rather than utilizing the cloud. The cyber-attack on Sony cost them around $100 million, not including the loss incurred by the hit to their reputation. They’ve had to invest an abundance of time and energy into rebuilding and diagnosing what really caused the security breach. The unending amount of fees they face such as responding to investigations from the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, and potentially state attorneys general, will definitely add up and put a financial burden on the company. It also caused an insurmountable loss of good-will for Sony. They also lost valuable information like strategic planning and trade secrets that affect a corporation’s profits. The hackers got ahold of confidential personnel records of its employees and various embarrassing emails from executives, all of which endangered Sony’s relationships with employees, talent, contractors and vendors (Logicworks)
Had Sony been utilizing cloud services, the situation would not have unfolded in the detrimental way that it did. Their valuable information would not have been lost as it would have been stored safely in the cloud. With the extensive security placed within the cloud, hackers would not have been able to access any of their confidential personnel records. This would have ultimately avoided the situation and saved Sony from the losses that occurred.
More and more organizations are moving to the cloud, and rightly so. The security only continues to improve and the risks of in-house assets continue to rise. Forbes says that 47% of marketing departments will have 60% or more of their applications on a cloud platform in two years. This year will be the year that the doubts of cloud security will be put to rest. Don’t put yourself in a Sony situation.
